Last year was my first experience growing gourds. I bought Martin Birdhouse gourd seeds from the Indiana Gourd Society’s booth at the state fair. If I remember right, the seed packet cost about $2 and contained twelve seeds. After a lengthy conversation with a gourd-hat-wearing gourd enthusiast about proper planting procedures, I felt well-informed. I soaked my seeds overnight and then snuggled them in damp paper towels inside a plastic baggie and set them on the water heater (a little heat speeds up germination).
Two weeks later, they sprouted, I planted, and they grew… and grew and grew and grew.
The gourds themselves grew larger than I expected!
I ended up with twelve beautiful gourds from about six or seven vines (not all the seeds sprouted, and not all the sprouted seeds flourished).
They dried over the winter, and now I’m slowing turning them into birdhouses and/or works of art using woodburning tools (more on that later).
But THIS year, I didn’t get things started soon enough. I cut open one of the gourds, dumped out the seeds, and tried sprouting them like I did last year. A full MONTH later, the seeds were fuzzy with mold and hadn’t sprouted. Crap.
At the beginning of July, I threw some seeds in the ground in four areas of the garden:
I wondered if ANY of the seeds would sprout and was afraid that maybe the seeds I used were sterile or something.
I’m happy to report that some seeds have sprouted from every site, but the ones in the garden box are growing the quickest. So, here at the end of July, I’m cheering them on and praying for a warm autumn so they have time to grow a few gourds.
The experiment continues.
Here are pics from a few days ago:
The other two sites (where I planted the seeds in mulch only or with dirt underneath and mulch on top) have not been as productive. They have 2 or 3 sprouts each and the plants are growing slowly. Part of the reason for slow growth is probably the trampled and compacted soil underneath. There’s a vast difference in the speed of growth between the seeds in the garden bed (nice loose soil with good mix of organic material) and the seeds in the walkway (compacted soil with some organic material from decomposing mulch).
Maybe I’ll have gourds this season, and maybe I’ll just have some adolescent vines. We’ll wait and see.
Unperfect Garden 