Author Topic: Tiny Yellow Melon on spiky vine?  (Read 16893 times)

fliptop

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1316
    • SWFL10a
    • View Profile
Tiny Yellow Melon on spiky vine?
« on: July 20, 2025, 08:33:23 PM »
Planted some Okra seeds in a pot where I was unsuccessful growing peppers this year.

This vine started growing and to me it looked squash like but its vine was spiky and if I remember correctly the leaves felt rough.

It made yellow flowers and was starting to spread like crazy so I decided to remove it from the pot in case it was invasive and took over my yard.

Lo and behold, I happened to notice today that it made a fruit as it lay dying? Like, there was no fruit on the vine when I ripped it out, and today there's a yellow fruit.

It's not a big fruit. I decided to cut it open with a dirty Hori Hori knife (all I had on hand at the time). Inside the tiny fruit it smelled like honey dew melon and the seeds were plenty and looked to be of that family of melons.




So . . . Does anyone know what it is? Did I erroneously kill something of value? Closest Google search matches are telling me things like Lemon Cucumber and Thorny Nightshade . . . One is edible, one is a toxic invasive.



Galatians522

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2644
    • Florida 9b
    • View Profile
Re: Tiny Yellow Melon on spiky vine?
« Reply #1 on: July 21, 2025, 01:44:56 AM »
That is no nightshade in my opinion.

fliptop

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1316
    • SWFL10a
    • View Profile
Re: Tiny Yellow Melon on spiky vine?
« Reply #2 on: July 21, 2025, 05:43:06 AM »
Thanks, Galatians522, I don't think so, either, but I'd hate to be wrong about that 😳 I am leaning towards Lemon Cucumber . . .

Galatians522

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2644
    • Florida 9b
    • View Profile
Re: Tiny Yellow Melon on spiky vine?
« Reply #3 on: July 21, 2025, 11:42:15 AM »
I see tendrils in the picture. Nightshades do not have tendrils. That does not mean that it is a lemon cucumber (which I question due to apparently high levels of disease resistance) or that it is edible. It is almost assuredly a Curcubit of some kind, but many Curcubits are poisonous. Typically, Curcubit toxin has a very bitter taste. I saw something similar once growing wild in a cane field. I never did get a positive id on it.

vall

  • Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 131
    • Treasure Coast
    • View Profile
Re: Tiny Yellow Melon on spiky vine?
« Reply #4 on: July 21, 2025, 07:01:08 PM »
That remind me of cattle melon, pretty tasteless. It was growing wild here when I moved in. Not sure of the species (google thinks I mean soda apple) but it is a cucurbit and a weed.
- Val

fliptop

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1316
    • SWFL10a
    • View Profile
Re: Tiny Yellow Melon on spiky vine?
« Reply #5 on: July 23, 2025, 06:27:07 AM »
Thanks, Galatians522 and vall! I'll not try to propagate this -- too risky. Was just amazed how a plant/vine that was uprooted could so quickly produce a fruit.

Nayelie321

  • Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 213
  • In California most of the time.
    • California
    • View Profile
Re: Tiny Yellow Melon on spiky vine?
« Reply #6 on: August 21, 2025, 04:16:05 PM »
That is cattle melon. Leaves are similar to that of canteloupe. kinda spiny. Not toxic but not worth growing as a prior post indicated.