How to Plant Gourds | At Home With P. Allen Smith
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Transcript:
If you've never grown gourds, you've never really lived. They're a lot of fun. Let me
tell you about the hanging gourd gardens of Moss Mountain Farm. They start right here.
You see this big long arbor? Well, it's perfect for growing a fast growing vine. And when
I talk about a fast growing vine, gourds you will not believe. I got some seed down here,
and you'll see, I kind of worked up this area. Gourds love lots of sun and they'll grow in
just about any kind of soil. I've enriched this with some good potting soil, so there's
lots of humus in here. And as soon as the soil begins to warm up, you see these irises?
Well, they're just about finished so that tells me that it's time to plant the gourds.
The chance of a frost has passed and the soil is beginning to warm up. And gourds really
like it hot. Now, what's amazing is they come in all different shapes. Last year, we had
big long Dipper gourds. Different shaped gourds hanging from here, and it worked out really
well. And this year, I want to make sure every inch of this is covered with leaves of gourd
vines and all kinds of gourd blooms, as well as the gourds themselves. And we have another
one of these arbors on the opposite side, I'm going to do the same thing, for the same
effect. So what you do is you take the seed, and they're really big, interesting seed.
And you see, they're big, flat seed. Basically, what you're gonna do is just kinda sorta space
them about a foot apart, like this. And I'm just gonna push those in and cover them up.
Now, I've worked up this soil to about 12 inches deep, and I'm planting one variety
here. This Dipper gourd, the old fashioned Dipper gourd. The kind that they used to have
by the well, where they would dip out of a bucket, some water, and drink from it. Now,
what I'll do is, once these come up they'll have a primary set of leaves, and then the
next set will be these big round leaves. These will germinate in about 10 days. And you'll
see these great big leaves on them within two weeks. And then they start putting up
runners. And that's when I'll lay some little sticks along here, and that'll give them a
leg up, so to speak, so they can began to climb over this entire arbor. Now, last year
I actually took some string and kinda tied it along, and I may do that again this year.
All you need is just something to kinda assist them, they have little tendrils to hang on
to each of these metal supports that make the arbor. One last step. I fertilize generously
with an organic fertilizer because you really want to make sure they're well fed, so you
can growing the biggest gourds in the neighborhood. Hey, if you're enjoying following these tips
on gardening, check-in regularly. Make sure you subscribe to eHow Home.
tell you about the hanging gourd gardens of Moss Mountain Farm. They start right here.
You see this big long arbor? Well, it's perfect for growing a fast growing vine. And when
I talk about a fast growing vine, gourds you will not believe. I got some seed down here,
and you'll see, I kind of worked up this area. Gourds love lots of sun and they'll grow in
just about any kind of soil. I've enriched this with some good potting soil, so there's
lots of humus in here. And as soon as the soil begins to warm up, you see these irises?
Well, they're just about finished so that tells me that it's time to plant the gourds.
The chance of a frost has passed and the soil is beginning to warm up. And gourds really
like it hot. Now, what's amazing is they come in all different shapes. Last year, we had
big long Dipper gourds. Different shaped gourds hanging from here, and it worked out really
well. And this year, I want to make sure every inch of this is covered with leaves of gourd
vines and all kinds of gourd blooms, as well as the gourds themselves. And we have another
one of these arbors on the opposite side, I'm going to do the same thing, for the same
effect. So what you do is you take the seed, and they're really big, interesting seed.
And you see, they're big, flat seed. Basically, what you're gonna do is just kinda sorta space
them about a foot apart, like this. And I'm just gonna push those in and cover them up.
Now, I've worked up this soil to about 12 inches deep, and I'm planting one variety
here. This Dipper gourd, the old fashioned Dipper gourd. The kind that they used to have
by the well, where they would dip out of a bucket, some water, and drink from it. Now,
what I'll do is, once these come up they'll have a primary set of leaves, and then the
next set will be these big round leaves. These will germinate in about 10 days. And you'll
see these great big leaves on them within two weeks. And then they start putting up
runners. And that's when I'll lay some little sticks along here, and that'll give them a
leg up, so to speak, so they can began to climb over this entire arbor. Now, last year
I actually took some string and kinda tied it along, and I may do that again this year.
All you need is just something to kinda assist them, they have little tendrils to hang on
to each of these metal supports that make the arbor. One last step. I fertilize generously
with an organic fertilizer because you really want to make sure they're well fed, so you
can growing the biggest gourds in the neighborhood. Hey, if you're enjoying following these tips
on gardening, check-in regularly. Make sure you subscribe to eHow Home.