Any advice for growing birdhouse gourds?

18 years ago

I have a seemingly very happy, sprawling, universe-dominating birhouse gourd vine that produces lots of flowers, but no gourds. A few times the gourds have seemed to begin to form, only to shrink into little black balls.

Any advice out there??

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Comments (7)

fairy_toadmother
18 years ago
i had the same problem. i had one fully developed gourd for probably one hundred 4 inch ones by the frostdate. the vines smell like cat pee, too.
Counselor40
Original Author
18 years ago
I knew I should have just ordered them off of the internet, already dried and gutted! What in the hell was I thinking? Well, anyway, it is good to know that it isn't just ME! I hope my edible pumpkins donÂt meet the same fate.
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I'm a crafter as well as gardener. I would like to try growing different gourds.I've reserched some, but still unclear on some points.I have a garden shed that recieves 5-6 hours dirrect sunlight, mainly midday. I will have to make a raised bed along it. I know I'll need support trellis'.I'm interested in loofahs, "birdhouse" gourds.the ornamental type you see for fall, and the swan, or ladel ones.Can I grow them all in the same bed. I'll have 16 ft long of space to work with. How wide should I make my beds,how deep.. I have hard clay under so will just build up the soil on top of that. Also can all these different virarities be planted side by side?. I've tried drying gourds and harvesting the seeds,but no luck.. maybe waited too long cos they seemed moldy? Any help would be appreciated. I'm new to the web and am just in love w/info and how friendly people are. thanks in advance for your help.... Judy
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I got a 97 ¢ package of ''birdhouse gourd'' seed
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Yes - just plant them, give them a trellis or fence to grow on and watch them go! They not only make great birdhouses but you can also use them for bowls, lidded containers etc - you can also carve them, paint them, woodburn them and use just about any art form on them that you can think of! Have fun! Also - remember to do a search on line for "gourd art" and see what pops up. (don't use the quotes when doing that!) Rita in Michigan Here is a link that might be useful: Photos of Gourd Art from Michigan
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Birdhouse gourds are humongous!!!
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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
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it might bloom now, but in all likelihood you'll have to wait until the first cool spell to get flowers that will actually set fruit. i have a HUGE watermelon plant spilling through my garden. it has tons of flowers, but only one has managed to set fruit: so -- it's not size, it's temperature this time of the year. i don't know exactly how cool it needs to get, but my guess is it's night-time temperature below 68 or so...
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Ina Plassa_travis
18 years ago
hmm.. it sounds like you don't have whatever bug pollinates them? but I don't actually know what pollinates them.

it's either that, or they're not getting enough water. you might want to try the veggie forum, or someone on the edible landscape.
talford
18 years ago
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.
Counselor40
Original Author
18 years ago
Thanx Tom! I am going to give it a shot with the paintbrush!!! I didn't even see that there was a gourd forum! How stupid is that? I am new to this and am learning. Is the Sphinx Moth the same huge thing that pollinates Moon Flowers?
talford
18 years ago
Conselor40,I think 'Sphinx' is a generic name for about 3 different large nocturnal moths - also called hummingbird moth ,I think.Don't know about moon flower (Brugmansia), but probably. I find growing large gourds in Pearland difficult. I can grow sevens,but not the tens that I need for Purple Martin houses. My second year trying and my vines look like thier dieing from overwatering - hope you have better luck. Tom in Pearland,Tx Z9a.
fairy_toadmother
18 years ago
what if they were pollinated, hving little gourds that just wouldnt mature?

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Any advice for growing birdhouse gourds?

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fairy_toadmother

Counselor40
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Ina Plassa_travis

talford

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Any advice for growing birdhouse gourds?

Comments (7)

fairy_toadmother

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talford

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