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Growing large gourds for storage containers

 
                                    
Posts: 17
Location: Upper Peninsula, MI
posted 15 years ago
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Hi, I'm Stacey.  I just found this forum today - can't believe I've missed it for so long!

Anyway - I'm in zone 4a, in the 'banana belt' of the Upper Peninsula.  I'd like to try my hand at growing bushel gourds in our climate, to dry and use as storage containers for dried corn and other things. 

Does anybody have experience with growing them in hoop houses?  If so, how did it go?  How big did they get?

Anybody on here have experience with gourds, in general?  Seems like they'd make nice substitutions for ugly rubbermaid containers in the pantry.

Raising meat chickens, egg chickens, and angora rabbits, striving to grow 80% of our own food, spinning our own yarn, wildcrafting, herbal medicining, and enjoying life on Rocky Acres (fondly AKA 'The Beautiful Happy Hippy Organic Peace Family Farm)

 
Brenda Groth
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i'm south of Traverse City and can't get gourds to grow here..although i have tried..not in my greenhouse..but can't even get them to sprout..

good luck with that..and welcome

Brenda

Bloom where you are planted.
http://restfultrailsfoodforestgarden.blogspot.com/

 
                                    
Posts: 17
Location: Upper Peninsula, MI
posted 15 years ago
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Brenda Groth wrote:
i'm south of Traverse City and can't get gourds to grow here..although i have tried..not in my greenhouse..but can't even get them to sprout..

good luck with that..and welcome



They won't even sprout?  Now THAT is not what I wanted to hear!

Thanks for the welcome though.

Raising meat chickens, egg chickens, and angora rabbits, striving to grow 80% of our own food, spinning our own yarn, wildcrafting, herbal medicining, and enjoying life on Rocky Acres (fondly AKA 'The Beautiful Happy Hippy Organic Peace Family Farm)

 
Leah Sattler
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welcome stacey! I wonder if they typically have low germination rates or if they are just picky about conditions? I have often seen them in catalogs and pined after them. I have trouble with squash bugs though and I am afraid they would attack them.

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"One cannot help an involuntary process. The point is not to disturb it. - Dr. Michel Odent

 
Brenda Groth
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i think Leah has it there..maybe low germination rates..also ..they love hot moist temps and here we just don't have hot and moist unless our greenhouses are well heated and we have an unusual summer

and if you lived in the UP this past year..you know..we had an exceptionally cold Michigan winter and summer..Oct 08 thru Oct 09 was incredibly cold, way below normal..and was the coldest here in history since 1952..

seems our winter (nov) has improved incredibly though ..so maybe we'll have a nice winter.

my son love to go up to Bohemia and ski..so he is hoping at least for snow

Brenda

Bloom where you are planted.
http://restfultrailsfoodforestgarden.blogspot.com/

 
                                    
Posts: 17
Location: Upper Peninsula, MI
posted 15 years ago
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Yeah - the weather here is really something else.  Must be all that global warming . . . . . The Farmers Almanac says we're going to have a dry winter.  I hope not.  I want snow!  I live for cross-country skiing in the winter.  Getting out and playing in what little sun there is keeps the cabin fever (AKA Seasonal affect disorder) at bay during the loooooooooong winter months.

I'd like to see how long our growing season would really be with hoop houses.  I wonder if they would make enough of a differe ce that we'd be able to grow things like gourds. 

Wouldn't it just be so nice if we could eliminate most of the fake plasticky stuff in the house and replace it with natural things that perform the same functions?  Gourds would be great.

Raising meat chickens, egg chickens, and angora rabbits, striving to grow 80% of our own food, spinning our own yarn, wildcrafting, herbal medicining, and enjoying life on Rocky Acres (fondly AKA 'The Beautiful Happy Hippy Organic Peace Family Farm)

 
Jennifer Smith
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fffarmergirl wrote:
Wouldn't it just be so nice if we could eliminate most of the fake plasticky stuff in the house and replace it with natural things that perform the same functions?  Gourds would be great.


I had never given this any thought.  Luffa grew great for me at the AL house and is growing volunteer in a planter pot in the west facing window.

Also as a side note, all the squash killers in AL (and there are many) either left the luffa alone or died trying.

I may try storage gourds... thanks for the idea
 
Leah Sattler
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fffarmergirl wrote:

Wouldn't it just be so nice if we could eliminate most of the fake plasticky stuff in the house and replace it with natural things that perform the same functions?  Gourds would be great.



I think along the same lines. I have a bit of a passion for useful and natural or beautiful household items. I like baskets to store things in, I consider cast iron cookware as beautiful to look at as to cook with! wooden bowls for simple storage items etc.........sometimes I can't hardly stand to eat any winter squash I aquire because I think it is so lovely to look at on the counter! my neighbor grew a bunch of decorative gourds last summer. I don't know if she sprays with anything though. I have been eyeballing them wondering what will come of them and what if any problems she had with bugs. I need to strike up a little conversation with her......

[img]http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n52/havlik1/permie%20pics2/permiepotrait3pdd.jpg[/img]

"One cannot help an involuntary process. The point is not to disturb it. - Dr. Michel Odent

 
                                    
Posts: 17
Location: Upper Peninsula, MI
posted 15 years ago
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Leah Sattler wrote:
I think along the same lines. I have a bit of a passion for useful and natural or beautiful household items. I like baskets to store things in, I consider cast iron cookware as beautiful to look at as to cook with! wooden bowls for simple storage items etc.........sometimes I can't hardly stand to eat any winter squash I aquire because I think it is so lovely to look at on the counter! my neighbor grew a bunch of decorative gourds last summer. I don't know if she sprays with anything though. I have been eyeballing them wondering what will come of them and what if any problems she had with bugs. I need to strike up a little conversation with her......



Yeah - my greatest dilemma in the fall:  worship the squash or eat them?  You can't have your squash and eat it, too!

I want to build shelves going all the way to the ceiling all around my dining room and fill them up wiith squash and corn, onions etc. . . . I imagine I'd need to get another cat, then, to keep up with all the mice that would come.  And I'd need to keep the dining room pretty cool then . . .  just another Nutty Stacey idea.

I can't imagine the bugs would be THAT bad . . . . . . . we could make rhubarb leaf insecticide spray for them, since we won't be eating the gourds.  I wonder if anybody on here has ever made it.  I researched it but didn't want to make poison - but I'd do it for gourds by gosh!

Raising meat chickens, egg chickens, and angora rabbits, striving to grow 80% of our own food, spinning our own yarn, wildcrafting, herbal medicining, and enjoying life on Rocky Acres (fondly AKA 'The Beautiful Happy Hippy Organic Peace Family Farm)

 
Leah Sattler
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I have never heard of rhubarb leaf insecticide. isn't it the oxalates (sp?) i rhubarb that make the leaves bad for you? if so, and that is the mechanism behind its insecticide qualities it seems it wouldn't be too worrisome especially on inedible gourds. it would be worth it to me. maybe even for non direct use on and around squash plants. squash bugs make me do desperate things. 

[img]http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n52/havlik1/permie%20pics2/permiepotrait3pdd.jpg[/img]

"One cannot help an involuntary process. The point is not to disturb it. - Dr. Michel Odent

 
Jennifer Smith
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Leah,

try growing some luffa.  I never could get much out of my squash in Alabama till the luffa started killing the bugs.  I do not know how, but the wormies only get about an inch inside the plant and die.  I do not know if luffa will cross with other squash so maybe not save seed? 

But hey, it is worth a try as a trap crop...and useful plant anyway.  I have seed if interested.
 
                                    
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Jennifer Hall wrote:
Leah,

try growing some luffa.  I never could get much out of my squash in Alabama till the luffa started killing the bugs.  I do not know how, but the wormies only get about an inch inside the plant and die.  I do not know if luffa will cross with other squash so maybe not save seed? 

But hey, it is worth a try as a trap crop...and useful plant anyway.  I have seed if interested.



I'll take you up on that seed offer!  I've been thinking of trying them anyway.  Are they easy to turn into shower luffas?  Do the bugs have to go inside the gourd or just anywhere in the plant?

Raising meat chickens, egg chickens, and angora rabbits, striving to grow 80% of our own food, spinning our own yarn, wildcrafting, herbal medicining, and enjoying life on Rocky Acres (fondly AKA 'The Beautiful Happy Hippy Organic Peace Family Farm)

 
Leah Sattler
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I might just try luffa. if nothing else it has some neat uses. I don't think the squash bugs I have trouble with burrow into anything....they just suck the life out of them overnight and then move like a little army to the next plant. so far my best defense has been to hide my squash plants amongst other things so they aren't so easy to go from one to the next, that gives me a chance to suck the buggers up with my dustbuster and hunt for and squish the eggs.

[img]http://i109.photobucket.com/albums/n52/havlik1/permie%20pics2/permiepotrait3pdd.jpg[/img]

"One cannot help an involuntary process. The point is not to disturb it. - Dr. Michel Odent

 
Jennifer Smith
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Luffa is super easy to turn to shower luffas, smash, peal and wash well...that's it. 

I recieved plenty of luffas in my last load of stuff up from Alabama.  Next will be walking onions, lots of them too. 

Super happy to share/trade. 

As a side note, my carrots are doing well.  I may have lost the email where I mentioned the other day while giving treats to the horses I noticed how sweet they were so saved a few tops and put them in dirt in the window. 
 
                                    
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Jennifer Hall wrote:
Luffa is super easy to turn to shower luffas, smash, peal and wash well...that's it. 

I recieved plenty of luffas in my last load of stuff up from Alabama.  Next will be walking onions, lots of them too. 

Super happy to share/trade. 

As a side note, my carrots are doing well.  I may have lost the email where I mentioned the other day while giving treats to the horses I noticed how sweet they were so saved a few tops and put them in dirt in the window. 



I'll trade you some Boston Marrow seeds for luffa seeds - it's a delicious heirloom squash around since prehistory.  It stores well and makes delicious pumkin pies.

Raising meat chickens, egg chickens, and angora rabbits, striving to grow 80% of our own food, spinning our own yarn, wildcrafting, herbal medicining, and enjoying life on Rocky Acres (fondly AKA 'The Beautiful Happy Hippy Organic Peace Family Farm)

 
Valerie Clare
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posted 8 years ago
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] This is my very first time growing Luffa gourds here in Michigan. I started the seeds indoors under a light back in April 1st to be ready to be put into the ground in May after the last frost, and they were growing beautifully and at about age 4 and a half weeks my cat Cookie decided in the middle of the night to get into them and she bite off leaves from everyone of those plants there was 7 of them. They died. Yes she was fine but my plants didn't make it. I instantly put seeds into the ground outside directly because I was already behind in the growing season from her actions. Here is a picture of my very first try at a crop of Luffa gourds, but I already know that because the growing season is 180 days and Michigan only has 143 this year (2016) they wont make it, and unfortunately go into the compost pile. All that work for nothing. Ill share some pictures of them, and they look beautiful I know but they wont make it. I am in Hardiness zone of 6A in Oxford, Michigan. Now if Cookie had not been able to get to them and eat them, they would of made it. I would start them indoors around the  23rd of March and keep them under a indoor grow light and I also use a plant heating matt until they have developed their first true leaves which is 2-4 leaves, and move the growing  light UP as they grow to not burn them. Once they have those first true leaves move them to a sunny window and if you can purchase a greenhouse stand I would suggest that to keep them in so that they stay at 70 degrees. Here are some pictures of my luffa gourds growing up my house and making luffas but here's one more thing too. If you don't have pollinators to help, then you have to hand pollinate them to get the Luffa to grow, I did this also to help them along.I watched numerous Youtube videos on the subject before I even attempted to do this. I hope this helps. I'm sorry to say but this site has no easy way for me to share my pictures
 
Amit Enventres
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Hi, yeah. My first year growing bushel gourd in Ohio. It took over everything. People visited my yard just to see how insane the gourd made it. Because it doesn't seem to know winter is coming, I had to nip ends to get female flowers. So far so good. If say worth a try in any moist warm place. Also, the beetles seen to be pollinators not really Damagers. Though we have an abundance of those note too. Last year a pumpkin gourded just by sitting there. It looked ugly at first but was easy to clean when done. That made me want gourds. I'd give it a try if i were you.

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Inge Leonora-den Ouden
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Surprisingly this topic came along in the dailyish.
Yesterday I saw a lamp someone made of a long gourd. Different shaped holes were cut out of it and there was a string of led-lights inside.

"Also, just as you want men to do to you, do the same way to them" (Luke 6:31)

 
Pearl Sutton
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Yes, luffa WILL cross with other squash, you end up with really interesting textured inside (ugh!) zucchini etc... be cautious of letting it breed. All gourds will breed with squash, and you end up with hard skinned, pithy squash. And probably mushy gourds :) Be cautious.

You can force gourds to grow in shapes you want by making them little cages to grow in, I want to weave willow baskets, and let gourds grow in them to make a good watertight, pretty basket :) The problem with gourds as storage is the shape, the problem with baskets is they have cracks things fall through. I think it will be a fun experiment, and if it works well, an awesome thing to sell.

Gardens in my mind never need water
Castles in the air never have a wet basement
Well made buildings are fractal -- equally intelligent design at every level of detail.
Bright sparks remind others that they too can dance
What I am looking for is looking for me too!

 
Pearl Sutton
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Inge Leonora-den Ouden wrote:
Yesterday I saw a lamp someone made of a long gourd. Different shaped holes were cut out of it and there was a string of led-lights inside.


Pierced pottery designs would be neat to try in gourds! Some random pics as inspiration:




Gardens in my mind never need water
Castles in the air never have a wet basement
Well made buildings are fractal -- equally intelligent design at every level of detail.
Bright sparks remind others that they too can dance
What I am looking for is looking for me too!

 
Jay Angler
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Pearl Sutton wrote:

I want to weave willow baskets, and let gourds grow in them to make a good watertight, pretty basket  

Oh, that sounds like a really cool idea. I really hope you try it Pearl and post info and pictures of the results!

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Pearl Sutton
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Jay Angler wrote:Pearl Sutton wrote:

I want to weave willow baskets, and let gourds grow in them to make a good watertight, pretty basket  

Oh, that sounds like a really cool idea. I really hope you try it Pearl and post info and pictures of the results!


Just seems to me if you can make Chairman Mao gourds, there HAS to be cool things you can do with the idea.


(and now my head is singing: And if you go growing gourds that look like Chairman Mao, you ain't gonna make it with anyone anyhow... (torturing the Beatles "Revolution")

Gardens in my mind never need water
Castles in the air never have a wet basement
Well made buildings are fractal -- equally intelligent design at every level of detail.
Bright sparks remind others that they too can dance
What I am looking for is looking for me too!

 
Mike Barkley
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Gourds & melons can be almost any shape they are forced to grow into. Square watermelons are popular in Japan because they store easily in refrigerators. They also have pyramid & heart shaped watermelons.
watermelon2.jpg
[Thumbnail for watermelon2.jpg]

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Pearl Sutton
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There are also people doing zucchinis and cucumbers in shapes. It's just a fun idea :) And I LOVE gourds, and think they need to be played with! Besides baskets (I have seeds for the bushel basket gourds that want willow cases) making birdhouses that look more interesting, or that hang smoother etc are ideas too. Too fun!

Gardens in my mind never need water
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Well made buildings are fractal -- equally intelligent design at every level of detail.
Bright sparks remind others that they too can dance
What I am looking for is looking for me too!

 
Joylynn Hardesty
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https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Gourd-Carving-Revised-Expanded/dp/1565238257/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1542143310&sr=1-5&keywords=gourd+art

 
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.
gourd_containers.jpg
gourd containers
gourd containers
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[Thumbnail for pumpkin-planter.jpg]

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Tatym Schneider
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Oh this sounds amazing! I would love to replace a bunch of plastic things in my home with more natural materials! Gourds sound like an awesome option.
I too am in a 4a/3 gardening zone in Northern British Columbia, Canada. Has anyone in Canada successfully grown these gourds?

If not I am going to try these next summer. It will probably involve starting the seeds indoors under lights and with a heat mat - but I already have a set up for that.
I will make a note to return here and post about my attempt. Fingers crossed!
 
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@ Tatym Schneider - there are some gourds that grow on Southern Vancouver Island, but I haven't seen large ones like you'd want for storage. I'd do some research. West Coast Seeds has a luffa seed, but my friend who grew it locally got not fruit, nor did I the time I tried it. Their catalog doesn't mention anything I'd consider a storage gourd. If you know any local 1st Nations people, that might be a good source of both seed and the knowledge of how to grow them locally.

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Jay Angler - Thanks for the info. I will look into that!
 
L Anderson
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Has anyone used gourds to store leftovers in the refrigerator? Or any other thoughts on diy refrigerator containers? Since I’m a long time canner, I always have jars around for storing stuff, but they’re  no good for stuff like leftover lasagna and such.
 
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Nice to bring up this thread.
I grow birdhouse gourds for birdhouses, bird feeders, planters etc.
Next year I am going to try something new:

Big apple gourd
Bushel basket gourd
Corsican gourd

And I have a gourd carving book ready too.
20201113_190128-2.jpg
[Thumbnail for 20201113_190128-2.jpg]

Zone 6, 45 inches precipitation, hard clay soil

 
Cathy Butt
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When you planted your seed did you nick it with a knife to help the sprout break through the seed shell? It might be worth a try.
Sometimes with hard shelled seeds, it is recommended that you soak a seed in water over night to soften the shell a bit and help get things started.
I don’t know if this is recommended for gourd seeds but it is worth a try.
 
John F Dean
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Hi Cathy,


Welcome to Permies.

….give me coffee to do the things I can and bourbon to accept the things I can’t.

 
Renee Bidstrup
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The skin on the gourd seed is thick, so you have to scarify the ends or what I like to do is pour boiling water over them and let them sit for about 24 hours. It does take 2 to 3 weeks to see their little green leaves coming up, but worth the wait. See what works best for you.
 
Anne Miller
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Renee, welcome to the forum!

what kind of gourds did you plant?

Invasive plants are Earth's way of insisting we notice her medicines. Stephen Herrod Buhner
Everyone learns what works by learning what doesn't work. Stephen Herrod Buhner

 
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