My First Bitter Gourd Fruit

My first bitter gourd fruit and I did not even know about it until it has already ripened on the plant! I planted the bitter gourd plant from seeds (the small variety bitter gourd) about 3 months back in a pot. I let it crept up to my belimbing tree and I think that is a mistake, because it creeps up so high among the belimbing leaves that I can't even see whether there's any fruit! There are lots of flowers but they just dropped to the ground. Maybe it's because of the rain, as you know, the weather has been kind of "crazy" lately. Blazing hot in the morning and sudden heavy downpour in the evening. I guess that the poor tender flowers couldn't stand the force of the downpour!

Almost every day I "inspected" the plant hoping to see a small fruit but looks like I missed this one. One morning, as usual during my "inspection" I noticed an orange coloured fruit among the belimbing leaves. To my delight, it's a bitter gourd and it has already ripened to a beautiful orange in colour. And despite my frequent inspection, I missed this beautiful fruit ! It's my first bitter gourd fruit ! I couldn't wait to show it to my hubby and the kids! My son says "Wow, so pretty, just like an orange" . Pluck it the next day and it has already cracked revealing the red seeds inside. I planted the seeds and now three new plants has sprouted.

I spotted this yesterday morning during my "inspection". A small tiny fruit is growing!

I spotted this bigger fruit this morning! I am really excited. It feels really wonderful, and couldn't wait to "reap the fruits of labour"! This really boosts my confidence in planting other vegetables.

Will continue my inspection tomorrow to see whether there is any hidden bitter gourd among the belimbing leaves. Keeping my fingers crossed!