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Gourdaceous thoughts…
concerning gourds
Blooms of growing gourd vines open at night through very early morning. It's a gourdeous sight to catch...but get up early!
Hard-shells bloom white...Loofahs (Luffas) bloom yellow.
Corn planted in the rows or mounds makes a beautiful and inexpensive trellis...and you get to eat the corn. Watch out if your neighbor has cows, the corn plus the gourd vines will attract them...better keep a check on your fence.
Bees and butterflies will be an added attraction during the day, but moths and other night fliers do most of the pollinating during the dark when the blooms are open.
Long handle gourds (dippers) will grow straight if trellised, but will create outrageous curved handles if left to grow on the ground.;)
Large gourds will weigh down to the ground (better for a flat bottom) even if trellised.
You can reshape a gourd body by building a frame around it while it is growing.
The vines are really pretty sturdy, but if you try to move them from the direction they're going, they can snap or bruise easily. They have a path of their own, just give them room.
Trees nearby? The vines will grow up and out the limbs and you'll have gourds hanging from the limbs.
Need a solar sun screen for your porch? Plant vines below and you'll have all the shade you want...and gourds too.
;)
Walk your patch daily when gourds start forming. If you want flat bottoms, just sit them on their bottoms as soon as they're big enough to reach the ground from the vine.
Want a different place flat? Just rearrange to sit on the portion you want flat.
Got an ugly pile of brush out there? Plant gourds around it. The vines will hide it in no time. Vines have been known to grow four (yes, 4) feet a day.
Gourd vines have shallow roots...weed carefully.
The leaves of the vine can get huge and look like elephant ears, or they can stay small. It doesn't make any difference to the gourds.
When the main gourd vines get to about 10 feet, pinch off the end. This will cause the vine to produce more "laterals" (the side branches that produce the gourds).
If left to grow, the main vine will keep growing and may only produce one or two side branches. The more side branches, the more gourds!
You can color gourds with paint
,;)
shoe polish, leather dye, wood stain...try anything! You can also woodburn them.
Safety is the key when working with gourds. Wear a good quality mask or respirator to protect yourself from the mold inside & on the surface of the gourd.
Off The Top Of My Gourd
;)
A hard-shell gourd is a gourd…not a squash, pumpkin, cucumber or melon. They are in the same family, but a well cared for dried gourd will last through many generations to come. Do not confuse the hard-shell gourd with the small thin shell variety, called ornamental gourds, that you find seasonally at your grocery.
Grow your own or purchase some from a gourd supplier. Either way you are in for a treat learning about this curious “fruit-of-the-vine”.
Want to plant a seed and watch it grow? You can usually find packets of bottle gourds wherever plant seed packets are found in your area in the Spring. Unless you have trouble growing plants on your property, you probably don’t need to do any soil preparation. If you’re not sure, add organic or 10-10-10 fertilizer before planting. If you know you have acidic soil, you may want to also add some lime.
No two gourds will be identical. You’ll get the same general shape, but nature is in control, and the drying process will add a different character to your gourds even if they have the same general shape.
SEED TO GROUND - Get your seeds into the ground after the danger of frost is gone going into Spring. Gourd seeds sometimes take up to a month to germinate. You can try to speed up the process by soaking the seeds for a couple of days before planting, or even nicking the seed on the pointed tip with a pair of wire cutters.
Unless you’re planting a fairly large area, you could just build mounds (8 feet apart) and plant your seeds on top. Plant more seeds than you would want vines, 8-10 per mound, as not all seeds will germinate. Thin to 3-4 per mound after they sprout. Water should drain off the mound and keep your starting vine from sitting in water after a rain.
For larger plantings, use raised rows, thinned to have plants about three feet apart. We plow rows far enough apart to drive the tractor between them. This works for cutting the weeds between the rows until the vines start running.
PESKY BUGS - In Georgia, any insect that will bother melons & their vines will also bother gourds & their vines, especially the blooms. Some pests, i.e. tiny spotted or striped beetles, show up unannounced overnight and can wipe out fresh gourd sprouts at an alarming rate. Treat as you would your regular garden pests (soapy water works great). It’s best to check on your new sprouts daily until they reach a good size. Friends of gourds include bees, butterflies, ladybugs and moths.
SUN . SUN . SUN … they need it.
;)
Good drainage is also a good idea.
Keep out the weeds, if you can, until the vines start running. Be carefully not to disturb the gourd sprout while pulling weeds. Once the vines run, so will the weeds (they’ll be crowded out by the vines).
Unless we have a very dry summer, just rain will be enough watering for your gourd plants. If you have to water, try to soak the ground around the point where the vine comes out of the ground, not the leaves on the vines.
Adding nitrogen to the soil is said to help the development of thicker shells. If you decide to try it, add it around the plants after the vines start running.
HINT – want to try for a big one? Pinch off all but one gourd from a vine so it will get all the nutrients & water.
ARE THEY DRY YET? – A mature gourd in 90% water. Drying in the garden or field will not occur until the vine withers & dies. This will not normally happen until the Fall. We leave our gourds in the field to dry through the winter. I’ve found that punching holes in them to promote drying will encourage rot & bugs. If you can hear the seeds rattle when you give the gourd a good shake, you have a gourd that is ready to use. The gourd will also be very light-weight. You’ll always lose some to varmits, insects, rot, etc. The ones that survive need to be harvested leaving 3-4 inches of stem attached.
MOLD – the only time more is better. ;)
It’s produced from the water inside evaporating out through the skin. It adds character to the finish on the gourd. The designs will emerge when you clean off the mold after harvest.
CLEAN ‘EM UP – Soak the dried gourd in water for about an hour. They float, so you may want to lay a wet towel (don’t use again on your skin and don’t wash with your clothes) over them and keep it soaked. This softens the dirty molded outer skin. Use a knife (to scrape), fine steel wool or kitchen scrubber to clean off the molded exterior. Let the gourd dry and allow your imagination to take over from there! If worse comes to worse, just cut a hole in it for a birdhouse.
