Hi Nikki, In one of my gourd books they had a picture of what looked like 50 gal barrels cut in half and used as planters for gourds. The text said they were used for the smaller variety of gourds. Are you interested in the decrotive gourd or the hard shell gourd? Turtle Feathers has a wide variety of seeds for both kind. I think their web site adee is turtlefeathers.com. If that doesn't get you there, type in their name in your search bar and click GO. You'll need a lot of space for the vines to spread out. Good luck! Gene picturetrail.com/genepa

As something of a garden experimenter, I have grown gooseneck gourds in five gallon buckets. This was last year. I didn't get a large crop and the gourds were smaller than the ones planted in the ground, but the technique worked. Like any vegetable planted in such a small container, the trickiest part is keeping them watered.

This year, I put two 64 quart bags of Miracle Grow potting mix on their sides next to a five foot wire fence. I cut three holes in the top of the bags and planted luffas. I also slipped four drip emitters into each bag and hooked them up to my drip watering system. The luffas have been very successful and have produced a good quantity of large fruit much earlier than the luffas I planted in the ground. I did no pruning. This is my first year with luffas. I tried the bags in order to see how well the plants would perform before committing to preparing beds along the fence. Now, I'll be ready for next summer with proper beds and proper spacing. And, yes, I will be pruning the vines. I've got luffas growing twenty feet up in my neighbor's trees. These things grow like kudzu. Joe