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Here is a photo of one of the big African Bushel gourds. I gave them a cup of organic fertilizer once a week all summer, just sprinkled around the root system. Also, all the extra female baby gourds were pinched off so that these could grow over 70"s in circumference..
ooh, these are huge!! I had to buy a measuring tape that went over the 60", I found one that went to 120" to measure them.. They are outside drying and getting mold as we speak. (we type).
marti, the only thing I am waiting on these gourds is to cut one open to see if I got some thick shelled gourds with this organic fertilizer, I sure hope so, if not, then I have to figure out what kinds of potash to put in there for thicker shelled gourds,
The bigger they are, the thinner the shell, so, I hope they formed some nice thick shells. I won't know till it is time to open one after they dry, and these take months to dry out.
Hi Dave,
Yes, they are the ONLY ones I grew last year, except the mini gourd plant that came up on it's own about 1/2 acre away in the front yard. They should come out true I think. Now, I did have some zuccini in that area, will that mess everything up?
A.
They are not green anymore, but they are not completely dry, the vines died in late October/November sometime, but they are not dry yet. I left them out in the spots where they were growing, some are beginning to peel. They are still pretty heavy.
Name: Dave Whitinger Jacksonville, Texas Resident cubit-master
Wow, given their size I guess it makes sense that it would take a very long time for them to dry out. Hopefully they'll be dry by seed planting time this spring!!
I just went out and checked on them, two of them that are drying really good and peeling weigh about 40 or 50 lbs. the rest are still weighing over 100 lbs each.. they are so heavy I can't even budge them.
The seeds should be good now anyway, but I am waiting for the shell to get dry/hard. I think that like the pumpkins, the seeds are ready on these when they vine dies. So, I could take the seeds out now and they would germinate. I'll be sure to take them out before Spring arrives, Hopefully by the beginning March and I'll mail out then.
Two of them caved in, but, I expected these two to do that because they got a late start in growing but took off, so I let them be, they are big, but not as big as the 8 that matured on the vines.
If you have never been "into" gourds here is the place to learn how to grow, harvest, clean, and decorate this wonderful and interesting vegetable of the Squash family. Just come on in and visit with us and share knowledge!!
