Original : A pumpkin family plant. It is an annual climber with tendrils. It grows to 0.5 m high and spreads to 1.5 m across. The stems are soft and hairy and often angled. The leaves have lobes and often a wavy or toothed edge. They are on long leaf stalks. The leaves are often hairy underneath. The tendrils are not branched. The flowers are yellow and funnel shaped with expanded lobes. The male flowers occur in clusters and are produced before the female flowers. The fruit is round, mostly with a rough or streaky skin. It is green or yellow inside. The fruit is edible. Different kinds of melons occur. Some have a hard warty scaly skin. Others have a network of fine ridges over the surface{{{0(+x).
Production
:
Les plantes sont prêtes 3-4 mois après la plantation. Les rendements de 20 kg par 10 m2 sont moyens{{{0(+x) (traduction automatique).
Original : Plants are ready 3-4 months after planting. Yields of 20 kg per10 sq m is average{{{0(+x).
Original : They are grown from seed. The seeds are planted about 1-4 cm deep. Plants need to be 1-2 m apart. Seedlings can be transplanted when about 10-15 cm high{{{0(+x).
Original : A tropical plant. It is not suited to places with high rainfall. They suit hot dry places with a fertile well drained soil. It needs a sheltered sunny position. It is drought and frost tender. A temperature range of 24-28°C is best but much higher temperatures is tolerated. Mostly they are grown below 500 m altitude in the tropics. In PNG it has been recorded up to 2,100 m above sea level. A pH of 6-6.7 is best. Acid soils are not suitable. It can grow in deserts and arid places. It suits hardiness zones 9-12{{{0(+x).