Potted fruit grown on the balcony for 1 month, bearing 100 fruits at a time, delicious and free

This fruit that looks like a watermelon is called the finger watermelon. It is very small and compact, looking only as big as a finger, with various patterns on its surface that closely resemble a watermelon, and its taste is very much like a refreshingly sweet cucumber. Grown as a potted plant, it can grow in large numbers and is well suited to being grown as a plant at home.

The finger watermelon is an annual or perennial plant, and its leaves can grow very long, forming a trellis-like curtain. The seeds of the finger watermelon are round, with an appearance no different from an ordinary watermelon; the flesh inside is green-cyan, and the taste is as refreshing as a cucumber, with a nutritional value higher than that of an ordinary watermelon.

Finger watermelon seeds do not sprout very quickly. Before planting, the seeds can be soaked in warm water at around 50 degrees for disinfection. After soaking in water for half a day, rinse the seeds, then wrap them tightly in a wet towel and place them at around 30°C to sprout.

When the sprout grows to about 0.5cm, it can be planted normally. The finger watermelon is suitable for growing in fertile, moist, well-draining neutral sandy loam and peat soil. Water only when the soil is dry, and it grows very well in a relatively mild summer with sufficient sunlight.

Generally speaking, the finger watermelon has fairly strong growth ability, a very low chance of being invaded by pests and diseases, and even birds rarely peck at the seeds. When the seedling grows to 5-6 true leaves (plant height 10-12cm), the vines can be tied to a trellis.

The finger watermelon generally takes 2-3 months to grow, and spring and summer are extremely suitable planting seasons. After the finger watermelon is grown on a trellis, the yield is very large; after trellising, a single plant is about 1.5 m tall, and each potted plant produces a relatively high yield of 60-100 fruits.

When the finger watermelon is ripe, at roughly 3cm in length, or perhaps when it grows to the size of a finger joint, it can be harvested. Pick a whole pot at a time, wash them, and then they can be eaten directly. The taste is refreshing and it can be eaten with the skin on, and it can also be made into fruit salad. From then on, there is no need to buy fruit; just grow a few more pots of finger watermelon and that is ok.