Growing Gourds

[gwarnerjr]

I am thinking of trying to grow some gourds and have some questions for everyone. Since I don't have an apple tree would a trellis like the ones for growing grapes work? How long and tall would it have to be for a couple of vines? Should it face E/W or N/S or would it make a difference? Thanks in advance.

[CUL Lou~Mich]

gwarnerjr. I guess if the trellis were fairly strong, it'd be okay. Just be aware, gourds will take right off for the next county with their vines. I've never grown then on a trellis, or any support, so direction didn't factor in. I don't think it would much matter though. CUL Lou

[Emil Pampell-Tx]

A trellis would work, but do you plan to build a 15ft x 15ft trellis, as that is about the correct amount of space needed..that could get expensive, and green gourds are quite heavy, and the vines are heavy so it needs to be sturdy...

If you have a fence, that works, but they go over the fence and on, and on, and on...smile...I plant mine and leave them on the ground, and let the vines keep growing...

[Guest]

gwarner,Jr: I grow gourds almost every year and have found that they do great if allowed to run on the ground. The problem is that they they cover a large area when mature. From 10-12 plants, I harvest 30-40 mature gourds.
If you consider that each plant has 3-5 fruiit and each fruit weighs 6-12 pounds when mature and green, you will quickly understand that growing them on a trellis requires stout lumber. I just pick out a remote part of my property and let the gourd plants have their way to grow where they wish. allenodell

[Donnie Hurdt MN]

I dont have a lot of room to let my gourd p[lants run so I grow them on a fence (any kind will do) and keep the vines trimmed short. I let the leader get about 12' long then cut off the end of it . This will encourage the side shoots to grow, these are where the gourds are formed. I let the side shoots grow long enough to get a few gourds on them then I trim them too.This way the plant will put more energy into the gourds than making new vines.
Of course one has to keep cutting back the new shoots all the time too, new ones appear almost overnight. I also hand pollinate the female blossems too,this way I can control where and how many gourds I want. When I have enough gourds growing I just pinch off any female blossoms that appear. This might seem like a lot of work but if you are into gardning this will be intersting work.