6 gourd-growing tips

While they are edible when young, gourds are grown chiefly for the ornamental value of their shells when dried. Their brightly coloured patterns of yellow, orange, and green can be preserved with varnish or wax. Here are a few tips for growing your own gourds.

Gourds are unusual-shaped vegetables in the cucurbit family, which also includes pumpkins, squashes, melons, and cucumbers.

Others, called lagenarias or hardshell gourds, dry to tan and can be crafted into dippers, bottles, rattles, or birdhouses.

• Sow these frost-tender plants where they'll get plenty of warmth and sunshine, and use black plastic mulch if your summers are on the cool side.

They need at least 115 days to reach maturity, and the big ones take even longer. Colourful ornamental gourds are better for cool climates because they mature in only 80 to 90 days.

• Create a basin in the soil around your gourds to hold moisture.
• Mulch with straw or shredded dead leaves to keep from wasting a drop of water.

• In wet areas, plant gourds in mounds spaced 1.5 metres apart.
• Mulch to prevent soil erosion and inhibit weeds, as the fleshy roots grow very close to the soil surface.

Prevent rotting by keeping gourds off the ground.

• Once the fruits form, put them on a board supported by four overturned flowerpots or bricks or place them on several sheets of folded newspaper.

• Leave gourds on the vine until they are completely ripe, with hard rinds and dry stems.
• A light frost or two won't hurt gourds, but move them into a dry place before a hard freeze.
• Cut, don't pull, fruits from the vine, leaving five to eight centimetres of stem attached. Handle carefully to avoid bruises, where rot can develop.

• Cure gourds by letting them dry and harden in a warm, well-ventilated place for two to six months.

Don't worry about any mould spots that develop on the surface — they won't damage fruits. Just scrub off the patches after the gourds have dried until you can hear seeds rattling around inside them.