How to Grow Pepino Dulce
On this page
Pepino dulce tolerates only brief, light frost down to about -2°C before dieback, and needs night temperatures above 18°C to set fruit. New plants are usually started from stem cuttings treated with rooting hormone under mist with bottom heat, rather than from seed, and set outdoors only once all danger of frost has passed.
The short answer
- Site
- soil pH 6.5–7.5
- Biggest risk
- Phytophthora blight
Core growing advice on this page is checked against named horticultural sources — see References.
Pepino Dulce (Solanum muricatum)
3 sources cited · Verified
Quick Facts
At a Glance
Diseases
Pests
Soil & Growing Conditions
Growth Stages
Harvest & Storage
Plan your Pepino Dulce planting
Timing for Pepino Dulce follows soil temperature and frost, not the calendar date. The Global vegetable planting calendar explains the method. To work out where it fits in your beds, sketch your plot in the free Garden Layout Planner.
Growing Pepino Dulce in another region
Sowing dates, frost timing and local advice differ by country. Use the guide for where you garden.
Sources
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Native to temperate Andean regions of Colombia, Peru and Chile (not found wild -- exact origin unclear). Warm, frost-free climate; survives brief freezes at 27-28°F but may lose leaves; fruit production needs night temperatures above 65°F. Soil pH 6.5-7.5, fertile, well-draining, neutral; less salt-tolerant than tomato; mulch suppresses weeds. Sunny or semi-shaded, frost-protected, wind-sheltered site; south-facing walls/patios ideal. Space 2-3ft apart. Shallow roots make it sensitive to moisture stress; microjet irrigation preferred over drip; overhead sprinkling may help pollination. Propagate from 3-5in stem cuttings with rooting hormone, mist and bottom heat; plant out after frost danger (Feb-April). Pests/diseases similar to tomato: bacterial spot, anthracnose, Alternaria and Phytophthora blights, spider mites, cutworms, hornworms, leaf miners, flea beetles, Colorado potato beetles, fruit flies. Harvest only fully mature fruit (ground colour yellow to light orange) for best flavour; bruises easily, stores 3-4 weeks at 38°F/high humidity.
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PFAF entry for Solanum muricatum. Fetched and parsed directly for the USDA hardiness rating.
These 2 sources are specific to this region. The full list of 3 sources behind this guide (California Rare Fruit Growers (CRFG), Plants For A Future (PFAF), Royal Horticultural Society) is in the references of our UK guide to pepino dulce; they describe the plant itself, which is the same wherever it grows.
Frequently Asked Questions
What soil pH does pepino dulce need?
A pH of about 6.5–7.5. That span reflects genuine variation between the authorities we cite rather than a single agreed figure — the References section lists each source's exact range.
What problems affect pepino dulce?
Our data links 4 diseases and 9 pests to this crop. See the sections above for each one and how to manage it.
Plan next season before the problems start
This page gives you the thresholds; the planner turns them into your own calendar. It works from what you can observe and measure in your garden rather than from dates written for somebody else’s latitude.
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How this guide is put together
The growing data on this page — sowing windows, pests, diseases, soil and site requirements — comes from named horticultural sources, listed in References below, checked against international horticultural research and extension sources. An automated pipeline assembles that verified data into the page you're reading: it selects which facts to lead with and builds the surrounding prose and layout. It does not invent a date, a source or a number — where a verified value for a field isn't available, the page leaves it out rather than guessing. A person reviews and publishes each page; nothing goes live unverified.
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Last verified 2026-09-03
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Where To Go From Here
Take this crop from reading into a written plan for your own beds.
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Plan the next step
Use the printable SoilCommander planner for your region to turn this guide into sowing dates, bed layouts and weekly garden tasks.