I'm not going to be much help with climate or planting times, Balcony, but I can tell you that they like a rich, fast draining soil. If you are thinking of containers, they will also need a very large one: at least 1/2 meter wide and tall for one plant. Give them plenty of room to run, because each plant needs around 3 square meters of space to develop vines properly. they can be grown on trellises, but you will want to make them very strong, and attach slings for the developing fruit! Most kinds need at least 3 months of warm, frost-free weather to produce, so a greenhouse may be a necessity.

Thanks very much for that info., Tugbrethil. :-))

I did a search on the Internet yesterday & found a very interesting article from the University of Illinois, some of the info coincides with what you say.

Thanks again! :-))