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Post by glen on Oct 23, 2017 20:10:39 GMT -6
Bittermelon is a fine veggy. Just experiment with it. I am glad that Ron is enjoying his bittermelon and soon, maybe he will make up a batch of bittermelon juice. I just finished a glass of juice myself. Calms the stomach, helps with sour stomach, stops flatulance and puts diahrea out of its misery. There is nothing like it. Ron, once you make some bittermelon juice and try it I hope you will give us a good review on how you feel about its taste and if you believe it makes you feel better. I have put my recipe on this thread several times. Its easy to make. My bittermelon vines have really taken off by the way. In a month or so I should have new vines and new crop. I am a firm believer in drinking bittermelon juice but maybe you have a better way of enjoying it? Let us know. Thats what this thread is for.
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Post by glen on Oct 24, 2017 11:42:59 GMT -6
I just checked on the day my new bittermelon plants germinated. The day is September 23. The best plants are in 10 gallon pots. They are 10 inches or so off the ground in these big pots. They are against my new fence and are now climbing vigorously. They are over my head now and climbing on the plastic material that I added to the fence to give it more hieght. The fence fabric itself is 6 feet tall. Both vines are putting on numerous branches and the biggest plant has already put on a male bloom. The plants are now 1 month old. In another month these plants will be absolutely huge. They will spread to the left and right and quickly take over the fence and make a great privacy planting. These vines, if taken care of with plenty of nitrogen and good soil and sun and water can grow to amazing size. They are related to pumpkin if that give you any indication of how big these plants can grow. They will grow and produce until something kills the vine. We don't have frost here so it is possible for these vines to live a long time. At least 8 or 9 months. Bugs don't bother the vines too much. We have a cut-worm problem in the yard now. We are also being visited by cutter ants at night. So far, nothing has touched these vines and I have not sprayed at all. Yes, eventually some bugs will attack. We have a bug that I have never seen before, I call it the bucketloader bug. Those will eventually come and bother the vines. That and a few shield bugs. I may or may not ever have to spray. I usually spray a little. In another month, I should start seeing female blooms. Those come last. The male blooms start early. Once the female blooms come, we start getting fruits. On a big vine I should see a huge harvest. In the 10 gallon pots I do not know how well these vines will produce. Probably not as good as if grown in the ground. But, there will be plenty.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Oct 24, 2017 19:09:25 GMT -6
I'm glad you got some new vines started. They'll look great on your new fence. Mine are climbing up my fence, across my guy wire that supports the hog pen gate, and have made it all the way across to the latch side of the gate. The gate is 10 feet wide. I have to move a bitter melon tendril out of the way every day to open the gate, but I enjoy seeing it so much that I don't mind.
I juiced three of the green fruits today. I only have 6 fruits left. It's going to get down in the 30s tonight. The forecast calls for temperatures in the 20s by Sunday morning, so their days are numbered. I'll enjoy them while I can.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Oct 24, 2017 19:14:15 GMT -6
Glen,
I just now juiced the biggest green bitter melon I could find. (It was the third one I've juiced today). I peeled the first two. I didn't peel this one. I just added about a quarter of a cup of water to make it puree better.
After I de-seeded it, I put it in the blender stem and all. I used a coffee filter to strain it, then squeezed out what didn't go through on its own.
The juice was darker green than the two that I peeled, but it wasn't much different in taste. I did notice that it unstuffed my nose though. That was awesome! My Wife still won't try it. Oh, well, more for me!
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Post by glen on Oct 25, 2017 10:38:34 GMT -6
Ron, add as much water that you want to the blender when making your juice. Two or 3 nice sized bittermelons should make quite a bit of juice. The water won't hurt the juice, you need to drink water anyways. So add the water to make a nice quantity of liquid. Bittermelons don't have that much water in them really so you have to add it. You should get at least a liter of juice out of 2 or 3 fruits and that is enough for you to have a small glass of juice in the morning and in the evening for 3 days. If you don't add much water thats ok but you will not have much product if you don't. If you have a bumper crop of fruits then you can make it as strong as you can tolerate I guess cause you have plenty.
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Post by glen on Oct 26, 2017 17:02:43 GMT -6
I have had so much rain lately. November will be the last month of rain for the rainy season. This time of year we have the most insects. I just checked the bittermelon and we have the shield bugs or the stink bugs. We actually have several variety's. Yes, we do have the green one also although the one I am seeing now is the brownish colored one. We also have the famous bucket loader bug which I think is related to the shield bugs somehow cause they are sort of the same thing. These bugs bring desease. Virus. I usually pick them by hand and kill them. I also noticed a female flower today on one of the vines. This is early to see a female bloom. The female bloom has the tiny fruit below the bloom just like on a pumpkin vine except it is smaller of course. Usually the first thing you see is a lot of male blooms and you don't see the female blooms until the vines are a lot bigger. Its possible that I will have an early fruit if it doesn't fall off. Oh, I wanted to say that planting bittermelon in soil that has compost in it is much better for the vines. They grow much faster. I have 3 other vines growing along the fence that are the same age but are much smaller. They will produce also but it will take longer because they don't have nearly as rich of soil. Richer soil produces bigger fruits also. Bittermelon isn't real picky though. It will grow in a wide range of soils. You do have to make sure you somehow get some nitrogen to them if your soil is poor. At least do that for them. If not, they just grow too slow and the fruits are really a lot smaller than you would prefer.
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Post by macmex on Oct 27, 2017 5:59:31 GMT -6
Just be careful not to kill the good bugs, which look like the bad ones. I did this for years before I learned not to. Assassin bugWheel bug
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Post by glen on Oct 27, 2017 13:51:01 GMT -6
Well, at this point I don't know which ones are the good ones. I am pretty sure that the shield bug types are bad. The so-called bucket loader bug is something that I have never seen until I moved to Panama. I see them on bean vines and bittermelon. They don't seem to eat the bittermelon leaf nor does the shield bugs. However, I worry about them being a vector for virus. I have never seen virus on bittermelon but it is common on pole beans here. Pole beans have a lot of pests. Bittermellon has very few pests. I don't see worms or aphids or mites on them ever. Lots of stink bugs get in them at times though. Bittermelon is also not attractive to cows or horses or even goats. Not that they would never eat them. But, if they have a choice in the matter they prefer to eat something else. Horses will eat pole bean vines if given a chance and I am sure goats would eat them also. The smell of bittermelon is at least some protection against many hungry bugs and animals.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Oct 27, 2017 17:59:42 GMT -6
Glen,
Can you find a photo of your "bucket loader bug?"
Lynn has a buddy who is an entomologist. He could probably figure out what kind of bug it is, and whether it's a good one or a bad one for your garden.
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Post by glen on Oct 28, 2017 16:16:51 GMT -6
I would have to take a photo of it. Its not something that I have ever seen in Florida. I was just out side. I didn't see any bugs on the vines at all today. Some days there are plenty. The so called bucket loader bugs like to hang out on pole bean vines as well as bittermelon. They don't eat the leaves. Just like I don't see shield bugs eating the leaves either. We know that shield bugs or stink bugs are desease vectors from my reading. The bucket loader bugs have a kind of hard outer skin on them and are brown and have 2 front legs that are always up and they remind me of the front bucket on a bucket loader. Hence the name. They could be beneficial for all I know. They are bigger than a shield bug. They are fast also and hard to catch.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Oct 29, 2017 23:09:31 GMT -6
A guy at the Farmers' Market told me Saturday, that you can eat the little bitter melons whole. After my vines were killed by freezing this weekend, I took him at his word and ate the little 3" inch melons whole, just like eating a pickle... Not bad.
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Post by glen on Oct 30, 2017 14:15:27 GMT -6
Ron, if you have enough bittermelon's to do that then by all means enjoy em. I am getting so few bittermelons right now that I wouldn't dare waste one by cutting it early. I try and time it. When they get fat and light Green and real shiny, but before you see any trace of yellow in the skin, I cut it. I can't always time it perfect. The other day, I cut one a Little late. It was super fat and short. But, it had traces of yellow in the skin. I cut it open and noticed that the sedes were ready so I saved 22 nice sedes and made juice with the rest of the fruit. It was still excellent and I got some much needed seed. In this weather we are experiencing now in Panama the vines are not blooming much so I am not getting as many fruits as I want. There will be several coming in the next couple of days. My new vines will not produce for another month at least. Right now, the plan will be to mix some flax seed and also chia seed with the juice before drinking it giving me a super health tonic. Maybe when my newest vines kick in I can try eating a Young fruit if they produce a nice crop. By the way, I have 2 vines growing in pots. If you want to try growing bittermelon in pots remember that they are huge plants, like a pumpkin. They need a hug pot, at least 10 gallon. The root system on bittermelon is huge and they won't produce much with out plenty of room to spread out.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Oct 31, 2017 4:48:00 GMT -6
I ate a bigger bitter melon fruit yesterday. It was about 6 inches long. I ate the 'meat' of the fruit and left the pith intact, kind of like eating an apple and leaving the core. It was a lot juicier than eating the little ones, seeds and all.
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Post by glen on Nov 5, 2017 15:58:18 GMT -6
You are a braver man than me eating raw bittergourd like that. I eat em juiced. I did make the mistake of taking a big chug of some bittermelon juice that had not been strained the other day and almost choked on it. Please strain the juice before drinking it in a sieve. I have 2 vines outside that are Young but growing like crazy and they are showing many female blooms already. I have them in 10 gallon pots. Don't try growing them in smaller pots. They don't grow well. Anyways, they like the 10 gallon pots. Growing like hellfire and soon I will be in the bittermelon again. I drink the juice every day and believe me it helps with the constitution. Or, GUT health as I call it. I have also been experimenting with White turmeric, which is a root that looks very close to Ginger root. You cut some of the root, throw it in some boiling wáter to make a tonic. It is fruity and tangy but at the same time bitter. Real bitter. The first time you drink it will take you back a bit. I don't like it as much as bittermelon. But, it really does work for digestive issues or gut health. It even helps with bad breath as well as many other issues. Its also called Curcuma zordoaria. Google it. People have used this root even before they used ginger root. Ginger root is more popular because it tastes better but its a different root altogether even though it is very closely related to White turmeric. At any rate I will soon have bittergourd fruits. And, plenty of them. I will need to replant that root if I want to have it again in the future. I will tell ya though, that root is very very bitter.
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Post by glen on Nov 18, 2017 11:26:16 GMT -6
My new vines are now producing! I am now regularly picking 2 or 3 bittermelons and juicing them. Its been a long time since I have had any and since I have gotten back to drinking the juice I feel a lot better. I also started taking a daily dose of chia seeds and also ground flax seed which really increases my fibre intake and many other vitamins and minerals. I have pretty much quit taking multi-vitamins with the exception of calcium. Who knows what is in those cheap multi-vitamins anyways? Natural suppliments are the way to go in my opinion.
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