How to Plant Gourd Seed
You can grow gourds easily from seed. Luffa gourds are yellow-flowering vegetables, with an outer skin that you can remove easily to expose a natural sponge. The cucurbita produce large yellow or orange blossoms and are ornamental gourds. Lagenaria produce white blossoms and are large, utilitarian gourds, with thick dark skins used as containers. Does this Spark an idea?
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Instructions
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Planting Gourd Seeds
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Start the seeds indoors four weeks before the date you anticipate planting outdoors. Gourds require a long growing season, 100 to 180 days. Luffa seeds should be scarified to make the seeds more permeable by water--roughen the luffa seeds with sandpaper or an emery board and soak overnight. Plant gourd seeds in individual peat pots. This protects delicate gourd roots when you move them outdoors. Water evenly and provide plentiful sunlight.
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Prepare soil for the gourd seeds in a sunny, well-drained location. Add organic matter, like compost, peat moss or composted manure. You can add fertilizer in the ratio of three pounds per 100 square feet of garden. Optimum soil pH for gourds is between 6.5 and 6.8.
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Transfer gourds outdoors after danger of frost passes, and when soil and air temperature have warmed. Set the peat pots directly in the soil, spacing the pots two feet apart in a row. Each row of pots should be spaced five feet apart. If you're planting seeds directly into the ground, space them the same.
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Provide support. Gourds grow vigorously, and the vines will do best with a trellis, arbor or fence to climb. Luffa gourds need a strong support so that developing fruit stays off the ground where it will discolor.
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Fertilize gourds when the vines start to run. A 10-10-10 fertilizer, applied three pounds per 100 square feet will ensure optimum growth. Gourds require consistent watering.
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Tips & Warnings
Saving and planting seeds from a gourd crop is interesting because cross-pollination is common. Home grown gourd seeds will produce a variety of shapes, sizes and colors, unlike the homogeneous mix sold in seed packets.
Gourd seeds will rot before sprouting if you plant them in wet, cold soil. Avoid the temptation to crowd seedlings; gourd plants are vigorous growers and produce large plants.
