Was it only last week that I shared the photo of the first winter melon fruit growing? I’m in awe, because even though Novice Gardener said to expect exponential growth, it’s pretty incredible to actually see how fast the fruit has grown.

Two weeks ago we had the “little gherkin”…

The winter melon fruit at 4 days old.

And this week, we have the “little monster”…

More than a handful, and it looks like it's going to keep growing more!

It feels very hefty, but I’ll have to wait for harvest to get its actual weight. As of today, the fruit measured 18cm long and 9.5cm across at the widest part.

In the meantime, the vine appears to be conserving its energy for developing the First Fruit. All the other flower buds that appeared have aborted. However, I’m not complaining. I’d rather have a single good fruit than several almost-fruits. Besides that, the vine has started branching out a little. It had reached the top and end of the trellis and seems to want to start over from a lower level.

For now, we’ll keep watching in awe as this monster fruit keeps growing. I wonder what size it will be when it’s ready for harvest?

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