Gourds provide a decorative touch to fall displays or a long-term ornamental object if properly dried. The three main types of gourds are Cucurbita, Lagenaria and Luffa. Most of the ornamental dried gourds come from the Lagenaria genus, while Cucurbita provides most of the colorful and decorative gourds used in autumn. Growing large gourds requires starting the seeds early for a long growing season and providing optimum care after you put them out in the garden.
Clip the tip off the gourd seed with nail clippers and soak it in a bowl of warm water for 24 hours before planting to speed germination. Start the seeds six weeks before the last expected spring frost.
Fill 3-inch-diameter peat pots with moist potting soil. Sow one gourd seed per pot, planting the seed about 1 inch deep.
Set the pots in a 70 to 75 degree Fahrenheit location where they receive full, all-day sunlight. Water the soil when the surface feels dry. The seeds should sprout within one week.
Move the pots outdoors after frost danger passes. Leave them outside for 15 minutes the first day. Gradually increase the time outdoors over a seven-day period until the seedlings spend the entire day outside. Hardening the seedlings off to outdoor conditions before transplanting prevents shock so the plants continue to put on healthy growth after you move them.
Work a 2-inch layer of compost into the soil of a full-sun, well-drained bed. Plant the gourd seedlings in the bed, spacing them 48 inches apart. Plant the entire peat pot in the ground with the rim just beneath the soil surface. The pot decomposes naturally and minimizes root disturbance at transplanting.
Water the gourds once or twice weekly or when the top 6 inches of soil begins to dry. Provide between 1 and 2 inches of water a week.
Spread a 2-inch layer of straw mulch around the plants but don't cover the plants. The mulch represses weeds, conserves moisture and protects the developing gourds from soil contact.
Fertilize the gourds when they begin sending out vines, about six weeks after transplanting. Apply 1/2 pound of a 10-10-10 fertilizer to every 25 square feet of bed. Avoid over fertilizing because too much nitrogen fertilizer can result in poor gourd formation.
Pinch off the remaining flowers on each vine after one or two flowers begin to grow into gourds. Removing the extra flowers and preventing further fruit set allows the energy and nutrients in the vine to fuel the gourds already growing, which results in bigger and healthier gourds.
Things You Will Need
- Nail clippers
- Peat pots
- Potting soil
- Straw mulch
- 10-10-10 fertilizer
- Harvest cucurbita gourd varieties before the first frost, after the rinds begin to harden and the vines turn brown. Harvest lagenaria gourds after the first frost when the rinds begin to harden. Luffa gourds are harvested after the fruits turn completely brown.
- You must cure gourds in a cool, dry place for one to three months or until the seeds rattle inside.
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