Was just wondering if you grow pepino melon fruit out that way. its a great fruit that shouldnt grow in illinois but i have my ways. here are a few pics. some my own and and the one with the fruit i got from the net, sorry didnt think to take pics at that times as i was wrapping things up to bring in the house as it started getting cooler outside.

if not it is a rare wonderful fruit from the mountains in chile that taste like melon and pear. a very differant fruit but still pretty good.

They look like potato.

they are in the same family (nightshade) but very fruity

Dave,  I'll pay postage for some seeds.  Send them during the season when you get some ripe ones.  I'd love to try it, and we are really getting close to getting that 1.4 acres in our bank negotiations.  There will be plenty of room to test it!

There is one tropical fruit that I love, but it will NOT grow here.  I tried it when I was in Jamaica Mon, and grew to love it.  It's called breadfruit, and when baked, it's so much like a potato, but so much better............  Can't grow everything!

Suzi

No, never took up Pepino cultivation.

I think I'm going to pick up a plant and give them a try.  The one I bought in a store a few years ago was very bland. I'll try this one:

i am not sure on how many variaties there are i am growing Solanum Muricatom. its not as large as the one seen there (med egg size) instead, but flavorful. it seems if you let the fruit ripen to a point where it may seem to be overriping thats when i pick for the best taste.

Do you have any extra seeds to share.

No Eden no seeds, as the fruit that i get most have no seeds or very few. they do root super easy from cuttings. but in my zone this is better done in mid feb. i dont think cuttings would ship well but confess i have never tried it. i will however start propagation here in the next few weeks, one of my biggest sellers, and this past year i was the only one on ebay with live plants. i bought the seed from ebay. kinda high priced but i wanted to know more about and grow more exotic fruits so my first plants were seed grown 5 years ago. i have been replacing the plants yearly with cuttings. they grow rather fast once good roots form.

Dave,

Can Pepino's be grown in pots and get fruit?  What type of soil do they like?

I grow mine in hanging baskets and use a simple compost mix or just a good potting mix. the grow like tomato plants do and with the same ease. once established i have grabbed the stalks and yanked them right from the ground/pot and put in other spots, they can take a beating and i havent had any shock on me at all. only problems i have ran into are the norm. in dry times they need water, not alot of light but i try to give them as much as i can but had luck in a location where they only got 5 hours of dirrect sun light. the hanging baskets are the way to go.

Plant grown from seed can take 8 months to flower and set fruit. the plants i do by cuttings somtimes have fruit on when i have sold them. the flowers are very small white star shaped with purple strips. i have had a few preying mantis's make a home in my pepino's. great for that organic pest control.

Dave, what pests have you experienced with pepino?

Aphids mainly. havent had any problems with jap beetles at all. but i plant a preying mantis egg case every year and my pest problems just go away. had a few grasshoppers try and eat a little but my slinder buddies make short work of em.

Thanks, Dave.  I grew a lot of tomatoes last year with my son and also planted about 18 cape gooseberry.  A 3-striped potato beetle loved the cape gooseberry and did a number on them.  I have quite a population of praying mantis around here naturally and they didn't seem to go after those beetles.  I'm hoping if I get a pepino that those beetles won't come back for them.