Oh My Gourds!

I received a pack of short handled dipper gourds early in the spring from the people with the Indianapolis Gourd Society.  These are non-edible gourds used for decoration; birdhouses, rattles, ect.

A few seeds were started in the greenhouse in April and germinated within a couple days.
The growth rate was astonishing, within two weeks I had to transplant them into 4" pots.  The root system does not like to be disturbed to much, so be very careful when transplanting.

These were transplanted into the garden in May along with a few seeds directly into the ground.  The soil was mended with a high nitrogen bat guano and worm castings. 

     I think these plants can grow anywhere! I had 5 plants around a bamboo trellis I made out of 6 foot bamboo stakes and twine.  This area is surrounded by old Arborvitae shrubs, which ended up functioning as a trellis later in the summer.  Using a trellis, the neck of the gourd will grow straight toward the ground.  The vines can also grow on the ground, resulting in a crooked neck gourd.

These next pictures were taken at the beginning of June.  When the vines reach about 8 to 10 feet, it is important to cut the tip off of the main runner.  This is done to induce lateral shoots that will begin to grow from the node closest to the cut.  Later in the season, lateral shoots will produce the female flowers and the main runner will produce mostly male flowers.  Gourds produce flowers that are monoecious, literally meaning one house, these flowers actually have a gender.



Male flower in late summer

Female flower in late summer

Birds-eye view of plants in June

The next pictures were taken on September 8th. The vines really took off starting in July when the temperature was 85 degrees plus.  I was cutting at least eight feet off the ends each week to control the amount of growth. 

The gourds are 14" on the handle and the bowl has a 17" diameter on September 10.  I counted 20 gourds, and there are  a lot more hidden in the vegetation that I cannot see.  After the first frost, the gourds will be ready to harvest!