Wachskürbis

Wachskürbisse sind sehr wärmebedürftig! Sie besitzen eine dicke, wachsige Schale, von der sich ihr deutscher Name ableitet. Die Wachsschicht ermöglicht eine lange Lagerung der reifen Frucht. Unreif geerntet sollte sie alsbald verkocht werden. Reife wie unreife Früchte werden roh, gekocht oder eingemacht verzehrt. Beliebt ist im Osten ihre Verarbeitung zu Suppe, die bei festlichen Anlässen im ausgehöhlten und mit Schnitzereien verzierten Kürbissen serviert wird.

Anbautipps:

• Die Pflanze ist nicht mehltauanfällig!
• Gut geeignet für die Gewächshauskultur!
• Kürbisse sind auf die Bestäubung durch Bienen angewiesen. Da diese aber bei Schlechtwetter nicht fliegen, ist es bei anhaltend schlechter Witterung ratsam, bei der Befruchtung der Blüten eigenhändig nachzuhelfen:
  • Man streift mit einem feinen Pinsel über die Staubgefäße männlicher Blüten (das sind die mit dem langen Stängel)
  • und überträgt mittels des Pinsels den männlichen Pollen auf die dicken Narben der weiblichen Blüten (erkennbar an dem kugeligen Fruchtknoten unter der Blütenhülle).
• • Siehe auch die Gartentipps "Anzuchterde selbst gemischt" und „Papiersäcke als Pflanztöpfe“!

Requires a warm sunny position in a rich well-drained soil and plenty of moisture in the growing season. Established plants are reasonably drought tolerant. Tolerates a pH in the range 5.8 to 6.8. This species is not very frost hardy, it is best grown in a greenhouse in Britain but can succeed outdoors in good summers if started off in a greenhouse and planted out after the last expected frosts. Plants require stable temperatures in excess of 25°c if they are to do well. Short daylengths and lower temperatures stimulate female flower development, higher temperatures stimulate male flower production. Plants take 5 months from seed to produce a mature crop, though the fruits can be eaten when immature. The wax gourd is frequently cultivated for its edible fruit in the tropics, there are many named varieties. One group, sometimes classified as B. hispids chieh-gua, is known as the hairy melon or jointed gourd. This form is grown for its immature fruit in much the same way as courgettes are used. Mature fruits of this form do not develop a waxy coating. The fruit can be harvested about 3 months after sowing.

Edible Parts: Flowers Fruit Leaves Seed Edible Uses: Fruit - raw or cooked. Used as a vegetable, and in pickles, curries and preserves. The fruit can be eaten when it is young or old, it can be picked as early as one week after fertilization. A juicy texture with a mild flavour, the flavour is somewhat stronger in younger fruits. Because of its waxy coating, it will store for several months, sometimes as long as a year. Mature fruits can vary in weight from 2 - 50 kg. A nutritional analysis is available. Young leaves and flower buds are steamed and eaten as a vegetable, or are added as a flavouring to soups. Seed - cooked. Rich in oil and protein.

Rootstock A wax that coats the fruit is used to make candles. The roots have considerable resistance to soil-borne diseases and they are sometimes used as a rootstock for melons and other cucurbits.

Heimisch: Bismarck Archipelago, Borneo, Jawa, Lesser Sunda Is., Maluku, New Caledonia, New Guinea, Queensland, Solomon Is., Southern Asia, Sulawesi, widely cultivated, probably originating from B. pruriens in cultivation; Mauritius [I]; Seychelles [I]; China [I]; South Korea [I]; Japan [I]; Taiwan [I]; Pakistan [I]; Nepal [c]; India [I] (Arunachal Pradesh [I], Bihar [I], Jammu & Kashmir [I], Jharkhand [I], Meghalaya [I], Tripura [I], Uttarakhand [I], Uttar Pradesh [I], West Bengal [I]); Maldives [I]; Bangladesh [I]; Andaman Isl. [I]; Nicobar Isl. [I]; Myanmar [I]; Thailand [I]; Laos [I]; Cambodia [I]; Vietnam [I]; Philippines [I]; Borneo [I]; Sulawesi [I]; Java [I]; Lesser Sunda Isl. [I]; Moluccas [I]; New Guinea [I]; Bismarck Arch. [I]; Solomon Isl. [I]; New Caledonia [I]; Rotuma Isl. [I]; Tonga [I] (Vava'u [I]); Fiji [I]; [Western] Samoa [I] ('Upolu [I]); American Samoa [I] (Tutuila [I]); Cook Isl. [I] (Rarotonga [I]); Marquesas Isl. [I] (Nuku Hiva [I], Hiva Oa [I]); Society Isl. [I] (Tahiti [I]); Palau [I]; Northern Marianas [I] (Alamagan [I], Saipan [I]); Guam [I]; Fed. States of Micronesia [I] (Yap [I], Pohnpei [I]); Mexico [I]; Cuba [I]; Hispaniola [I]; Trinidad & Tobago [I]; Venezuela [I] Eingeführt: AU, Andaman Is., Assam, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Caroline Is., Chagos Archipelago, China North-Central, China South-Central, China Southeast, Cook Is., Cuba, Dominican Republic, East Himalaya, Fiji, India, Korea, Laos, MV, Marianas, Marquesas, Myanmar, Nicobar Is., PH, Pakistan, Peros Banhos Atoll, Île Diamant, Philippines, SC, Salomon Islands, Île Boddam, Samoa, Society Is., Sri Lanka, Sumatera, TL, TO, TW, Thailand, Tonga, Trinidad-Tobago, Venezuela, Vietnam, West Himalaya