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Post by macmex on Apr 26, 2024 12:11:44 GMT -6
My wife has been itching to grow some larger gourds. Me, well, I kind of cooled to the idea, some years ago, when I just couldn't get them started. The few I did start, languished and died. However, last year he had me plant a hill or two of bottle gourds. They were in a neglected (more neglected) part of the garden and, well, they didn't do very well. They grew some and set a few gourds, dying by the end of July. We picked up most of the gourds during the winter. She's holding them for projects she wants to do with grand kids.
I went out there to plant corn few weeks ago. My wife had rototilled the area and we decided to turn it into a corn patch, in order to reclaim it from the Johnson grass. Well, when the corn came up I found a patch of volunteers, which made me think of the winter melons which volunteered just outside our garden, last year.
At first I thought, "Oh, we have more winter melons coming up. I wonder how they got here?" But as I examined them, I spotted a piece of shell from a bottle gourd. Jerreth was delighted! This last Wednesday I took off work to work on the garden and farm. I took the time to transplant two sets of these volunteers so that they grow up against the fence. My hope is that they'll climb on the fence. I may leave one or two, right where they volunteered.
It rained yesterday, and when I checked, my transplanted gourds were looking great.
One thing that makes me tend to like a plant is if it is so persistent that it "drops in" without being replanted!
Anyone else have experience with these gourds?
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Post by woodeye on Apr 26, 2024 14:54:09 GMT -6
Back in the latter part of the 90's I grew birdhouse gourds on a cattle panel trellis. I grew them for Chester, he would wood burn designs on them, they made excellent gifts. I wish I still had pictures of the ones I grew but that was back before the age of digital pictures, so I have no idea what happened the pictures I took.
I remember that there was a lot of problems with pollination, but I learned that hand-pollination was the way to go. In fact, hand-pollinating those birdhouse gourd blossoms was the first time I had used the method. Folks would make fun of me for using an artist's brush or q-tip to pollinate the flowers, but it worked well so I continued despite the peer pressure. I doubt pollination is a problem for you because of your bees.
Anyway, you have a good start on them this year, macmex. Best of luck for a good crop...
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