The Jordanian Faqous

While those in the United States may refer to immature melons that are grown as cucumbers as “Armenian” cucumbers, those in the Arabic speaking world often refer to them as Fakkous or Faqous. These melon-cucumbers are generally light in color and can be long, semi-long or slightly short. Depending on where they are grown, they may have some other traits that they are selected for.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The germplasm that I received for this specific Faqous was collected by a work colleague who was visiting some friends or family in Jordan. Before leaving on her trip, she promised to pick up some seed for me. I was under the impression that the seed that she had provided me with would be a Palestinian variety called the Beit Sahour Faqous, but it turned out that what I received was a variety that is popular in the markets of Jordan. There, the fruit is picked very young, often with the intention of having locals use it for pickling cucumbers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The plants grew well and were generally problem-free until near the end of the season. That is when every muskmelon tends to succumb to Powdery Mildew. But until then, I was free to hand-pollinate the little female flowers that would develop on the meandering vines without the fear of spreading any disease. Once the fruit had set, it took a while to mature. This would definitely be a good trait for farmers who want to collect the fruit every few days, instead of having to pick all the fruit at once. Fruit that matures quickly results in either a lot of babysitting or a lot of wasted food, as those fruit that are often discarded because they don’t meet the customers’ standards.

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the end of the season, I was able to harvest enough fruit with good seed that I was able to ensure that I have the seed for another season. Often I am provided with seed that may go bad within the next 12 months. In these cases, it is imperative that I grow out at least a small quantity of the variety to ensure sufficient vigor in the population to keep it going. I look forward to growing the Jordanian faqous another year and hope to be able to provide this small variety on sprawling vines to many others.