Continue reading below all the questions and answers on gourds and their use.
Long Bottle Gourd |
Q. Why the bottle gourd plant produce only male flowers?
A. The gourd plants produce mostly male blossoms initially early in the growing season which fall off, but will produce female flowers after some time.
A. This happens when the flowers are not being pollinated. The pollination is anturally carfried out by insects when they take the pollen from the male blossoms and then put it on the female blossoms.
You can try hand pollination. When the female flowers open in the evening, get a male floweer, remove its petals to expose the anthers and gently dust them against the stigmas of a female blossom.
Q. How can I get more flowers and more gourds from your bottle gourd vine?
A. Correct pruning technique can encourage your bottle gourd plant to produce more gourds. The main vine produces only the male flowers. Discard all the side growing branches and let the main vine grow to about 12 feet long, then cut off its end. This will grow lateral branches which will produce the female flowers. You can again prune these lateral branches when they have grown about 2-3 sets of leaves.
Q. What fertilizer is recommended for bottole gourd vines?
A. If you have added compost and manures in this soil at the time of sowing the seeds, then additional fertilizer is not necessary. You can feed a with a liquid fertilizer high in potassium. Do not give a high nitrogen fertilizer, it will encourage leafy growth only.
Q. What are the types of gourds?
A. The gourds are of mainly three varieties:
- Lagenaria Varieties: Lagenaria gourd is of several shapes including the bottle gourd is widely eaten. They can be dried and used as bottles, birdhouses and serving dippers. The mature and dry fruit makes a great bath sponge. The Lagenarias include bottle gourds, dipper gourds, speckled swan gourds, powderhorn gourds, etc.
- Luffa Varieties: Luffa gourds are edible, these can grow up to 2 feet long. It is a utility gourd, the dried lufa gourd is used as a bath sponge.
- Cucurbita Varieties: These are colorful ornamental gourds of the Cucurbita genus and are used to make good decorations.
Video of Growing Bottle Gourd from seeds
Video on How to grow bottle gourd
200 Comments
Thanks a lot for the hand pollination tip. The fruits are now growing!!
I noticed that some of the fruits have brown coloration towards the tip of the fruit. Is this something I need to worry and take care of?
I think, the brown colour should not be a concern. The colour will change to green as the fruit matures.
I have a vine that is growing 5 ft long bottle gourds. What is causing this to happen? Looks very weird. I did not do anything metioned in this article about plucking away female flowers etc. I have currently 10 dudhi hanging each 4-5 ft long.
There is some varieties of bottle gourd which produce very large fruits if they get proper growing conditions. I have also grown bottle gourds of length 4-5 ft.
I have a Question. I would like to know that when my Bottle gourd plant finishes, should I pull the roots out and plant again next year, or should I just leave the plant, to regrow next year? Thank You
The bottle gourd plant will not regrow. When the plant finishes, you should pull out the roots.
i have hand pollinated bottle gourd but this month its not working ,after pollination also fruit is not growing ,earlier we have seen bud result by it ,,and also i have seen some small pest in flower is this the reason
1. Sometimes it appears that pollination had taken place, but actually it didn't. Repeat hand pollination on each flower 2-3 days.
2. Small pests may not be the problem.
How to save lauki seeds from fruit, I grew lauki from seed I got from a friend, the last lauki I picked had hard seeds but edible flesh.
You separate the seeds from the flesh. Eat the flesh. Wash the seeds and put in sun to dry. Store the seeds in a closed container. They will germinate in the next season. I am doing this for the last several years.
Further to my above comment, if you really want to take seeds and preserve for the next season, you should wait for the bottle gourd to over ripe on the vine. The seeds of such a gourd will be matured ones. Wash and dry them and preserve.
However, you can preserve any hard seeds that you can find while using a bottle gourd.
I have planted one in a pot. Initially it was not growing, the nearby store have something. Then it grew up to our terrace. But even after 2 months, no signs of flowering. Should i use some fertilizer specifically containing phosphorus? Please help
1. Cut the growing tip of branches more than 1 m to encourage flowers.
2. Add cow manure or some other organic manure in the soil.
3. You may use bone-meal in the soil, but the above 2 steps should yield fruits.
Thanks.. Will try
I have planted one in a pot. Initially it was not growing, the nearby store have something. Then it grew up to our terrace. But even after 2 months, no signs of flowering. Should i use some fertilizer specifically containing phosphorus?? Please help
1. Cut the growing tip of branches more than 1 m to encourage flowers.
2. Add cow manure or some other organic manure in the soil.
3. You may use bone-meal in the soil, but the above 2 steps should yield fruits.
Thanks.. Will try
I see a bunch of 5-6 small buds each, everywhere on the plant. And i see many flowers all around the plant. The flowers are blooming for one day and then wilting and falling. Please advise. Which one is male flower and which one is female? And what can i do?
1. On the female flowers, you will see a tiny bottle gourd shape beneath the flower. See the pictures of male and female flowers above.
2. Initially the male flowers will be formed which may fall off.
3. Just cut off any side branches reaching about 1 m long to encourage female flowers to form.
Which flower actually produce fruit ?
Thanks for the information but i want to know do i need to pluck the male flowers to pollinate female flowers.
Please read my comments of August 4, 2014
Female flowers produce the fruits.
My one day plant has seed intact on leaves, please let me know what to do.
Don't worry, the seed will fall down and new leaf will emerge. This is the birth of a new plant.
You mentioned that pot needs 50cm dia. I have 30cm dia and 40cm height grow bags. Is it enough for bottle gourd ?
actually my plant leaves were turning yellow and white spots were occurring on the leaf .so, i chopped all the leaves and some of them which were not infected i did not chopped,is it correct?
Yes, this will work well.
It is advisable to chop off the infected leaves. You may spary milk solution on both sides of teh leaves. Mix 10 ml full fat milk in 1 liter water and spray.
we planted a bottle gourd yesterday one plant one student will take care and our adviser said to all of the student that who will be first bottle gourd to bear fruit the student will receive 95 points i want in my bottle gourd to bear fruit faster than other
When the plant grows to 1 m long, cut the growing end. This way the plant will bear more female and male flowers. Then you may hand pollinate them.
Hi, How often cow manure should be put it in to the soil? What's the best practice? Can I use Bio-farm manure?
Hand pollination helped. Thank you! Please tell me how to take care of gourd plants during summer.
My plant is producing lots of male flowers and very few female flowers, I have karela plant. Please advise.
Cut all the branches which have grown to about 2-3 ft long. The new growth will have both male and female flowers.
Lot of good information. Thank you !! My major problem is I am planting seeds since past 3 years not a single saplings sprout. I water them regularly and also soil is good as my other vegetables are growing in the same soil. But have hard luck with Dudhi plant, not sure if I am doing something wrong.
This year I had 1 seed that sprouted but next day that small plant was eaten by some bug.
1.One reason for seeds not sprouting may be that the seeds are not good.
2. Soak the seeds overnight in water and then plant in the next morning. if raising seedlings in a small pot, then place the pot in a warm or morning sun postion.
I think it will help.
Dear sir in my bottle gourd plant there are so many male flowers but not a single female till date what should i do?
Cut all the branches more than 2 feet long. The new growth should have both the male and female flowers.
I have planted Tindora in pot but when it was about 1 foot , I have tranffered it to big box but after that it just not look good . The leaves look littele down and not shiny as it was before . What shoul I do to help them ?
My bottle gourd is not producing any female flowers. Is there any remedy for it?
Sir, I bought 2 type of thin lemon tree 2 years back. I gave a big pot and fertilize every 15 days. Yet there is no fruit/ lemon. Please help.
Please post your question on lemon related page like
http://www.mykitchengarden.info/2015/04/citrus-leaf-curling.html
I have tried growing bottle gourd in my backyard .. But the flowers just fall off without any fruit ... Is it possible that my plan is not growing any female flowers. Please help. Thank you
If there are no female flowers, trim all the branches more than 2 feet long. The new growth should have both the male and female flowers for pollination and fruit formation.
Hi I seem to have many female flowers - shouldI take your advice and cut the plant at 1 metre to encourage more male flowers? Many thanks
You may try cutting a few branches without flowers and leaving a few with female flowers. Anyway the existing female flowers will fall off without germination as there are no male flower at present.
Hi my cucuzza plant has 1 cucuzza so far and 3 feet long but only 1 inch width. How do i get the cucuzza to increase in width? Thanks
I think, it is a very long variety. It will grow in width also after some time.
Thanks for your reply. 3 of my plants already turned yellow what can i do? Also is it ok to plant pumpkin plant and cucuzza plant side by side?
your picture shows that female flower with tiny fruit. Does it mean that since tiny fruit has developed and it doesn't require any hand pollination?
The female flower with tiny fruit does not mean that the fruit has developed, it is actually the ovary. The female flower needs to be pollinated by bees or by hand pollination. When it is pollinated, the flower will close in a day or two.
Hey there. This is my second year growing cucuzza. Last year i was pretty successful, however this year i noticed brown dry rot looking stems. In the last 2 or 3 three weeks it has moved up the stem. The brown dead looking stem now starts at the dirt and is about 2 to 3 feet upward. The plants have some yellowing leaves and is not yet producing large fruit. There are lots of bees around and other plants are pollinating fine. One plant has about 4 fruits on it, 2 are growing very slowly and the other 2 dont seem to be growing at all. About 4 weeks ago I gave the plants some phosphate in a granular form. There's a good chance I might have gotten some on the plant Stem. Not sure if this is the problem or what to do about it.
My 8 plants have grown well and yielded some fruit. The last 3 weeks, the leaves towards the bottom of the plant turned yellow, then brown and died off There are NO green leaves at the bottom 6 feet of my 15-20 plants. Plenty or yellow ones. Fruit appears to grow OK. We have received plenty of rain this year, and I water often. The ground around the ground around the plant appears moist. Am I overwatering, under watering, what could be wrong?
Yellowing leaves may be due to following reasons:
1. Older leaves can become yellow due to the aging. It is normal.
2. Deficiency of nitrogen. Feed fertilizer.
3. Bacterial Wilt (Pseudomonas solanacearum) causes leaf surface wilting and yellowing of the leaves.
4. Powdery white spots on the undersides of leaves and yellowing leaves are due to fungal disease Powdery mildew.
Management
1. Remove the infected leaves and destry them.
2. Mulch the plant.
3. Too much water and poor drainage can encourage fungus diseases. So improve drainage.
4. Plant rotation.
5. Spray plant with neem oil spray.
Please see my reply to the next question.
Both my bottle gourd and ridge gourd plants have growth well. They both are more than 6 feet long but I am yet to see a flower. ?
You may feed some liquid fertilizer high in potassium like seaweed solution or comfrey tea.
sir how do i know when my bottle gourd is ready to eat?
My bottle gourd is infected with squash bugs, any home remedy to get rid of those? Also I left one bottle gourd to over ripen for seeds,is it going to slowdown more fruits production.
When your lauki grows to a sufficient size, press your one finger nail in it. if the nail easily goes into the lauki, it means it is soft and tender. At this stage you can pluck the fruit. When the lauki becomes hard for your nail to penetrate, it means it is getting over-ripe.
1. Most of the bugs and pests can be controlled by spraying Neem oil spray.
2. For making seeds, the gourd should not be plucked until it is very ripe and drying. remove the gourd and hang it is shade. Take out the seeds and store in an air-tight bottle.
3. Yes, it may slow down the production of fruits, however, it depends on the health and size of the plant.
Sir, Thank you very much for a very informative journal. My first experiment at growing bottle gourd is now bearing fruit however one of my plants is infested with bugs under the leaves and beetles and these have stunted the growth of that plant. I have sprayed the plant with neem baan pest repellent but it is having no effect on these bugs. I am concerned that these will start to spread to my second plant which is now fruiting. Please guide me.
First of all remove all the infected leaves and destroyed them.
Try spraying milk solution on both sides of the leaves of your both the plants.
Mulch the plants.
Sir.. i have grown a bottle gourd plant... the flowers are pollinated but d problem is that the fruits wont grow to more than 1 inch.. some gets spoilt and rotten and the good ones dont grow even after having sufficient soil n water supply... what should i do?
If the fruit does not grow more than an inch, that means that the flowers are not getting pollinated. Please try hand pollination as explained above.
sir i have grown bottle gourd plant 2 months ago. it produces only leaves n no sign of fruit please suggest me what to do?
Thanks for all this information. I have an enormous gourd plant( planted it on the ground ) all of the branches are more than 1 meter long, which branch do you recommend to cut so I'll have more female flowers.
My gourd fruit will split /Crack when they are 2 inches long, what causes that?
Cut off the growing tips of all the branches that have grown about a meter long. This will encourage flowering.
Cut off the growing tips of the branches which are about 1 meter long and have no female flowers.
hi..i read all ur posts...i have grown bottle gourd in my kitchen garden( pot is as u suggested height n width).plant has grown very good but thing is buds are getting dry n falling down..buds r not blooming in to flowers ..please suggest me why and what i have to do.
1. Probably there is too much nitrogen fertilizer in the soil. Add some cow manure in the soil and keep the soil damp.
This article is very helpful. My mother has been able to successfully grow lauki after I had pointed her to this post. I am publishing a post on lauki halwa for my blog Andcakestoo and I am linking your article, in case some of my readers would like to grow their veggies. Great work. Thank you.
Thanks Dr Shreyashi Ganguly. I am glad that your mother has successfully grown lauki. I am very much interested in knowing the recipe of Lauki Halwa and Cake. I also have a cooking and health related web site and would refer your recipe there.
http://www.FatFreeKitchen.com
Sir I have three healthy saplings of bottle gourd in one ft. pot. Six to eight leaves each.
Will they grow in it or should I transplant them. How deep their roots go so that I can know how big pot I need. Can I use 1 ft deep and 2 feet wide crates and sow al three saplings in one .
For past few days no new leaves have come . Which fertilizer should I use to increase its length. Urea or NPK.
2. Urea is rich in nitrogen, so not good. You can use a NPK fertilizer initially, but later a fertilizer rich in potassium will be better.