How to Grow Hand-Rubbed Gourds and the Techniques for Playing with Them and Coloring Them

The gourd is an ancient traditional auspicious object in our country and is regarded as a totem of the Chinese nation. A hand-rubbed gourd, as the name suggests, must be small, a gourd suitable for playing with in the hand. Hand-rubbed gourds can be hung or displayed, rubbed and played with, and are purple, smooth and glossy, with great collectible value. So, how do you treat and color a small gourd for playing with (a hand-rubbed gourd)? What is the specific growing method?

1. How do you treat and color a small gourd for playing with?

1. As time goes on, the surface of a small gourd for playing with will gradually turn red. Note that for newly picked gourds of the current year, it is best to let them sit for a year before rubbing them.

2. When beginners are choosing and buying, they should ask the seller which year the gourd is from. New gourds usually develop a porcelain-like sheen very quickly, and those that develop the sheen early color slowly. This is also why many beginners feel that their gourds never turn red with rubbing.

The older the gourd, the redder the color, and the more beautiful the color produced by rubbing, though of course the price will be a bit higher. Some gourds, after sitting for a few years, do not need to be rubbed at all and are already bright red. After developing the porcelain-like sheen, they are even more beautiful, with a red glow within the shine.

3. The method of rubbing a gourd is very simple: just place a gourd in your hand and gently rub back and forth over the surface of the gourd. This kind of hand activity can both give the gourd a porcelain-like sheen and color it. It can also exercise the blood vessels and acupoints of the fingers.

4. In fact, the original purpose of rubbing gourds and walnuts was for fitness, to exercise the blood vessels in the hands. Later, people discovered that after rubbing and playing, the color of walnuts and gourds was especially beautiful, which led to later rubbing and playing; for some people, fitness became secondary.

2. Growing method for small gourds for playing with

1. Sprouting

Gourds are best sown around Grain Rain, but because climates differ from place to place, this can be appropriately moved earlier or later. Before sowing, select plump seeds free of mold and sprout them first. Why is the germination rate of gourds so low? Because gourd seed coats are hard, sprouting techniques matter; in addition, the smaller the gourd, the harder it is to sprout. Generally, the germination rate of large gourds is about 80 percent, while that of small gourds is between 50 percent and 80 percent.

2. Careful management

Whether on a balcony or in a courtyard, potted hand-rubbed small gourds must be placed in a spot with plenty of sunlight. Before fruiting, cultivating strong seedlings is key. First, top-dress in time. During the growing period, fermented sesame paste residue and soybean cake are good, and they can be diluted and applied at the same time as watering. At the bud stage, add phosphorus and potassium fertilizer to increase the fruit-setting rate and fruit quality. Second, sun the seedlings. The optimum temperature for gourd growth is around 30°C, and they like plenty of sunshine, so expose them to as much sun as possible. At noon in the heat of summer, it is best for the leaves to wilt without scorching, as this can cultivate strong seedlings and control excessive growth.

3. Topping

When the vine grows to about 1 m high, top it at the 3rd to 4th leaf counted from the root. Because hand-rubbed small gourds have the habit of fruiting on side branches, this can make side branches at the base emerge earlier and bear fruit earlier, and lower the height of the trellis, making it easier to view. After side branch buds and vines grow out, they can generally form buds once they have 3 to 4 leaves; female buds look like two stacked balls. If there is no bud, it is a sterile runner. Sterile runners grow vigorously, and if not pinched off in time, they will rob the entire plant of nutrients, causing other fruiting branches to wilt and shrink back, becoming dead buds. You can also top the sterile runner again at the 3 to 4 leaf stage, turning the sterile runner into a fruiting branch.

4. Pollination during the flowering period

Hand-rubbed small gourds are cross-pollinated plants, and pollination during the flowering period is key to fruit set. Because potted gourds are few in number, have few bees, and their flowering periods are hard to coincide, artificial pollination is necessary. Gourds bloom every evening, and the best pollination period is before 10 a.m. the next day. When pollinating, use a dry towel and a small cotton ball to collect pollen from the male flowers, then immediately transfer it to the female flower stigma without delay. If it rains, cover the male and female flowers in advance with plastic bags so they are not exposed to the rain.