ridge gourds grown during monsoon

the seed beds must contain freshly decomposed organic manure. 2 buckets of manure can be added for every seed bed. the main field should have raised seed beds as water stagnation can destroy the young seedlings.
the figure above shows a typical raised bed. 2 to 3 seeds are sowed in every seed bed.

germination will take place after more than a week. under good field conditions, germination is faster. here germination was recorded 8 days after sowing

after 2 weeks after germination. as there is shortage of sunlight, the plants appear weak, even though the seed beds have all the required plant nutrients.

photo taken after 21 days after germination. when sunlight becomes available, growth and development is rapidly accelerated.

using tree branches as support for the growing ridge gourd plants. ridge gourds are climbers & thus require support for its growth.

thinning out must be done & only 2 seedlings must be retained per every raised bed.

2 or 3 sticks with lateral branches are inserted in every bed as shown. care must be taken to see that the sticks do not damage the plant roots or stem.

then the plants must gently be wrapped around the twigs. in 2 datys time, the tendrils will hold the twigs & grow

field shows support given to the plants.

15 days after giving support, the plant is well established & continues to grow using the provided support.

plant seen climbing upwards, the entire length of the support provided.

one month after providing support. the plant has grown very well & climbed the entire length of the support. the lateral shoots that emerge tend to keep falling away from the supporting material. & so the vines should be monitored everyday.

from another angle. as rainfall subsides, the beds need to be opened up & inter culture operations must be continued.


here we can see, the opening up of the raised beds & now pits have been made. 2 to 3 buckets of fresh decomposed manure is added. it is not required to water the pits as moisture content in the soil due to over night rainfall is sufficient for the plant.
only if prolonged dry spells are seen, watering can be done , alternate days, to retain moisture in the soil. at this stage, using complex NPK is also practiced.

another important index is the color green. when the plant is getting adequate nitrogen, the leaves & entire plant has a lush appearance. here the photo shows the plant has attained a height of more than 8 feet & is now slowly covering the trellis/pendall

harvesting can be seen almost immediate after flowering. since it still rains every now and then, incidence of fruit borer is very common. in some cases, tender fruits are harvested earlier to prevent boring of the fruits from the insect.

another view of the same crop. the on off showers increases the incidence of fungus & insects. using strong organic based insect repellents every week is highly recommended. spraying with chemical insecticides is not done as it does not have much impact during the monsoons. repeated sprays are highly toxic to the plant & also unfit for human consumption.

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

Bottle Gourd cultivation

Bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria) is a widely grown tropical vegetable which has high carbohydrate content. oil can be extracted from the seed kernel and is used in hair care products. the hard shells of the bottle gourd can be used as utensils, or floats in fishing nets and even musical instruments, due to its resonating property.

soil and climate
bottle gourds require well drained and sandy loam soils for its good cultivation. it cannot tolerate higher amounts of acidity, alkalinity or salinity. pH range is between 5 to 5.5 . when soil conditions are not optimum, then production of female flowers is greately affected.
ten days after sowing. thinning out has to be done & min of 2 seeds must be retained in every bed

21 days after sowing.

it can be grown almost in all climates, however, too much rainfall is not good. optimum temperature range is between 30 to 35 degrees during day. if temperature is very high, then more number of male flowers are formed thereby decreasing yield.

LAND PREPARATION, IRRIGATION AND FERTILIZER MANAGEMENT

Since we are discussing monsoon techniques for growing bottle gourds, the land selected must have good drainage. to attain this at least 3 repeated ploughings must be done. raised seed beds are made up to height of 30 cm & distance between beds must be maintained at minimum 2 meters.
irregular leaf shape is due to heavy rainfall & pest attack. spraying with systemic insecticides like dimethoate @ 1 ml per litre every week till plant is healthy is done.
lush green leaves indicates good nitrogen in the soil

in the presence of optimum sunlight, the leaves are able to prepare their own food & the plants appear much more healthy

irrigation is not given during monsoon , but when there is dry spell, light irrigation must be done just to replenish soil moisture. in summer irrigation is carried out thrice a week. if proper mulching is done, irrigation can be reduced to twice weekly.

the 3 photos above show the crop development after a 35 days after sowing. care must be taken to see that the growing vines are free from developing weeds, or it will hinder harvesting.

development of fruits, fruit setting seen


requires good amounts of organic manure. since it is a long duration crop, it is highly beneficial to add manures in split doses. bulky organic manures can be added to the soil every 20 days, while it is good to add complex fertilizers at least once every month.
it responds great to foliar applications as well. the number of female flowers can be increased using plant hormones like NAA, naphthalene acetic acid @ 1 ml per litre, just during flowering stage.
a healthy bottle gourd plant, which seems to be climbing. the vines can grow up to 20 feet, if left unchecked & hence thinning out is done to avoid overcrowding. also distance is maintained between beds for this reason

flowering can be observed. the plant continues to grow & the vines cover the complete area giving a carpet like appearance.

fruit setting in the above 2 photos

the green carpet cover

HARVESTING
bottle gourds can be harvested after 55 to 75 days after sowing. care must be taken while harvesting to see that proper tender and ripe fruits must be harvested. the developing tender fruits will have green color & the seed coat & rind are tender. it is best to harvest at this stage. sometimes , harvesting is done depending on the size it attains. smaller fruits are in great demand as compared to bug sized fruits.
when the color changes from green to white, the seed coat and rind hardens & then it becomes over ripe & unfit for consumption. such fruits are kept for formation of seeds, which can be extracted once the fruit completely dries up.


some varieties can yield up to 20 tonnes per hectare.

NOTE
In many cases, especially during monsoon, the growing vines are pruned to allow more lateral branching. vines which are bit old & semi hard are pruned to get the desired result. in some other cases, the vines are allowed to train on coconut ropes grown on bower of bamboo sticks. this is done to prevent the developing fruits from coming in contact with soil & rotting.

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