Grow Gourds for Eco-friendly Household Uses, Seasonal Decor & More!
Do you grow gourds? Welcome to the world of shady vines and an amazing (non-edible) cucurbit fruit, the gourd!
My favorite uses for gourds:
1. Loofah for bath scrubber.
2. Loofah for eco-friendly kitchen scrub ‘sponge’.
3. Loofah embedded in my farmhouse soap for gardeners.
4. Loofah as flower pot fillers for large pots of summer annuals.
5. Daisy & Goblin gourds for fall decor - basket fillers and mixed with pumpkin displays.
6. Dipper gourds for crafts, painted decor and ‘dippers’.
7. Bottle or Birdhouse gourds for bird shelters and decor. They can also be painted.
Loofah gourds are my favorite to grow in East Texas. They make a wonderful, shady vine for arbors and porch sitting in the summer. After the first frost, around the middle of November, I pull out the dead vines and clean the dried ‘fruit’.
There are birdhouse or bottle gourds, apple gourds, daisy gourds and dipper gourds. For crafters the apply gourd is the most popular. Daisy gourds and goblin gourds add a lovely fall vibe to your home decor. I use them as basket fillers and mixed with pumpkin displays. Dipper gourds and loofah actually have a utilitarian purpose as, you guessed it, dippers for one. Loofah makes a great shower or bath scrub. They’re eco-friendly kitchen scrubbies as well. Grow a few loofah gourd vines and you will never buy another kitchen scrubbie again. Simply toss the loofah into the compost bin or bury it in your backyard flower bed when it is time for a new one.
How to Grow:
Plant the seed for the gourd you’ve selected around Mother’s Day. Don’t plant too early, chilly cool nights will stunt their growth. They super-love the heat so go ahead and plant the seed in a sunny spot that gets at least 6-8 hours of sun. Sun from around 11 am until 6 pm or later in the long days of summer. You’ll need to be able to water your Cucurbitaceae vine a couple times a week in July and August. Mulching the base of the vine will help conserve moisture and protect the roots from the hot blistering sun. Do not overwater! A deep watering once or twice a week is sufficient. If it looks wilted, give it a deep watering and mulch the base. Don’t fertilize your gourd vine, it does not need it.
It will need a sturdy fence, porch railing or trellis to climb on. Sturdy is not a suggestion. These vines get heavy with the developing fruits and will collapse a flimsy structure. Cattle panels wired to T-posts that have been pounded into the ground are what I grow them on. Our muscadine trellis is built of salvaged timbers from an old barn. It’s perfect for gourds as well. Pests don’t seem to bother gourds. It’s almost as though squash bugs and cucumber beetles know the difference from my summer squash and these inedible fruits.
Leave your vines to grow and sprawl all summer. Plan ahead and create a structure for them to climb that will provide you a shady nook to read and relax. Don’t harvest the gourds too soon. This is perhaps the number one mistake growers make. Especially with loofah gourds. Leave them on the vine until late October. Be sure to pick up any that have fallen to the ground, these will rot and develop mildew (yuk!). Toss these in a basket where they can dry out of direct sun and protected from rain. If you pick them up before they begin to mildew it’s likely they will dry just fine. I have dried them in my car. Simply put them in a laundry basket and leave them. The heat of late August & September will dry them in no time.
Did I mention loofah gourds make great pot fillers for spring and summer annuals? Be sure you have removed ALL the seed or you will be plucking little gourd seedlings from your pots of petunias. As November rolls around in East Texas, start watching for the first frosty night. Temperatures that dip into the 40’s will definitely stall the vines' growth. If they’re looking brown and crispy on the outside, go ahead and snip them off the vine with your garden snips. Don’t try to yank them off or you will damage the vine. I start harvesting dried gourds usually around late October. The days are still warm but the nights are cooling down. After the first frost I know the vines will no longer grow but I may leave the loofah and other large gourds on the vines for a day or two. My gardening schedule doesn’t always align with our weather. Daisy gourds and goblin gourds are smaller and usually are ready to harvest by Halloween.
We have a long growing season in East Texas and gourds love it! Get growing friends!
