Succeeded in 'super small melon' in Ho Chi Minh City

A kind of ultra-small cucumber that is just the size of a knuckle has been successfully grown in Ho Chi Minh City. Growers of this kind of super cucumber are Mr. Huynh Anh, a 50-year-old engineer, who lives at No. 12, 23B Street, Binh Tri Dong B Ward, Binh Tan District, Ho Chi Minh City.

Huynh Anh said that the origin of this cucumber variety is a wild plant found in Khanh Hoa. Since 2001, Mr. Huynh Anh has brought this plant to test in his garden but only until now, after nearly 7 years of cultivating, he encountered many failures and new plants left. Liana-like plants, with rollers, are suitable for soil, moist but have plenty of light.

In order to grow this kind of super cucumber, Mr. Huynh Anh must miraculously transplant the roots of this plant with the average tree roots to grow and produce fruits. Before that, he had rooted this wild plant with many other plants such as gourd, gourd, pumpkin . but all failed. Trees do not survive or grow well but do not give fruit.

According to Dr. Nguyen Dang Nghia (Director of the Center for Transfer of Agricultural Technology Progress - Southern Institute of Agricultural Science and Technology), the future of " baby " vegetables will definitely be favored, because of awareness of vegetables. All, enjoying quality fruits and vegetables . are being paid more attention by the people. There are super small " baby " melon Vietnamese pure is very good.Fruit that have been used for a long time by local people are a factor, but need to be analyzed for nutritional value and toxin analysis.In addition, in order to disseminate and develop a crop, it must be recognized by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development as a non-toxic variety that has been used by the people.

In adequate nutritional conditions the tree can be as high as 6m, is an annual tree, produces many flowers at the end of the winter (December of the lunar calendar), white petals, yellow stamens. On the same tree there are male flowers, female flowers, and bisexual flowers. The female flowers pollinate by wind, or insects carry pollen from the anther of the stamen. The melon trees in the garden of Mr. Huynh Anh are pollinated by flies and bees to make nests right in the dust.

Tree type of vines, round slightly rounded body, slender, many branches. At the tip of the head, young stems, young petioles are usually covered with a white undercoat. Each body node has a symmetrical nozzle that grows symmetrically with the leaf through the stem axis. Clippers help trees climb high to receive light.

Breeding from cutting stem from mother tree. Burning must have axillary buds or at least 1 leaf. Planting soil should be nutritious, porous, clean, and always moist. The tree is only successful when grafting the stem into the average tree roots. It was unsuccessful to try to transplant the small melon body into the roots of the plants with the gourd and other squash.

Currently, Mr. Huynh Anh has mastered this super small cucumber planting technique. He said that with the conventional seeding method, from the time of germination to the time when the seedlings come up, it will last more than 30 days and must wait until more than 140 days to flower.

With the transplanting method that Mr. Huynh Anh made, the time of transplanting was successful, about after 15 days of pollination, he could harvest the fruit . After each fruit harvest, it is possible to cut the tops of new stems and continue to produce new fruits, which is much shorter than the natural seeding method.

Super small cucumber is shaped with a sweet, crunchy taste like regular cucumber. When ripe, the fruit is shiny pink, 4–6mm in diameter, 8mm to 1cm in length. However, the special feature of this cucumber is that their essential oils are abundant in leaves and fruits, so it has a special smell more than cucumber, when it smells, it feels relaxing and aromatic.

Compare super small cucumber and regular cucumber (Photo: V. Giang)

In addition to being able to use exotic and delicious live fruits, making salad salads, cooling, lots of potential leaves can be explored.

In particular, Mr. Huynh Anh said he took samples of leaves to the Center for Chromatography Training and Development (HCMC) for analysis. The results of analysis of this super small cucumber leaf sample are rich in vitamin D3, vitamin E, minerals Fe, Mn, Cu, Zn . These are good substances for skin care and skin rejuvenation.

Mr. Huynh Anh also said that in the future, he may ask researchers and breeders to breed and combine the fruits so that fruits can be more quality and bigger.

According to experts, tiny vegetables such as super small melon grown by Huynh Anh, are also called " baby " vegetables. Some "baby" vegetables and fruits have been sold in Dalat by gardeners.

The advantages of " baby " vegetables are, high vitamin content, growing in a clean environment, fast turnaround time so less pests and diseases. " Baby " vegetables are not much popular because people are not used to them, leading to high prices compared to regular vegetables.

Meanwhile, Dr. Nguyen Ba Hung (Director of Hung Thien Limited, Da Lat) said that " baby " vegetables and fruits in Vietnam now have imported varieties from European countries for decades. In foreign countries, people love to use " baby " vegetables because of their high energy value and good taste, but in Vietnam, this kind of fruit and vegetables are still mostly 5-star hotels and fancy luxury restaurants. , still not popular in supermarkets.

" Baby " vegetables cost an average of VND 35,000 / kg. Customers who buy this vegetable are not expensive because they understand the nutritional value and the difficulty in growing and harvesting the " baby " fruit.

Vinh Giang