Nice plant... Yea, you're gonna need a trellis for it real quick... I grow a larger edible (not saying you can't eat yours young) version of the same species, and at that size mine just took off growing quickly.. I have mine growining up an old short lemon tree so I can pick the gourds...

No kidding!!! This plant has really taken off! Its grown about 2 feet since this picture. I just got in from working on trellis this evening, and have it mostly done. Too dark for pictures, but I'll try and take one tomorrow evening and post it.

OK here are some pictures. At this rate, I bet the plant will reach the top of the trellis by this weekend.

Nice! In perfect conditions they can grow pretty fast... You may have to do some "training" when it reaches the top because they can have a mind of their own and want to go over the fence.

As the plant gets larger, you might want to watch for powdery mildew.. It starts out as little powdery looking spots on the leaves.

Update for 6/30 -reached the top of the trellis-- Just amazing how much its grown in 10 days!!

This is interesting, thank you for sharing the Gourd information and pictures, I'm growing a gourd plant for the first time this year, mines growing in the greenhouse, over an metal arch, mines probably 2/3 size of your gourd, Has your plant any female gourd flowers on yet ? mine appear to be all male.

Your plant has really started to take off.. I had a female flower bloom yesterday.. The plants grew a lot of males at first.

I think I have some females getting ready... I'll take a pic of one tomorrow.

That will be great thank you.

I'm looking at my gourd plant a few times a day waiting for a femail , fingers crossed it won't be long, it's all exciting stuff

Here's the picture of the flower developing. Since I have no experience with gourds, I'm not sure if this is a male or female. I am very familiar with squash, but these are very different. Its interesting how this flower is growing on a long stem, and has those 4 leaves around it. The reason I thought it might be a female is because its got what looks like a tiny undeveloped fruit under it.

Heres a mid-July update...

The vines have been producing tons of flowers. Its quite interesting how they open at night, and by morning are mostly done. I noticed with the flower production, the growth of the vine has actually slowed down quite a bit, and the leaves don't seem as big as the earlier ones.

Here is a female flower... This one is most definitely a female, whereas the one I took a few weeks ago I am thinking was not really a female... because the fruit behind the flower is pretty obvious here.

Here's a pic from today,of two of the bigger gourds that are growing. There's about 4 growing now, and more on the way.

Wow there coming on nicely and so quickly, I bet your dead proud of those

I just took a pic of mine, growing in the greenhouse

I put a layer of well rotted manure on the ground

today to see if this gives a little boost

Where are you tdinnes? I'm in Texas, the Dallas area... Pretty hot down here! upper 90s close to 100.

If I had mine in a greenhouse, they would probably cook. Mine seem to be producing well despite the heat.

Ah! its not as hot here, I'm in United kingdom, down in the south, my greenhouse gets up to 90 so I regulate the greenhouse vents.

I notice the gourds seem to prefer the hotter heat and grow more rather then on the cool 65 - 70 degree days

I have cut the main stem now to stop the actual plant growing further, just so it can concentrate on the 6 female gourds growth I have, our summer season is short here in the UK.

How many months of sunshine do you get over in Dallas

We get A LOT !! :)

Usually the growing season comes do a stop due to frost around mid-November around here, so I have a lot of time left.

Just checking in... I have about 3 gourds that are growing well now, and a few of the others have shrivelled and died. I do have a few other new one that look like they might make it.

I've read about these plants having problems with powdery mildew (PM). I guess one of the benefits of Julys and Augusts in Texas is the dryness and heat. We're consistently in the upper 90's to 100, and have had no rain for about 3 weeks now. So I just water the plants with a hose at the base. I've read that high heat stops PM. Have had no problem with PM so far. I water mine every other day.

tdinnes, how are yours coming along?

I'll post some new pics soon.

Hi mine are doing well, i'l add a picture, the brown one is one I purchased on holiday, it is a gourd light, handmade in Turkey, so thought i'ld take a photo to compare. I had 2 baby tiny ones die, this maybe because i didn't transfer the pollen from the male flower (being situated in the greenhouse - no bee's get in and pollinate).

These have turned out to be the most fascinating vegetable I have ever grown.

Your gourds are doing well too, try pollinating the female babies when the flower opens, the flower open just one night only, in the evening, I tend to go out every evening to see if any new ones appear and pollinate them.

Here is another picture

I noticed tonight 2 leaves at the base of the plant have grey on them, i presume this is the PM, I'l cut these off tonight and have a read up on them (thank you for the information)

BTW here is my garden blog:http://cabalgarlandtxgarden.blogspot.com/

Wow that's great- I'l have a read tonight when I get some quiet time.

Interesting way to keep notes on your own growing (especially if your like me and forgetful), look forward to having a read - Thank you

Here is an update on my birdhouse gourds. There are lots of gourds on them now, of various sizes and shapes. The plants have been afflicted by lots of aphids, but there have also been some ladybugs helping me out, so I have not sprayed anything. Also they have been hit hard by powdery mildew. Parts of the vine are dying off but other parts are still growing well. A big part has grown over the fence into the neighbor's yard. I went over there today to make sure that was OK with them.

Some of the early ones to come out I suspect are probably ready to pick, but I guess I'll leave them there until the whole vine dies, right?

Tdinnes

How Did Yours Do in The End?

Ccabal

Are You Growing Them Again Or Something Different and Will You Be Documenting Them Here?

Thanks Guys

Hey guys,

That gourd I posted, it feels light-weight, but the surface still has some mold on it, and I don't know exactly when its ready to use. If it still has mold spots, should I let it dry more, or can I sand off all that stuff and start using them?

They have been drying in the garage since this past November.... so I'm amazed at how slowly they dry.

I won't grow them this year, since I have so many. But maybe next year I will try dipper gourds. One of the bad things about gourds is how susceptible they are to powdery mildew and aphids. I was concerned about all the powdery mildew from these plants attacking my other plants.

Started using some of my gourds from last year. The kids and I are making some bird houses:

Here is what my 13yr old daughter did with one of them.