Giant Achocha

Cyclanthera pedata

Story: This unusual vegetable is hard to place on the culinary scale - some describe it being used like a green pepper and cooked into stews and chillies. We liken it more to a cucumber and eat it raw. We also love it lacto fermented and pickled when picked young and firm. The fruits are hollow and spiky with big black seeds inside. They are prolific growers that do well outside and love growing up a trellis or fence as the vines can get very long so give them lots of space. 

Seed saved by: Omved Gardens 

When to sow: Sow indoors March - April 

Requirements: They are hungry plants and love a good dressing of compost and they prefer something  to climb up. 

When to harvest for food : June - Oct

When to harvest for seed saving: September onwards when fruits get huge and change colour

Saving seed: Achocha will cross with other varieties of achocha so just grow one type if you plan to save seed - since it is such a rare veg this probably won't be a problem. Allow fruits to get really big and ripe on the plant, pick, cut open and scoop out the seeds - ripe seeds will be very dark brown/black - if they are beige/ light brown they probably aren't viable seed. Dry the seeds thoroughly inside then package, label and date. See video here. Save as many seeds as you can to share with friends, family and of course seed networks. 

Isolation required: Yes 

Number of plants to save seeds from: 1 minimum, 3 or more is ideal

Pollination: Insect pollinated  

How to send seed back: Please label all seed with variety, type, date and your contact. If you didn't get a chance to fill out our online data collection form, you can also send us a few lines about how it grew for you/flavour etc. Please aim to send back 1/3 cup of dried seed or more so that we can continue to share with network members. Send to: The Seed Saving Network, Omved Gardens, 1 Townsend Yard, N6 5JF.

Please remember, if you’re an individual grower you can order up to 4 packets of seeds. If you order more than this, you will receive just three packs to begin with. This is to ensure we get plenty of data in return and to keep our stocks sustainable for years to come.* 

*Community groups and Experienced Growers can order larger quantities, please email us at info@seedsaving.network if this is the case.

If an item is out of stock we will send a close alternative.