Mysterious plant ID

[mystang89]

I have this ginormous (wow, that's an actual word, I thought for sure spell check would sue me for typing that) vine that has been growing in my garden. I've been waiting forever to figure out what it was. At first I thought it was a gourd, then after one fell off the vine I opened it, (about 1 1/2 months ago) and it had a vague taste and smell like watermelon. So that is what we figured it was. Well, as you can see from the pictures it looks nothing like a watermelon nor anything else, including gourds, that we can find. My wife finally pestered me enough to cut another one off so I did in order to get her to be quiet. Again, it tasted and smelled vaguely like watermelon. Now, I haven't a clue as to what this is or whether it is safe for my rabbits to eat. If it is then great, if it's poisonous then I most certainly don't want to give it to my rabbits but will on the other hand give large chunks of it to my wonderful wife



We have a gravity anomaly here at my house. Everything stands on it's side.

 

[Dood]

Definitely some sort of gourd or melon plant.

Gourds, squash, pumpkins and melons can all crossbreed and if this came up wild it is likely a hybrid from neighborhood gardens.

The fact it has a Melon smell makes me think the mother plant was likely a Chinese winter Melon - http://www.tastehongkong.com/ingredients/winter-melon/

 

[mystang89]

That is cool. Always wanted a little bit of Hong Kong at my house. Next year I also plan on inviting Godzilla here to climb any left over WinterMelon vines that may spring up.

 

[Frecs]

After you get the pictures of Godzilla climbing your volunteer watermelon stalks, feed the leaves and stalks to your rabbits. They can eat the fruit too but since it is "sweetish" I'd go easy on that part.

 

[AmysMacdog]

It looks like zucchini except for the inside color and flavor of the fruit. How weird!

"Gravity anomaly" :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[Demamma]

I have had a gourkini before. Gourd zucchini cross. The skin was hard but inside was like a zucchini but more bitter. This year looks like another zucchini cross is growing but smaller and round.

 

[mystang89]

When I first saw it I thought it might have been a zucchini as well, some crazed mutated zucchini, but a zucchini non the less. After tasting it though I really think Dood hit the nail on the head with Wintermelon. I'm trying to look up recipes for it today to see what I can make. I really hate to throw all those to the rabbits and not enjoy at least some of what I stood on the sidelines wondering what it was which was taking over my garden.

 

[Desert Rose Rabbits]

I was going to second Wintermelon. The leaves look similar to the wintermelon plant my mother in law is growing (she's Chinese). The shading on the leaves, though, reminds me of the zucchini I have growing the garden.

 

[Cspr]

Gotta love the wild stuff that can crop up in a garden. I think we got cucumbers that tasted like watermelon once. -scratches chin- Not quite sure, but, yeah, definitely looks like it's in a safe family. -nods-

 

[mystang89]

I looked up a recipe for wintermelon soup and it came out ok. I'm apparently not a big fan of ginger roots, (just found that out,) but other than that it came out pretty good. Something different. I think instead of putting pork in it next time I will put some rabbit in there. A friend of my wife also wants to try to juice some so I'll let her figure that one out.

 

[ramblingrabbit]

The confusing thing is that a lot of those closely related gourds, squashes, melons, etc. actually belong to the same species--and it's not always the ones you'd expect based on their traits or common names...

 

[mystang89]

Found out rabbits don't much care for it. The recipe I used requires it to be peels (....uggg) and so I decided to give it to the rabbits. Stayed in their cage for a while before I finally took it out.

 

[Dood]

Did you try feeding them the plants leaves?

I 'prune' my squash plants and give the buns the leaves - they gobble them up, this also stunts the zuccini's fruits so they dont grow 6 inches evernight :lol: I also give them the giant pumpkin flowers as I only allow one fruit per plant to ensure its a monster by Halloween

 

[Bad Habit]

Oh neat! I have a mystery vine growing from my compost as well. I've named her Chloe, she's just had her first flower!!

I didn't realize that it could be a crossbred plant though! That's so exciting.

 

[ramblingrabbit]

I have lots of cultivated and volunteer squash, mostly kabocha types. My rabbits don't seem to like the leaves. I've tried feeding them several times and they always just sit in the cage until I remove them. Is it because of the hairy leaves, or what? :?