Vines are improving

I sent her seeds....I think!

NC is a great place for gourds...keep trying...and they do like a lot of water. Jo

I'm jealous . . . how are the vines on the other side of the fence?

Jo yelp you sent me seeds but I think I am doing something wrong. I gave a neighbor 2 seeds and he has a small gourd . he said he never waters it just lets the rain take care of it.

Lavina

WOW! He is quite lucky too. Jo

Lavina, I've found the key to be benign neglect. If you mess with them, they will snub you. If you say, to h#&& with it and turn your back, all of a sudden you have gourds. Try it next spring.

Sy, I can't get a good look at the gourds on the other side of the fence, and my neighbors never did respond to the note I left, so I have no idea what's going on over there. Oh, well.

I do have about a dozen banana gourds on the vines I planted in pots, but I'm ignoring them. I'll report when/if I harvest.

I will try all the advice I can get. Now just to aquire more seeds and think positive.LOL

Lavina

My "biggun" is still heavy as can be. The vine is dying; is there still a decent chance for this prize to ripen?

Oh My! That thing is huge! I would think that as long as biggun stays green - even though the vines look like they're dying - to keep it hooked up. It could be that all the vines energy is going into the gourd, instead of keeping itself green . . .

I'm leaving it completely alone! I heft it now and then to make sure it's still heavy, but I don't disturb the vine at all. No danger of frost, that's for sure, so it will sit there on the ladder until it's either ripe or rotten! I'm pulling for ripe.

OK I am gonna get some seeds somewhere and try again in the spring..

Lavina

You're on the right site, Lavina!!!

I finally went out and cleared out my "space" in the back yard. It only took about 3 hours! On the Apple and Bushel vines, I cut them way back . . . if there were scraggly vines w/no gourds, they got pulled. On the existing vines, there were some that I cut off after a certain point.

I knew about 2 of the bushels . . .

But this one was a suprise!

For those of you who have grown any of the handle dipper gourds . . . at what point in the development process do they start showing the handles? Here is one I noticed a few days ago . . .

Do you remember the 18 SHD seedlings I had at the beginning of the season? They were the ones that were planted along one fence, and none got bigger that a foot or so, except in this one section. I had given up on them all weeks ago - pulled the soaker hose and everything . . .

These vines kept growing at a fairly slow pace, but they stayed green, so I didn't have DH mow them . . . Last night I was looking at these particular vines . . .

There are 5 or 6 if these little babies . . .

But the real surprise was on the neighbor side of the fence . . . this one is (I'm guessing!) about 8" . . .

brigidlily - How is your "biggun" doing?

Wow, Sy! Is your neighbor going to let you have the gourd?

Well, the vine the biggun is on was one that crept over to MY neighbor's yard. I'd left them a note to which they never responded, and one day found they had had their yard guys remove it. Ok, that's fine. But biggun's vine started dying from that end, and I think that's where it has been getting its nutrition. The "stem" is brown but the gourd is still heavy -- I don't know whether it will ripen or rot. Time will tell. I'll be very disappointed if after all this time (and not doing my back any good by wrestling it onto a ladder for support) it can't make it because they like a tidy yard. :( Not their fault, of course, but who knew the roots in their yard would be why the gourd in my yard grew? Ah, well.

I really had plans for that baby. Maybe it will make it. I hope your new babies have time to make it to gourdhood!

Maybe it's a signal for season ending, not just the roots being cut . . . the vines on my spinners are turning brown, too. I also noticed this morning on the bushel vines I have, that the one gourd I found last weekend . . . while it is still round, the vine itself is also turning brown. I'm wondering if - when I started seeds this spring - that I mixed the label for bushels & cannonballs . . . this one gourd is just the right size for a cannonball. If I remember, I'll take a cannonball that I bought last year and take a pic of them together when I get home tonite.

Well, I took a picture of the stem end this morning. Time will tell, but I'm not really happy with the way this looks. Y'all keep your fingers crossed, please.

Eyes crossed too....Jo

Thanks! That should help! ;}

Ok, brigidlily, time for an update!

Hey! Still sitting there, getting moldy and the brown area is increasing. It's still quite heavy, but definitely lighter than it was. The part that was kind of going in doesn't seem to be a collapse area. I'm assuming it's better off there than it would be anywhere else, so I'm just leaving it alone. I fail to see how it could be getting any nutrition from that dead vine, though.

Odd thing is, I see those d@#^&d cucumber beetles every time I look at it. I've gotten over any squeamishness when it comes to those bugs. I squash them with my bare hands. Grrrrrrrrr... I just know they're laying eggs, and I can't find them. I'm looking, though!

Oh, I do so dislike those japanese cucumber beetles! I've seen them on my gourd vines, and they just love the morning glories. But, you know what? In a totally different forum, someone told me about this: http://www.bayeradvanced.com/product/All-In-One-Rose-Flower-Care/concentrate.html as a way to control other pests. Take a look at what it kills . . . I am going to get a bottle this weekend!

It may be too late to use in the season, but look what I've been watching for the past few weeks! I haven't said anything (not even to DH), 'cause I didn't want to jinx it! The vine it is on is nice and green, and so far no evidence of bug damage . . . so, I'll give it a dose anyway!

I'm trying not to use chemicals at all, but I have in the past. I used Bayer 3-in-one and it worked well. I've never used the all-in-one but heard it did not work as well. Note that it does not FEED for 6 weeks. It's a systemic and will get rid of the pests. I find Dr. Bronner's soap (diluted!) will get rid of the bugs.

Oh, but that's what I want . . . to get rid of the pests! I will look into the Dr. Bronner's soap, too!

Here is an updated pic of my bushel gourd . . . last weekend it measured at 25", Tuesday it was at 29", and last night it was at 31 1/2"!!

Weekly update . . . measured this morning at 33 1/2" around, and 30 1/2" around vertical.

brigidlily - how is yours doing?

I haven't measured it, but since the vine was completely dead after the hurricane, I picked it and put it on the patio. It is developing a nice mold covering, and I hope it will mature. It's still so big and heavy I have serious doubts, but time will tell.

Yours looks FANTASTIC!!!

Just an update -- things are looking hopeful for my biggun. It's no longer green, it's nice and moldy all over, and it's hard and losing weight! Yay! Keep crossing those fingers!

Oh, I think you have passed the danger zone! WooHoo!!

Here is a pic of my "biggun". I had to clip the vine last month, when we had almost a week of "freezing" nights. I had the vine stuck in some water until it dried up. Now, it's just a waiting game!

How did yours fair, brigidlily?

Nice'un...Jo

Syrumani:

I had about four of these bushels like yours last year, and, the way yours looks, it's already 'curing' from the inside out now... Make sure the 'shell' is HARD, with no 'cushy' or rubbery areas, and then you can try this, for peace of mind (OR a headstart on the remaining curing process!):

Take and make a small 'scratch' on the the green surface with your index or thumbnail, somewhere discreet so it won't show up later as a 'streak'. At first, it should look pale greenish color where you scratched it. Give it a couple days, then check the 'scratch': it SHOULD look nice and GOLDEN there now (the shell under the skin, exposed by the 'scratch')! This is always great news, because it means your gourd is in the 'home stretch', and relatively assured to HARDEN into crafting medium! No more worrying, crossing your fingers, etc.... :-)

I actually prefer to scrape the whole gourd at this point, giving it a bleach bath both before and after, to hasten the curing. This process makes for a more spot-design-free, golden shell (which I prefer on the LARGER bushel gourds) than the standard 'gone to mold' finishing. However, mold WILL till develope over the next few weeks, and you would have to keep mopping the shell off with a bleach solution every few days to inhibit any potential late-stage 'rot'. For me, it's worth the extra work... see my bushel gourd, 2007 crop, done this way, last winter:

Thanks for the hints, jipsi. I check it every few days, and change it's position on the cushion. No dips, etc. so far, so hopefully things will be ok! I'll do the scratch tonite. I have 3 others I'd like to do, too. Just not bushel ones . . .

I was surprised mine made it! I don't have a photo on me, but it dried just fine. From thumping it, I suspect the shell is a little thinner than I'd have liked, but I didn't order that hurricane, just endured it.

Syrumani,

GUESS what I found this morning, after going through five boxes? the Devil's Claw seeds! They are from 2004, so I don't know if they will germinate, but you are welcome to have them if you still want them.. send me your address, mine is no longer on the exchange, so I cannot look yours up. They look really hard, and someone once told me to make sure to cut the outer coat (like we do the mgs) then soak, but, I think if you soak overnight first, then nick the coat, it won't damage the inside.

Antoinette

I have seen those devil claws for sale on ebay. btw.