drying gourds

What is the best way for drying gourds. This is my third year growing bird house gourds and in the past they have always rotted on me. This year I have a huge birdhouse gourd that I would like to dry and preserve. I have also just harvested a louffa gourd and would like to know the best way to preserve it.
Thanks from a new (inexperienced ) gourd grower!

This message was edited Oct 29, 2003 11:01 PM

I need to know, too.
I have 5 bushel basket gourds to dry.
Somebody, help ....

For the luffa, Kat, I just waited a good long time before removing it from the vine. Then, when I was sure it was mature, I removed it and then placed them over my heating vents. I was in a hurry to dry them for holiday gifts. They dried in time and I have a whole thread about the cleaning part. See --> http://davesgarden.com/t/345232/

As for gourds, it seems there are many different ways & opinions. For small gourds that have matured on the vine, I have had success harvesting them and drying them under the grow lights. For larger gourds, I'm in a quandry. I had two full grown snake gourds that rotted on the vine this year. I decided to save my extra long handled dipper gourd and harvested it. It was mature, but it decided to rot after about a month of being harvested.

Many people say to leave them on the vine until they dry. That works if you don't have anything eating them. I still don't know why my larger gourds rotted on the vine or off...

I've tried to leave the gourd on the vine as long as possible, but usually find that the first frost hits before the vines have a chance to die off and the gourds have a chance to dry out.I think the cold/frost damages the gourd as well and causes some to rot if not picked soon enough. I also have problems with slugs trying to get a hold of the gourds as well, and usually find small holes in them if I wait too long. Am I doomed to rotted gourds if I can't keep them on the vine long enough?

This message was edited Oct 29, 2003 11:01 PM

Kat, if you think that they have matured, you might try bringing half of them in and leaving half outside? That's what Dave suggested last year for me on the luffas. If you do bring them inside, you can hang to dry in garage or try what I've done and put them under the grow lights with a fan to help evaporate their moisture faster.

Sorry I just don't have the answer on this one. I think it's a good question I'll try to remember to ask at next year's Mt. Gilead Gourd Festival! Many of those people live in zones that encounter this issue and I am curious how they grow hoards of gourds without them rotting. Oh, I do remember someone did mention getting them started as early as possible in the season. Maybe the frost is why?

This year I only ended up with one louffa and two good sized bird house gourds(and I dropped one of the BH gourds when harvesting and broke the top off!!-not really enough to leave half in and half out, although that sounds like a good suggestion to see which ones do best.) I decided last night that I would take the louffa and large BH gourd and place them on the base of my food dehydrator for a couple days to see if that will take the moisture out quicker. Will let you know if it works! Thanks for all the good advise.
Kathy

Morph, when you mention " hang to dry", how exactly do you hang them? What do you use as hangers and is your garage heated or connected to the house? If unheated, will they dry before they freeze?
Thanks.

When you are cureing gourds you have to remember this.....no matter what you do there are some you are going to lose. Your not going to get them all. And unfortunatuly Murphy's law dictates the one you want the most is the one you lose....LOL...I know Murphy well........

I have grown gourds in Texas and Tennessee and used this method with pretty good results. These are some of my own observations, methods and results. I am still learning and trying diffrent things to get better results.


One of the biggset problems with gourds occures when they are picked to soon.
They may look mature and have a brown dry stem, but still have to much moisture inside. I have found no way yet to know this.........

Its hard to tell when they are mature cause there is not real rule of thumb to go by. I have had identical gourds side by side, flowered and grew together, but yet they matured several weeks apart.

You can try pressing your fingernail on the side of the gourd. If it leaves a pretty good indent then the gourd is not ready. There should be almost no impression left. I have had good luck using this as a gauge.

I leave as much stem as possiable on them and then I would hang them under my deck, or in the shed. It stayed dry yet was cool, dark and undisterbed.

Hope this helps some of you.

And please if you know of something diffrent that seems to work let us know.........

Dee

Since I've never hung any myself, I'm not sure how to do that, Roshana. I think, though, it would be in an attached garage where it wouldn't be likely to freeze.

OH, well, thanks anyway, Morph. I got a quick glimpse of a picture somewhere that showed them hanging and it looked like there were strips of fabric tied to the gourd's stem and then to a beam somewhere. I wonder if that's what you do: tie something soft to the stem and then use that for hanging? I wondered if the stem ever broke. Plus, not all of my gourds have stems.

I took a look at my meager gourd arrangement today and noticed one was really soft and another had mold growing on it. But the moldy one was really light, as if it might indeed be drying. I am also wondering if you need to have gourds dry before collecting the seeds. Or can you cut them open now before they ripen like you do a pumpkin, and save those seeds. Will the seeds be mature and viable?

This is so new to me. I appreciate this discussion. Thanks.

Hope those seeds are viable cuz I grabbed them out of the gourds that rotted on me! I could tell which seeds had matured and which ones hadn't so I kept only the healthy looking ones.

They do need to stratify, I believe, so I'll keep them in the garage where the chilly winter weather can communicate the season change to them :)

On the moldy gourds, I think it was Wind (maybe someone else) that rubs them with rubbing alcohol to control the mold growth.

If I get a little mold on mine which in this part of the country you probably will. I soak the whole thing in Clorox water after they are dry.

Fix a tub,with enough water to cover the gourds completely, and add about a pint or maybe a little more of Clorox. Use water that is room temp. not hot or cold,cold.

I have a half barrel I use this for. Before the barrel I used my bathtub. Just make sure you have a way to capture all the trash and it dosen't go down the drain and clogg your line....

I scrubb them with a stiff bristle brush, but not wire. Check on them about 15 minutes after they have been in the water to see if the crud is coming off easily then you can finish scrubbing.


Some have to soak longer than others......if they are really uccky then I have left them soaking a couple of hours. Scrubbed them and soaked them again.

After you are finished scrubbing them, dry them with a towel and store them in a dry place to finishe curing. This should be all you have to do and they should be ready to decorate or whatever you wanted to do with them......

As for hanging them I use to staple the end of the stem to the rafters. If no stem then I would tie a cord around the neck and hang them that way...if the stem is green than you have to tie it, the stem won't hold the weight........and you can tie all of them this way. It was just easier to staple them.

This is how I have done mine in the past and it has worked really well for me.......
Dee

Katz you can bring them inside and let them dry in a basement or any room that has good circulation. When mildew appears on mine I wipe them and keep turning them so that that they can dry evenly.

I also scrape mine to help aid the drying process but I wouldn't recomend that you do this until you read more about it.

If a gourd is not mature it will rot and some has told me that when they scrape their gourds they either rotted or were deformed. That will happen sometime no matter if you scrape or not, if they are mature then you shouldn't have a problem with it.

Here are a few links that might help you.


http://users.penn.com/~chiangus/tips.html

http://www.oldfashionedliving.com/gourds.html

http://webpages.charter.net/yankee11/drying.htm

http://www.americangourdsociety.org/tips.html

This message was edited Nov 1, 2003 1:45 AM

Well, after all the wonderful information posted about ways to dry the gourds, I took the plunge. I tore strips of old sheets to use as hangers and hung the gourds in the garage. The only problem was with the powderhorn gourds. The strip just slid off those thin necks. So I stuck a straight pin through the cotton strip and into the gourd. I'm hoping that won't hurt anything. Thankfully they are at the back of the garage and nobody can see how goofy they look!

They probably can't stay out in the garage all that long since it's unheated. But I thought it was worth a try!

Good luck, Roshana! Looks great. Couldn't you put a small space heater in there if needed? Or, would that be too dangerous? I hope this works for you!!! Just keep your eye on them.

Neato Roshana. They are beautiful!

I can't hang my bushel basket gourds - they're too heavy. I don't even know if I can lift one of them. Guess I'll be experimenting with the frost.

GrannyL did you read the links I posted? You don't have to hang them.

Yet another gourd drying method! Hmmmmm....

Hi
Here is a nice article on Gourds. It includes planting up to drying.
http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/1000/1630.html

Thanks, CW. I need all the info I can get! Very good information. I see now that I should pitch the ones that are starting to shrivel, since they will never cure according to Ohio State. But I still don't know whether to harves seeds from a fresh gourd or whether to let it dry first. I havested some from two fresh ones and let them soak in water to get the gunk off and all of one type floated on the surface. That's supposed to indicate unviable seeds. So what to do???

Thanks again for the link.

I never have that many gourds from my plants, maybe 3 or 4 each year, but then I only plant 2 or 3 vines to cover my compost bin since it can be seen easily. When I harvest them, usually right before a frost, I bring them inside and put them on top of my refridgerator at the very back out of the way. They stay there until Spring when I take them down and scrub with a brush in bleach-water to remove any mold that may be there. It's a put it and forget it plan for me.
I don't turn, scrape, or do anything to them until I take them down. I haven't lost one yet.

mom2four, that's the kind of method I like to see. That's what I'll do, too. Thanks!

Ok stupid question probrably, im drying my luffa, some in front of a heat vent, some downstairs in the same room as the furnace. The ones in front of the heat vent are starting to mold closest to the ventbut, they arnt squishy, the skin is actually pretty stiff a will crack in a place or two if you apply tiny bit of pressure, nothing but air under that part of the skin. Is this normal?

Yep! They're probably dry if they are brittle all around. Might be ready to be peeled...

Thanks Morph not dry all around yet just at the tips but getting dryer every day, I keep turning them at least once a day so they get a moe even drying. Soon I hope. Ive only had one small one that I didnt think would make it anyway rot, so far.

Oh Morph, I posted somewhere else asking how your ball luffa did, I didnt even know they came that way till I saw your thread, how did they do?

Thanks for asking, Dravencat! The luffa balls were finally pollinated and growing fruit in mid-September. Unfortunately, we had an early frost and that combined with their late start didn't yield anything. I'll start them much earlier next year!

I did find some at the Mt. Gilead gourd show, though :) I bought a bunch!

BTW, when those luffas are as a light as a feather, you'll know they are dry all the way through :)

You can hang some of the smaller ones in old panty hose. The air can still circlate around them. What ever you do, do not drill a hole in the bottom thinking this will help to let some of the moisture out. It also lets little critters in to lay eggs. I found this out the hard way and it was a very difficult situation as the gourd was already beaded and sold. We had to put it in a bag and fumigate as it had little larve crawling out of it. BIG mistake!

Aw Im sorry Morph, thats just wrong. Im gonna see if I can find the seeds in spring, nurusery over here sells alot of differnt seeds.
Tombstonejan, I WILL NOT make that mistake, so sorry it happened but EW. Ill just wait as patiently as posible.LOL

I set mine on the shelf in the garage and forget about them. The garage has no windows so it is dark most of time. I don't know if that is an important factor or not.