120 lb Gourd

I finally planted my 120 lb bushel gourds in the ground! They were growing in large jiffy pots. I can't wait!!! I'll post pics when I start getting some gourds and I'd love to trade some seeds when the time comes.

Where did you get your seeds from?

P&P seed

Ok, thanks.

How is your gourd doing? I would love to see a picture of it.

yes pics pics pics, LOL.

I HAVE A GOURD!!!!!!! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm sooo excited! It's not too big yet (by bushel gourd standards) but it's a start! I'll take a pic tomorrow and post. Maybe I can weigh it and measure it while I'm at it.

Ok I'll be looking for it.

Here it is at 8 lbs 2.2 ounces. It has a little bit of cricket damage on the side, as you can see. I need to spray the other gourds to prevent it.

Wow! now that's a gourd! I can't wait to see how big it gets at the end of the growing season.....good luck.

Any updates on your gourd?

I think I started it too late in the season so it's not as big as I hoped... but it still have a chance to grow until frost.

But I experimented and I AM able to root cuttings!

Experimenting.... that's half the fun of it! With what you learned this year, maybe you'll get a real lunker next year.

Lol. I'm not supossed to grow it next year b/c it takes up sooo much room and I have four of them. But I probably will anyways. Next year I'll start them right after all danger of frost and I'll be good about feeding and spraying so hopefully I've have some good results!

My sister dabbles in giant pumpkins and told me that she makes a small slit in the stem @ 12" from the pumpkin (once it is forming nicely) then inserts a wick into the slit and places the other end of the wick into a sugar-water filled jar.....her pumpkin weighed in over 200 lbs last year! Capt...do you think that might work with your gourd? BTW....how big did it get? Is it done? Pics, pics, pics!!! I'm going to try the wick trick next year with a giant gourd and see what happens.....just another mad-scientist type gourdier! (wicked laugh)

I don't think think the gourds will have a hollow stem like a pumpkin and they bleed terribly when cut, so you might want to try it on just one plant if you do.

I know they don't like being transplanted much, but I had good luck starting them in a greenhouse a few weeks early. If I remember right, I sowed them in 3-4 inch pots and they had formed a solid enough rootball by the time I set them out, so they didn't go through much shock after hardening them off.

I didn't even know that but I started them in some of those jiffy pots so it worked out. They did get pretty root bound though. I'm a little dissapointed b/c they're not getting anywhere as big as even 100 lbs. They've grown a little more but not much. They probably need hot days and hot nights, and the nights are getting chilly.

I can't wait to try the sugar wick idea! I also hope to grow some pumpkins next year so I'll definally use it for that. Thanks for the idea!

I have to remember to weigh (if I can lift it) and take a few new pics. My dad keeps mowing over them so not all my plants have a gourd and it probably hurt the plants that did...

I had the same problem. My dad kept hoeing my Zucca Melon (a Lagenaria gourd like yours, but shaped more like a zucchini) when it took over the whole garden, but I still got a 90 pounder, one 50 and a 40 pounder from just one vine before the first frost. They just sort of deflated over time after that. They were just too immature.

What's a Zucca look like? Have a pic?

Capt....have the weight and a pic of your finished product yet?

What's with the Dads? Methinks you 2 must find them a hobby besides hoeing & mowing! LOL

K

The Zucca I grew came from Stoke's back in the late 70's and was listed as being used for candying, pickling (like a citron) and cooked when small. It was a Lagenaria sicereria, but shaped more like a zuchinni. At the size it was, it was more like a FLATTENED zuchinni due to gravity. I'll look for pictures tomorrow... if I remember.

Here we go. Pics and history. http://www.americangourdsociety.org/history/zucca.html

Thanks Agrinerd, that was very interesting. What huge gourds! Amazing!

Hey...Now that our forum is back let's see pictures...

Also...any of you that have pictures please post them in the PF ...Terry would thank you for it...LOL Come on! Let's keep this Gourd Forum going...

Jo

Gourds take up so much room. I wish I had more room or miniature gourds! Mine didn't get much bigger than the first picture I posted of a immature gourd.