Harvesting Gourds: Recognizing When Gourds are Ready to Harvest

Once your gourds are pollinated and are growing well, you can see the gourds grow almost on a daily basis. During the growing cycle, gourds fill with water, fiber, and seed. Eventually you will notice the gourds quit growing, and many people mistakenly think this is a signal that it is time to harvest the gourd. Unlike most other fruits, this is simply not true with harvesting gourds.

Once gourds have reached their full size, they begin to put energy into the shell of the gourd to make it thicker and stronger. You want to allow this process to complete. As with seed corn and other seed crops, consider your gourd harvest as a seed crop, you want to leave the gourds on the vine until the vine has died and dried up. As long as there is moisture in any part of the vine, the gourd can still draw nutrient and energy for the purpose of hardening the final gourd.

If you start harvesting gourds too soon, you will end up with a lot of rotten gourds and a poor crop. When you start picking your gourds after the vines have thoroughly dried out, you want to test the gourds for completion. First, Tap on the gourd, and learn to hear the subtle differences in the thickness of the gourds. A good thick and hard shelled gourd gives a sound similar to glass or ceramic while a soft thin shelled gourd gives a much more muffled type sound. Second, Squeeze the gourd with your thumb and fingers. You should not be able to feel any give in the gourd, with the exception of a few long slim gourds like snake gourds. if you are squeezing a bottle or kettle type gourd and your thumb goes through it, it was no good anyway.

Once you have finished harvesting your gourds, it is time to decide on how you are going to store, dry, and cure your gourds. Once you have become an experienced gourd grower, you may find gourds that are ready to harvest just by sound and feel, and you might even select one or two for early crafting, but it is best to leave them all on the vine until the vine is dry.