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How To Grow A Giant Gourd
Growing giant gourds is more than just a matter of planting the right seed. You have to baby them along and give them plenty of what they like bestàeverything!
"The secret to raising a big gourd is plenty of fertilizer, plenty of water, and good soil," says Jeanie Dixon, treasurer and webmaster, American Gourd
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How To Grow A Giant Gourd AG WORLD 29-3-24 Growing giant gourds is more than just a matter of planting the right seed. You have to baby them along and give them plenty of what they like bestàeverything!
"The secret to raising a big gourd is plenty of fertilizer, plenty of water, and good soil," says Jeanie Dixon, treasurer and webmaster, American Gourd Society. "They love high organic matter, the higher the better. They like plenty of sun, too."
Gourds also like plenty of space. Dixon sometimes raises as many as 200 plants at a time, enough to cover about half an acre.
One big variety is the bushel gourd with its flat top. Another is the giant kettle gourd with its peak top.
To make giants out of your gourds, Dixon suggests you have to be ruthless. "Cut out the extra fruit, leaving only two or three gourds per plant," she says. "If you are going for a contest contender, leave only one per plant and the closer to the main stem the better."
To make sure it always has enough water, Dixon advises laying a drip irrigation hose around the main plant. Even giant gourd plants actually have a small and shallow root system, not more than a foot deep and within 2 1/2 ft. of the main stem. Fertilizer also needs to be spread close to the main stem.
How big is big when it comes to gourds? Dixon co-hosts the Giant Gourd Growing Championship on the internet. The champion dipper gourd, grown by Phil Hart of Monticello, Ind., hit 69 1/2 in. long. The largest giant gourd was 79 1/2 in. round and 156 lbs. This was a giant bushel gourd grown by Paul Jeffers of Taylorsville, Kty.
"Competitors save their own seed, but they are very sharing," says Dixon. "They have papers and a history of their line, like a pedigree."
Dixon's passion is painting gourds, and she has turned big ones into coffee tables. She advises treating a gourd like wood if using it for a craft or as a base for painting. She sands out any bumps, rinses it in 10 percent bleach to kill any mold spores and then seals it like wood.
Dixon's website has a host of links to gourd suppliers, growers and associations, including the American Gourd Society.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Jeanie Dixon, 6305 W. Argent, Pasco, Wash. 99301 (ph 509 545-4443; website: www. gourdsby jeanie.com).
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