First off let me say that there are several different gourds marketed as snake gourds. Last year I grew a large solid green one. I harvested 7 gourds that actually dried and several more that didn't get to mature fully before the frost hit. All the gourds were from a single plant growing up a dead dogwood tree. In my experience they came in waves, early on there was only 3 gourds. Then after what seemed like about a month many more began developing.

This year I am growing the snake gourd that I thought I was growing last year. This one is very dark green with white streaks running down the length of the gourd. So far this year I have 3 getting large with many more small ones forming and flowering. And this year I am attempting to hand pollinate them and last year I didn't. I expect to have more this year than I did last year.

Here are pictures from last year (I have never posted pictures on here before so sorry if they don't show up)

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i cant see the pictures... i wish to :)
how much time did it took you to dry them?
how did you do it?
thanks again for your help
i realy want them to grow well

I don't really put much thought into drying them I just have them around the house as fall decorations and when they start drying on their own (the skin turns from green to brown) I start scraping off the brown parts. I use a knife or a brillo pad to scrub off the skin. It is a gradual process for me since the whole thing doesn't turn brown at once. It can take several weeks for it to completely turn brown after it starts. I know there are other methods that may be better but that is all I do.

And I think I fixed the pictures.

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they are lovely. you wrote that they are few difrent type of snakegourd. how can you know the diffrence? where did you read about it? thank you. its a big help.

I only knew there were different ones because I have seen different ones for sale in the fall. To know which one you have you should look for a picture of what you are buying. I bought a packet of seeds last year labeled snake gourds but the picture on the front had them already dried and painted so I had no idea what they looked like other than they were long and thin. It turned out they were just big, green and boring. This past year I found a place selling the snake gourds that I wanted (dark green with the white streaks) so I bought one and when it dried I took out the seeds and planted them this spring.

I will try to post a picture of the dark green ones with the white streaks soon.

You are missing one of the great things about snake gourds by growing them airborne. If you grow them where they lay on the ground they will coil and curl and really look like snakes. If you continue to grow them in trees or trellises they are just going to be straight gourds, not snake gourds. Great photos of what looks like a dead snake LOL

snake gourds are some of my favorites, and ole dawg has a good point: left on the ground (and even encouraged a bit when they are very young) they curl into very appealing and realistic shapes! I grew them last summer and had a crop of 7 (was hoping for more, but oh well) of which one was absolutely perfect in shape. Sometimes they can be intertwined to make even more unusual shape combinations, but often this must be done while they are still young and flexible. I usually leave them in 'the field' to dry until at least December, eventually putting them near the house on the patio. The black mold they exude while drying is not something I want to bring into the house. I've dried gourds in the garage before, but found they do better left outside in the elements. Good luck and have fun growing.

hi
do you mean you had crop of seven out of one plant or more?
how much time does it takes it to become dry?
and ... have you tryed to empty them when they are dry? is it possible? how eazy is it? thank you

I am not missing anything, I am aware that they coil when they are on the ground, but I prefer them straight. I like that when they are dry they sound like a rainstick which is something you couldn't get if they were curled. Below are some pictures of the dark green ones with white stripes. And for those of you who like them coiled here they are growing on the ground. The gourds are still immature the skin will get darker green and the white stripes become much more noticable. I will post other pictures as they develop.

I personally have never had any problem with mold but if you forget about them and don't look at them daily I could see how it might get out of control. After the gourds dry the seeds become loose and rattle around. To get the seeds out you can just cut a hole in the gourd and pour them out. The hard part is keeping them from cracking when you make a hole but it can be done with some practice. I usually have enough that I don't care if I break one.

Here are the pictures (sorry the second one is blurry):

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I had two or three plants from which I grew my 7 gourds. They were very large and heavy and it seemed to take them most of the winter to become perfectly dry. My own experience is that it is better to be certain they are really dry before painting (cutting, etc.) You'll know when they are ready because they are very light weight and sometimes the seeds shake dry inside. I do not cut into snake gourds, but paint them unopened. be sure you read the articles on this forum about proper cleaning of the mold. It is not hard, just dirty.

Pick Me!!! Pick me!!! I have my hand raised....

What about the ones that don't MATURE? The lil'ones, can you still harvest them? They would make great ornaments if painted or whatever....

I have an ANSWER to your cracking of your gourd while putting a hole into it. You need a drill for one and you need to have you're drill on the highest speed, if you're not going fast enough, then you get cracks! I had that problem too, then DH told me this, haven't had a problem since!
hope this helps.
melinda

Nope, you can't harvest the little ones, they will just rot. Gourds need to mature in order to develop a hard shell. Those are beautiful snake gourds weirdtrev.

Since the small ones don't have a hard shell I have heard that you can eat the immature snake gourds like summer squash, but I have never tried it. Actually now that I think about it I read that you can eat them from the seed packet of the solid green ones.

And thanks pogoduck.

the picture of the long squash looks like a cucuzzi. I tried planting them last yr and they didnt do so well. I was told they got too much water and rotted. I did get one in which I ate. I think it will be a long time before I try to grow them again :(

Weirdtrev,
Excellant photos! You have me interested in gourds again.
I grew some a few years back along a girlfriends chain-link fence, among a lot of other veggies.
She wasn't a gardener and she grabbed one of the gourds on the porch one day, took it into her office and said "Look at the cucumbers he's growing!" Everyone busted out laughing. She wasn't much of a cook either
Bubba

bubbalove,

Thanks and I am glad you are interested in gourds again. They are so much fun to watch grow. I had one lady pull over when I was working in the yard that year and ask me what kind of tree I had (referring to the snake gourd in the dead tree).

If you let your gourds dry outside over the winter (where the deer and squirrels can't gnaw on them!) they will dry just fine. As they are drying the mold will form as the dry from the inside out ... it will form amazing patterns on the surface. In spring time you just take them after a nice rain shower and they are still wet, you grab a copper scrubber and lightly scrub away the loose skin and mold. You can rinse them off with bleach water to stop the mold growth in future. You can cut them open to make rainsticks etc - check at www.AmishAcres.com for information on how to dry and clean all gourds. Also check out this link to see what else can be done with different gourds. Enjoy!
Rita in Michigan

Here is a link that might be useful: Gourd Art from Michigan