Planting Gourd Seeds: Some Tips to Insure a Healthier Start

Don't start planting your gourd seeds outside until the danger of the last frost is over. You can start them by planting your seeds or germinated seeds indoors 4 to 5 weeks in advance of this date, though.

When planting them into the ground, if you are planting the seeds without germinating them first, then plant the seeds point up or plant the seeds laying down horizontally. When the roots emerge, the roots grow back down the seed shell and use the point of the seed to help leverage the seed out of the ground. If you have pre-germinated the seeds, then soften the dirt and lay the seeds flat with the root underneath the seed. I like to dig the small planting hole with a slope, about 45-degree angle or so, and lay the seed on that so it is about as deep as the seed is wide or long, with the root going downhill.

Once planted, soften the dirt as you sprinkle it over the seed, then press it gently to make it a little firm. Do not pack too hard and do not stomp it down, gourd roots do not like abuse. Once covered, water it to make it damp, and I like to sprinkle each planting spot every day until the seedlings pop up.

Before planting gourd seeds in the ground, use a tiller or cultivator to turn the soil well. A motorized tiller or cultivator work in a way that using a hoe or shovel just cannot work, it stirs the dirt vigorously as it chops it up, and even throws some in the air. Especially if you grew gourds or cucumbers the year before, this is very important. The throwing of the soil into the air like this will bring the eggs and larvae of the cucumber beetles to the surface, and they will die of exposure. If you grow gourds on a regular basis and do not till, you may find your seedlings have been chewed off at the top of the stem and your crop will be finished. Poison at this stage will actually do more harm than good, so be sure to till. If you can till in the fall and again in the early spring, this is even better.

Growing gourds is a lot of fun, and in my next article we will discuss the Gourd growing cycle and how and when to encourage production of the female flowers and fruit.

To learn more about Growing Gourds, be sure to visit The Gourd Reserve and read the Gourd Report Volume 2