Plant documentary started February 2026 and ended TBD in Oviedo, Florida, USA, Zone 10A.
- Vegetable: Bitter Melon
- Variety: Jyunpaku Okinawan Pure White
- Seed source: Pan Asia Heirloom on Etsy
- Batch 1: Seeds sown 3/1/26, transplanted 3/21/26
- Batch 2: Seeds sown ( ), transplanted ()
- Batch 3: Seed sown (), transplanted 6/7/26
Note: I am collaborating with Pan Asia Heirloom on Etsy to grow this bitter melon variety.
- Date seeds sown: 3/1/26
- Date transplanted: 3/21/26
Visual Growth Progress
From most recent…
Harvest white bitter melons when you see the fruit starts to show a tinge of orange. The shel around the seed is turned soft red. The edible red shell is creamy and sweet! Do not harvest seeds when the seed shell has not turn red yet because the seeds may not be vial.
Many Bitter Melon Varieties
There are more than fifty varieties of bitte melon. The large green bitter melon is commonly sold at every single southeast Asian markets I have been to in the United States. Bitter melon is a vegetable that grows on a vibe that requires a trellis. The color of the bitter melons ranges from dark green to light green and pure white. The white bittermelon melon varieties are less bitter compared to the green varieties.
Culinary Purposes:
For soups: Large green bitter melon varieties are often used to stuff pork and shrimp paste and then cooked in a soup with cilantro.
For grilling: The white bitter melons are great for grilling with Korean BBQ. My friend let me try it once when I came to eat at her house. I liked it a lot.
For stir-frying:
For claypot style : Bitter melons can also be braised in a clay pot as a vegetarian dish with other vegetables in a Vietnamese vegetarian dish.
For smoothie: Jyunpaku Okinawan Pure White bitter melon is often used to make white bitter melon smoothie.
