Bitter Melon

Momordica charantia

vegetable

Bitter melon, also called bitter gourd or karela, is a vigorous tropical climbing vine grown for its distinctive warty, cucumber-shaped green fruit. As the name promises, the flesh is genuinely bitter - an acquired but beloved taste central to Chinese, Indian, and Southeast Asian cooking, where it is stir-fried, stuffed, or curried, often after salting or blanching to soften the edge. The fast, tendril-bearing vine can run 12 to 20 feet in a single season and is best trained up a trellis, which keeps the hanging fruit straight and clean. It is grown as a warm-season annual, thriving in the heat and humidity that defeat many vegetables. The young leafy shoots are also eaten as a cooked green.

✅ Plant alongside

Good neighbors that attract beneficial insects or deter pests

• Corn: A tall warm-season partner that shares the heat and can lend the vine support
• Provider Bush Bean: Fixes nitrogen for the vine while using the open ground below the trellis
• French Marigold: Helps deter nematodes and some pests around the planting

🛡️ Pest & disease prevention

Proactive ways to stop trouble before it starts. Tap a name with an arrow for its full guide

• Fruit flies →

  The melon fly stings developing fruit - bag young fruit, harvest promptly, and clear fallen fruit that breeds maggots

• Aphids →

  Rinse colonies from new growth and encourage ladybugs; they can also spread virus

• Spider mites →

  Worst in hot, dry spells - rinse the foliage and avoid drought stress

• Powdery mildew →

  Train the vine on a trellis for airflow and avoid wetting the leaves late in the day

🌾 Harvest & storage

Bitter melon is ready about 55 to 70 days after planting and bears over a long season. Pick the fruit young and still green (or just turning pale yellow) and firm, when it is 4 to 8 inches long - this is when it is least harsh and the seeds are still soft. Harvest every few days, because the fruit ripens fast: left on the vine it turns orange, splits open, and the flesh goes soft and unpleasant. To tame the bitterness, cooks salt the sliced flesh or blanch it before cooking. Important: eat only the young green fruit (see the safety note) and never the ripe fruit or the bright red seed coats.

🥗 Nutrition & benefits

Bitter melon is very low in calories (about 17 to 30 per 100 g) and exceptionally high in vitamin C (well over a full days worth in a serving), with folate, vitamin A, and potassium. The young fruit is a prized vegetable in Asian cooking - stir-fried, stuffed, or curried - and is widely valued in traditional diets, though the strong bitterness is an acquired taste.

⚠️ Toxicity & safety

Eat only the young green (or just-yellowing) fruit. The fully ripe orange fruit and especially the bright red seed coatings are toxic and can cause stomach pain, vomiting, and diarrhea - the seeds should never be eaten, particularly by children. Bitter melon can lower blood sugar, so people on diabetes medication should be cautious, and it is not recommended during pregnancy.