Growing Field Marrow/Madras Cumcumber / Sambar Cucumber In A Pot in India.

Field Marrows popularly known as Madras Cucumber or Sambar Cucumber belongs to the Cucurbit Family looks like a cucumber and feels  and tastes just like a gourd when cooked. Its a common and popular vegetable found in almost every home in Southern India.

Madras Cucumber or Sambar Cucumber is locally known by names such as Magge,Dosakaya,Bollari,Mangalore Cucumber,Mogem etc.

My plant grew as a volunteer plant, i make my own compost at home and i had added the peels and seeds into the composter. I had used the compost to fertilize my Curry leaf plant and a few days later a healthy seedling emerged.

I had no clue back then what would the little sapling turn out to be :)) I did not want to pull it out as the tiny little sapling looked so happy and healthy so i thought why not give it a chance to grow so i just let it  stay to see how it  grows from here on.

At First I thought its a cucumber then i thought it might be a gourd when the leaves got bigger....Its only when the first fruit arrived that i realized that its a Madras Cucumber.The seedling emerged during the Monsoon in June this year,it grew well without any pests attack or disease,which made it even more special.

In a 2 foot by 1/2 foot plastic pot,I had used Garden soil (red),Cocopeat,Compost and Neem cake as the potting mix in the container that originally housed the Curry Leaf plant and now it was home to the Madras Cucumber. And once or twice a fortnight i sprinkled in a handful of vermi compost and dry cow manure.I also mulched the top of the soil with some dry mango leaves,to help retain moisture and prevent soil splash.

Within no time the creeper started spreading out in all directions and the first bright yellow colored male flowers began to bloom it made such a pretty sight,the bees could not stay away from them and buzzed from flower to flower the whole day from morning to mid afternoon collecting pollen,which was a good sign for me, it meant better chances of pollination and cucumber formation later.

A week or so after the male flowers appeared,first female flowers started to show on the creeper,and another week after that i spotted the very first tiny little Madras Cucumber on the vine. It grew very fast and was ready to harvest within 2 weeks.

Some people like to harvest Madras Cucumbers while they are still green,some prefer to harvest it when it changes color to yellow and  the seeds get mature from within.I harvested mines mid way and used it to make Sambar.

After harvesting the first Madras Cucumber,two more cucumbers started forming.So in all i harvested 3 good sized Madras Cucumbers,the leaves slowly started to turn brown and wilted after which i removed the complete creeper and discarded it.

I also managed to save a lot of seeds,as i will be trying to grow them in my potted garden again next year.The only thing to remember while growing Madras Cucumber is that it needs a lot of water just like any other cucumber or gourd variety.Inadequate watering might cause the Cucumbers to turn out bitter in taste.

Another thing to watch out for is that the stems are very spiky with loads of tiny prickly hairs on them so be careful when handling the creeper or harvesting the fruits.

As the Madras Cucumber plant grew during the monsoons it received plenty of water, i feared that i might lose my curry leaf plant in the bargain, on the contrary they both did exceptionally well.

I was so happy that i gave the Madras Cucumber a chance to grow, from seed to seed it was a wonderful experience watching it grow and bear fruit.Growing Volunteer plants can be such fun,If any one of you have had a similar experience of growing a volunteer please do share it with me until next time.....

                          Happy Gardening To All My Friends ☺