A Detailed Guide to Growing, Caring for and Harvesting Miniature Bottle Gourds

The miniature bottle gourd, also known as the hand-rubbed gourd, must by definition be small - a gourd suited to being played with in the hand. The smaller the hand-rubbed gourd, the better; what you enjoy is its dainty, exquisite size. Generally, to count as a “hand-rubbed gourd”, the length should not exceed 5CM, making it better suited to container growing, so how do you grow and care for miniature bottle gourds? When do they mature for harvest?

1. How do you grow and care for miniature bottle gourds?

1. Planting time

Each year after Qingming Festival, miniature bottle gourds can be planted in the south; because northern temperatures are lower, planting there is best done around May Day.

2. Germination

First soak the gourd seeds in warm water for about 30 minutes, then wrap the seeds in a paper towel and place them in a container, moisten the paper towel with water and put it in a spot exposed to sunlight. Check every day and keep the paper towel moist; after about a week they will sprout.

3. Growing site

If growing in the countryside, you can plant directly in the yard, or plant in a flower pot and place it in the yard; in the city you can only plant in a flower pot and put it on a windowsill or balcony. But no matter where you grow them, make sure the light exposure is good.

Choose the largest flower pot possible; according to your own conditions, if you have nothing else, an ordinary wine barrel or oil drum will do. Gourds are deep-rooted plants, so it is recommended to choose a deeper pot.

Gourds have no great demands on soil; soil that is not highly acidic or alkaline is fine. In the city you can simply buy potting soil.

4. Sowing

For those planting in a yard in the countryside, loosen the soil and turn it over in advance, then water the ground thoroughly. Plant the sprouted seeds with the sprouts facing down, two seeds at a time, into the soil; note that a depth of about 3 cm is enough. If you plan to transplant after true leaves appear, the seeds can be placed closer together. If you do not plan to transplant and the site is already fixed, keep a spacing of about one chi per plant, then cover the surface with a thin layer of soil. Next comes covering with film; if you have no film, plastic bags can be used instead. The purpose is to keep warmth and moisture so the seedlings emerge quickly; in about four or five days the seedlings will come up.

In the city it is relatively simple: water the flower pot thoroughly, poke a few holes with your finger to a depth of 3 cm, carefully place the sprouted seeds with the sprouts facing down into the holes, cover with soil and put it on a balcony or windowsill. With sunlight, the seedlings will emerge in about a week.

5. Care and management

After the gourd grows four leaves, it will successively grow vines. At this stage, gourds planted in a yard in the countryside need a gourd trellis; only gourds that hang as they grow will develop top-quality appearance. The requirements for the trellis are also very simple: adapt to local conditions, and a height just out of reach when standing is ideal. Bamboo poles can be considered as material; a trellis built from them looks neat and is also sturdy.

Flower pots in the city also need a trellis; bamboo poles or tree branches will both do, with the height kept within one meter.

2. When do miniature bottle gourds mature for harvest?

Because sowing times vary from early to late, and regional temperatures differ, the maturity period of gourds can differ by as much as one or two months between the north and south. What needs attention here is that you should not touch gourds that have not yet grown to full size with your hands; they will wither or change color, stop growing and die young. If during the maturity period you find aphids on the leaves, be sure to spray pesticide promptly to kill them, so that the nearly mature gourds do not have their skins bitten and damaged by insects, causing losses.

When all the leaves of the gourd vine have turned yellow and fallen, the gourds have finished growing; only then can they be taken down from the trellis and harvested. If you are impatient and harvest early, the gourds will shrink or split as their moisture is lost, and at the same time the gourd seeds cannot be used for planting the following year.

There is one more point worth mentioning: when harvesting the gourd, be sure to use scissors and leave the stem (the “dragon head”) on; a gourd without its stem has no soul.