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

Sandy, You wont have to do a thing. Gourds are voracious climbers. They will send out 8 to 10 inch tendrils that will grab anything in sight. One note though on the birdhouse gourds, they actually do better left to grow on the ground. Unless you have a space issue there is no need to provide a trellis. Other types of gourds may be a different story. I wish you great success on your crop and please post an update later and tell us how they turned out. Thanks, Brian

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.