Nwhorthappy, I think that it would be very unlikely that the bittermelon sold for food would be sufficiently mature for use as seed. We allow our melon to get beyond usefulness for stirfries and soups in order to have viable seed.

If, perchance, the seed has begun to darken . . . you may be able to get it to germinate. As far as hybrid melons go - Cornell U. lists 9 varieties commonly available, 3 as hybrids.

Know very little about winter melons, sorry.

Steve

It depends on your attitude. If you are trying to save money and are depending on your gardening to supply your table, this is probably not worthwhile.

But if you have a childish interest in these things, as I do, it is well worth experimenting with. What can you lose? It's cheap entertainment. Heck, a movie ticket costs $8.00 and the movie is over in a couple of hours. And it probably wasn't very good (personal bias).

Dry the seeds. Then sometime later do a germination test by wrapping a few seeds in a moist paper towel and putting that in a closed container on top of the fridge. Check on it once in awhile. If the seeds germinate, try growing some. You won't know until they fruit if you have something good. It's an adventure all the way.

Jim

Thanks, Steve and Jim. Good point about the seeds probably not being mature enough. But I will cheerfully try them anyway, and do the germination test as an experiment....and probably get a packet of commercial seeds to have as back-up.

One more thing... Seeds don't always have to be mature to be viable. I have germinated seeds from an unripe chili and others have germinated immature tomato and bean seeds. There is a fair chance it will work with your melon seeds.

Jim

perhaps if you let the bitter melon ripen, turn orange, the seeds will mature(?)

winter melon, which is harvested when fruit is already mature, should have viable seeds, but you should let the melon sit for a while before taking out the seeds.