GardenAnnual Vegetable · zones 9–11 · 15 varieties
Bitter melon
Momordica charantia
Cucurbitaceae — the same plant family as winter squash, cucumber, summer squash, melon and 7 more here. Relatives share pests and diseases, which is why rotation plans group by family.
Bitter melon (Momordica charantia) is an annual vegetable for USDA zones 9–11. It wants full sun and pH 6–6.7 soil, with about 1–2 in of water weekly. It matures in about 50 days from sowing. Watch for melon fly and downy mildew. Below: its full sourced profile from 3 extension sources, plus a planting calendar timed to your frost dates.
Typical dates for zone 6b — set your zone or ZIP for yours. This calendar assumes the crop is started indoors. Timing is a guide from the crop's sourced growth stages; confirm with your local frost dates and extension before you sow.
What we will not put a number on
We do not give a feeding rate for this crop, and that is deliberate rather than a gap. The figures published by extension services are pounds of nitrogen per acre for a production field — they do not convert safely to a raised bed or a pot without knowing your soil test and your fertilizer's analysis, and guessing errs toward burning roots. It is also why every chart you find online disagrees with the next one.
We give watering as a depth per week rather than gallons per plant, because that is how it is actually measured and how the published figures are written. A gallons-per-plant number depends on your spacing, your soil and whether the plant is in a pot — so it would look more precise than it is.
Site & soil
- Hardiness zones
- 9–11
- Sun
- Full sun
- Soil pH
- 6–6.7est
- Soil texture
- High organic matter, Well drained
- Frost tolerance
- Tender
No published figure for the temperature frost starts to hurt it, the temperature that would kill it and a heat limit. We looked — where a number is missing here it is missing from the research, not skipped. The crop’s frost and heat tolerance above still applies.
The plant
- Mature height
- 12–20 ft
- Mature spread
- 3–6 ft
- Growth rate
- Fastest
- Spacing in row
- 36–60 in
- Between rows
- 60–72 in
- Planting depth
- 0.5–1 inest
- Container size
- 5–10 gal — low end is the minimum, high end is betterest
- Support
- Needs staking or a trellis
- Grown from
- Direct sow, Transplant
Water & feeding
- Water needs
- Moderateest
- Water per week
- 1–2 in/wkest
- Critical water
- Flowering, Fruit setest
- Feeding
- Moderate
Timing & fruiting
- Days to maturity
- 50 days from seed
- Measured in north Florida. Days to maturity move with heat, so a cooler garden should expect longer than this, and a shorter season may not reach it at all.
- Harvest cues
- Fruit sizing
Planted again for autumn
- Sow by
- early Sep typical · zone 6b
50 days to maturity from sowing, counted back from the first frost above. Not published for anywhere in particular: it is your own frost date and this crop's own figure, which is why it works wherever you are. A days-to-maturity figure is a catalog number for a good season rather than a promise, and a cold month moves it.
Edible parts per source: fruit, leaf.
Compiled from the extensions cited below. Which ones actually show up depends on your region — your extension's local list is the last word.
Different parts differ — the edible part is the fruit and leaf; the notes below flag other parts or preparations.
PeopleToxic ripe fruit, Toxic seeds
Recorded exactly as the source states it — not medical or veterinary advice. If a person or animal may have eaten a toxic part, call Poison Control (1-800-222-1222) or your vet / the ASPCA line (888-426-4435).
| Variety | Type | Days | Color | Size | What it is known for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abashi Heirloom | Okinawan Japanese | 50 | Green | ||
| Big Top Heirloom | Chinese | 90 | Green, Orange | Large | Asia Seeds describes this asgives a heavy crop |
| Dark Jade Hybrid F1 | Indian | 55–60 | Green | Medium | True Leaf Market (Kitazawa Seed Co. brand) describes this asgives a heavy crop |
| Futo Spindle Heirloom | Okinawan Japanese | 60–70 | Green, Orange | Medium | |
| Ganjyu Heirloom | Okinawan Japanese | 50 | Green | Very Large | |
| Green Skin | Chinese | 70 | Green | Medium | |
| Hong Kong Green | Chinese | 50 | Green | Medium | |
| India Long Green F1 | Indian | 40–55 | Green | Medium | True Leaf Market (Kitazawa Seed Co. brand) describes this asgives a heavy crop |
| Jyunpaku Okinawan Pure White Heirloom | White | 50 | White | Very Large | |
| Long White Reishi | White | 50 | Green | ||
| Pearl Goya Heirloom | White | 50 | White | Small | |
| Satsuma Onaga Heirloom | Okinawan Japanese | 50 | Green | ||
| Taiwan Large | Chinese | 50–55 | Green | Large | UFSeeds.com (Edible Gourds) describes this asgives a heavy crop |
| Thai Green | Indian | 50 | Green, Orange | Small | |
| White Pearl F1 | White | 60 | White | Medium | TomorrowSeeds describes this asgives a heavy crop |
- North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox
- University of Florida IFAS Extension
We compile bare facts from these university-extension and horticultural sources, never copied prose. 13 of the 20 values on this page carry a citation. The rest are marked est; hover one and it says why — either nobody publishes a figure we could point at, or a person set it and attached no source. Figures vary with climate and seed source; confirm with your local extension before you buy.
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