I tried growing gourds in large pots last year and they didn't do anything.However,I have seen posts of others that grew them on pots with success.So I guess the best way to find out is just do it.LOL I don't know about the bird house thing.I would think there wouldn't be much difference in a swinging bird house and a swinging tree branch.LOL Birds will build their nests in strange places.I guess you could hang it with wire and tighten it up close to the eave so it doesn't swing quite as much...............Lillie

That is ok. The bigger the better. I have grown them in North Fulton, not far from Alpharetta, many times in the past. I never did support them like you have done. NO, NO!! don,t cut them !. Keep them on the vine as long as the vine is live, till frost or whatever. Then you can cut an let them mature/fully dry in a shack, or garage for several months., before doing any work on them. Just protect them from squirrels. --------------------------------------- P.S. You might think that with that size they must be heavy(like pumpkins), BUT they are not, b/c they are hollow inside with just some seeds, No flesh, except the wall thickness that hardens as they mature. This post was edited by seysonn on Tue, Aug 20, 13 at 1:21

The large ones take some care. If you trellis them you have to provide them with support, and if you run them on the ground they have to have lots of room. There's nothing more heartbreaking than to walk under your trellis on a nice morning and see that your biggest gourds have hit the ground and broken (sigh... yes... imagine over a dozen broken ones in one night, I didn't think they were heavy enough yet to fall, lesson learned). Anything that will support them is good, some folks use old pantyhose (which is great and doesn't leave marks, just slip the gourd inside and tie it up to something strong. One way or another, you have to protect them from falling.

Possibly ,the sphinx moth is not doing it's polination job at dusk. I can tell you what I do. I have a hobby paint brush , and at dusk or a little before, I dab the brush in one or two of the male flowers ( the ones without the little bulb) , and then dab the collected pollen into one of the female flowers ( the ones with the little bulb forming). You might find more info on the gourd forum, or a lot more info on the purple martin forum ( google 'purple martin forum'). Bird house gourds are a little smaller than the kettle gourds used for purple martin houses.Tom in Pearland ,Tx Z9a.