Bitter melon
Momordica charantia
In a typical UK garden, sow indoors late March to mid-April, plant out early May to early June, and harvest late June to late October.
When to sow, plant and harvest
Last frost around 20 April, first frost around 31 October.
- Sow indoors
- late March to mid-April
- Plant out
- early May to early June
- Harvest
- late June to late October
Growing facts
- Spacing
- 45 cm apart, rows 150 cm apart
- Square foot
- 1 per 2 squares (30 cm squares)
- Sowing depth
- 1.5 cm
- Ready in
- 35 to 55 days from planting out
- Grows to
- 2 m
- Hardiness
- Tender: killed by any frost
- Sun
- Full sun
- Crops for
- About 8 weeks
Growing tip
Soak seed overnight, grow it up a sturdy trellis, and pick fruit young and green before it yellows and splits.
More squashes
Where these figures come from
Every crop in VegLog was checked against published growing advice. Dates are worked out from average frost dates, so they shift with your garden. For bitter melon, we used:
Grow bitter melon with VegLog
Add bitter melon to a bed and VegLog reminds you when to sow, plant out and pick, timed to your own town's frost dates.
