Thursday, August 7, 2008

Ash Gourd vegetable farming

Ash gourd ( Benincasa hispida) is an annual vine which trains on the ground. Its high in nutritive value and is excellent for its shelf life of 2 to 4 months. Popular sweets are also made using this vegetable.


Land Selection
Deep loamy soils are best suited. Can be grown on most soils, where the Ph should be in range of 6.5 t0 7.5

here the base of a hillock is chosen. All weeds must be removed & manual ploughing/tilling is recommended to bring the soil to fine tilth. Terracing is often carried out & the vines are made to grow along the side of the slope.


Making Pits
Pits measuring about 45 cm width, height must be dug maintaining about 2 meter distance from each pit. Upto 5 seeds must be manually sown in each pit. After germination 2 seedlings can be retained in each pit. This is done to prevent overcrowding of the vines as they grow. In some cases, 2 seeds are sowed in nursery bags prepared with a mixture of fine soil, sand & organic manure. The healthy seedlings are then transplanted to the main field.

It is advised to use foratox granules at the time of transplanting to prevent the young seedlings of potential risk from soil borne diseases causing pathogens, insects, nematodes.

Up to 10 kg of organic manure should be added in each pit & mixed well with the soil before sowing/transplanting. The germinating seeds will derieve much of its nutrients from the soil.

Irrigation & fertilizer management
Watering is done immediately after sowing/transplanting. The growing vines require large quantities of water. However with proper mulching, the water requirements can be halved. Plant residues, greens, dried leaves, etc can be added to the pits. The main advantages are it prevents the loss of water in the effective root zone due to rise in temperature. It also minimises water requirement. Watering 2 or 3 times weekly is sufficient.

50 to 100 grams of NPK can be added to the pits at regular intervals, during its vegetative growth. Some people practise the use of split doses. the safest is to add organic manure once a month till flowering starts.
Above 2 photos show the plants at 20 days after sowing.



Care must be taken to see the vines do not get wet during watering. This will otherwise lead to fungal infections & the flowers & fruits will rot

The above 2 photos show the plant at above 50 days after sowing. This is the most crucial stage, as manuring is again done to replenish the soil with nutrients.

Flowering and harvesting
Flowering can be seen at 50 to 60 days after sowing. Honey bees and other pollinators have known to increase the yield of the crop up to 15 percent in some cases.

Young gourds start to develop ash formation


the above 3 photos show the flowering & later the harvest index.

Ideally, the ash gourds are harvested, 100 days after sowing. Due to its excellent keeping quality & long shelf life, it can be stored in good ventilated stock rooms, or used to transport in long distances

the above photo shows how a barren hillock can be made productive


The average yield per acre is between 5 to 10 tons.

WATCH ASH GOURD HARVEST VIDEO BELOW BY CLICKING ON PLAY BUTTON

Photos and content by Pritham 'Heavy metal farmer' denzil dsouza

17 comments:

  1. Hi there,

    Hope you had a good weekend.

    Query : The leaves of couple of the plants are not very green. Looks like a deficiency - any thoughts?

    Take care
    AG

    ReplyDelete
  2. Pritham 'MetalFarmer' D'SouzaJuly 20, 2009 at 1:53 AM

    if the leaves start to disfigure, it can be deficiency...always notice the older leaves first start to discolor n turn yellow, while the younger leaves are lush green.

    this is classic case of nitrogen deficiency...nitrogen being a mobile element moves from older leaves to younger leaves to prevent deficiency in younger leaves.

    u need to add nutrients that are rich in nitrogen. its very common, and the only other time u can see yellow leaves are when the plant is too old...cheers

    weekend was fun, sister has come down from qatar, and met a lot of old friends, school mates...
    cheers

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hello,

    I have a question on mulching. Some of the vegetables are growing in pots. As the days here are quiet dry and long, the soil loses moisture rapidly inspite of watering twice a day (morning & evening) and placing them in the shade. I was wondering whether putting a layer of mulch on top of the soil will help.

    Which is the most suitable as mulch - shredded black & white newspaper or shredded cardboard or grass clippings from the lawn?

    Thanks for your advice
    AG

    ReplyDelete
  4. Pritham 'MetalFarmer' D'SouzaJuly 24, 2009 at 1:21 PM

    for mulching, u can use all of the above.. there is no problem... just dont over mulch...the grass clipping is the best, but u have to make sure that there are no insect eggs or larvae in it,
    u can also use black plastic bags, or sheets...

    cheers

    p2

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hello,

    I did not see any section for beans in your blog. Do you have any experience growing them?

    Thanks
    AG

    ReplyDelete
  6. Pritham 'MetalFarmer' D'SouzaJuly 27, 2009 at 4:48 AM

    yes we have grown beans, even though the conditions in mangalore DO NOT favr its growth.... have over 10 crops i still need to blog....just not getting the time.... will do soon...

    ReplyDelete
  7. Question about beans:

    I had planted bean seedlings (long beans variety) in the last week of Jun-09. The plant is about 1.5 feet tall and has started putting out flowers. Is this normal?

    Attached are the pic links.

    http://www.filefactory.com/file/ahga2d6/n/DSCN0226_JPG

    http://www.filefactory.com/file/ahga2dc/n/DSCN0227_JPG

    Thanks
    AG

    ReplyDelete
  8. Pritham 'MetalFarmer' D'SouzaJuly 27, 2009 at 5:02 AM

    yes this is totally fine...u need to look at ur seed packet n tell me if its a normal plant or dwarf variety... coz the latter doesnt need support for growth n will appear like a shirt bush...

    cheers

    ReplyDelete
  9. Thanks for the response. I have absolutely no clue what variety it is because I bought it from a lady selling seeds in the vegetable market in Goa. She wrapped the seeds in a newspaper and sold it to me!

    AG

    ReplyDelete
  10. Do you have any idea what seed this is?

    Part of my bulk seed purchase from the street vendor & I forgot to note down the name! In any case, I have planted it - its a vine. No fruits yet.

    http://www.filefactory.com/file/ahgbd98/n/DSCN0237_JPG

    Thanks
    AG

    ReplyDelete
  11. Pritham 'MetalFarmer' D'SouzaJuly 27, 2009 at 9:38 AM

    this is ridge gourd seed.... in fact i am grateful to u coz i have now come upon the idea of taking pics of seeds, and flowers of various gourds that we grow here n posting them on my blog.... wonder why i didnt think of that before?\
    thanks...

    ReplyDelete
  12. You don't have to thank me - thank God I have been of some itsy bitsy use to you.

    Take care
    AG

    ReplyDelete
  13. Hello,

    Remember the pics of the bean plant that you said was the dwarf variety (Post dt 27-Jul)

    See what it looks like now :(

    Have not seen these rust / brown spots before.

    http://www.filefactory.com/file/ahhcfch/n/Garden_Dwarf_Beans_Prob_JPG

    http://www.filefactory.com/file/ahhcfc9/n/Garden_Dwarf_Bean_Prob_Leaf_JPG

    Fungal infection (so neem & milk sprays) or any particular nutrient deficiency?

    AG

    ReplyDelete
  14. Pritham 'MetalFarmer' D'SouzaAugust 1, 2009 at 7:12 AM

    rust is caused by fungus...

    looks like ur crop has everything... rats...i dont think u can do anything to it now... just dont cry if the plant dies... this is very common... lots of beans plants die to this... the roots get totally screwed.... how many plants do u have?? coz when plant is dying, there is nothing u can do... just uproot the plant, and burn after it dries.. coz those blasted tiny insects will spread the infected plant throughout ur garden....

    i know how it feels, when u take care of ur plants n they just seem to die... thats the main reason we kinda gave up beans cultivation... it requires too much care, n hence the rates...

    in the meantime u continue the neem n milk sprays... i seriously think its ur soil thats causing all this problem... many times we only look at whats above the soil n ignore the roots...try making a strong neem solution n drench the soil thoroughly for a few days...around the roots... i dont know if the soil nematodes will react to the neem, we just have to see. but if it works, then u wont have any more root problems...

    drench the root area of the infected plant with neem spray twice instead of watering the plant, n repeat this for one entire week...

    ReplyDelete
  15. Thanks for the advice. I have already done my sobbing on Girish's shoulder :( & cursing everything in Rom :) after reading your post

    Anyway will start the neem drench and see if the plant survives - keeping fingers crossed.

    AG

    ReplyDelete
  16. Hi there,

    I have started to see ants on the plants after I started application of milk sprays. Is this normal or another nail in the coffin?

    Also, is the milk spray applied to the entire plant (leaves / stem etc) or just the roots?

    Thanks
    AG

    ReplyDelete
  17. Pritham 'MetalFarmer' D'SouzaAugust 3, 2009 at 8:43 AM

    ants are good.... coz they are basically the first line of defence...they wont allow any other pests to infest the plant...

    but having said that u have to watch out, coz when there are ants, there are bound to be aphids... aphids are reared like cattle. they secrete a very sweet liquid which the ants love, while the ants protect the aphids from natureal predators... just make sure there are no ant colonies near the plant... or they are not building any nests on the leaf surfaces...

    cheers

    ReplyDelete