Where to Plant Your Baby Gourd Plants

Whether you’re planting a young plant that you’ve started indoors (transplanting), or planting your seeds right into the soil outdoors (direct-seeding), you’ll want to give some thought to where they should go. If you were a little baby gourd plant, where would you like to grow?

Vivalina found a place in the sun where the soil smelled good....

Southern California!

Ok, well, not all young gourd plants get to be planted in their ideal climates. But, by optimizing conditions, we can give gourds a good growing season even in Maine. (Follow Aaron LeTourneau, aka Gourdfarmer, on social media… he’s growing great gourds in Maine).

Space!  Give Me Space!

Imagine your baby plant as a full-grown monster vine in a few months, taking up the space of a king-size bed. If all goes well, your viney darlings could get at least that big. So, give them space. Don’t plant a gourd right next to… anything. Stay well away from your neighbor’s prize rosebush, lest it be engulfed. At Gourdlandia, we plant our seedlings about 8 feet apart. 

Oh give us room, lots of room.....

Full Sun, Please!

Gourds thrive in full sun; a shady place won’t work well. If your home is in the woods, see if you can find a friend who has space in their garden for your gourds.

Really Rich Delicious Soil, Please!

Gourds are heavy feeders. We mix composted manure, vast amounts, into the soil where we’ll be planting. We don’t fertilize after planting, although many do. We grow our gourds organically, and have been experimenting with less tilling, cover crops, and a host of sustainable gardening practices. There are lots of ways to manage the soil; we’re still learning. 

In June, Otto foresaw how big this gourd plant would get...

Same gourd vine in September! (It kept on growing...)

How about a Fence?

Deer love gourds!  Rabbits too. That beautiful Indonesian Water Bottle gourd that you’ve been watching and watching as it grows and grows? You’ll come out to the garden one morning, and it will be gone! Totally gone. That’s how deer eat gourds: thoroughly. Chomp, chomp, chomp. The rabbits are worse… they’ll taste one, and then go on to the next, to see if it’s any better. They’ll go through the whole patch; tasting, and scarring. Wascally wabbits. You can try smelly things to keep these pests away, or a watchdog, but a fence works wonders.

What About a Trellis?

There is nothing quite like a stroll through a tunnel of gourd vines, with the fruit hanging down and the flowers blooming in the evening. It’s quite magical. That said, gourds will grow just fine flat on the ground. Growing on the ground is preferable for large gourds (so the vines don’t break), or when you are looking for curviness. A hanging gourd will be pulled straight by its own weight. 

If your gourds will climb a trellis, plant the seedlings a few feet away. As the vine grows, it can put down extra roots where leaf nodes touch the soil. These extra roots can really help your plant be strong and healthy. If the vine is in contact with the soil for a few feet before it climbs, it will have a chance to put down some of these extra roots.

Thinking of building a trellis? Keep in mind that it should be moveable, such as cattle panel hoops. Devise makeshift play structures for your gourd vines: old ladders, patio furniture, etc. A moveable trellis will allow you to…

Rotate!

Plant your gourds in a new area every year. Avoid places where any members of the squash family have been grown in the last three years. This is not only to prevent nutritional depletion of the soil, but also to prevent pathogens, i.e. harmful funguses, from discovering your gourds.