Detailed Guide to Bottle Gourd Seed Selection Tips and Seedling Raising Methods

Speaking of bottle gourd, perhaps many friends have never eaten it. It is a summer vegetable with a light and refreshing taste, tender flesh, and a slightly sweet flavor when eaten. Because bottle gourd is delicious and highly nutritious, it is very popular among consumers, and many farmers grow it. So how do you select bottle gourd seeds? What are the seedling raising methods? Next, the editor will slowly tell everyone!

1. How to select bottle gourd seeds?

1. Pay attention to variety selection. Choose early-maturing varieties with strong adaptability, good disease resistance, long fruit, thin skin, and high yield. Such as Xiaogan bottle gourd, Lanshan early bottle gourd, Yonghu No. 1, Yonghu Hybrid No. 2, Huahu Hybrid No. 2, Zhepu No. 6, etc.

2. Note that you should not blindly introduce seeds from other places, because different bottle gourd varieties cultivated in the same area may very likely produce natural hybridization that makes the fruit bitter.

2. What are the seedling raising methods for bottle gourd seeds?

1. Seed soaking

Select bottle gourd seeds of a variety suitable for local cultivation, soak the seeds in 40°C warm water for 12 to 24 hours, take them out, wrap them in gauze, shake them dry, and crack open the soaked sweet gourd seeds.

2. Germination

In the bottle gourd germination container, spread a layer of sterilized sawdust or sand, then spread a layer of gauze, place the soaked seeds evenly on the gauze for germination, and control the temperature between 25 and 28°C.

3. Seedbed

Under the bottle gourd seedling bed, place 8 to 10 cm of horse manure or chopped grass, spread a layer of soil on top, tread it firm and level, and at the same time disinfect with 70% dexon wettable powder.

4. Soil mixing

For bottle gourd nutrient soil, choose soil that has not used herbicides such as Pursuit or chlorimuron-ethyl and screen it well, then mix it with screened decomposed farmyard manure at a ratio of 7:3.

5. Sowing

Place the bottle gourd nutrient bags neatly on the seedling bed and water them thoroughly. Generally sow from April 5 to 10, place the germinated seeds with the sprout eye facing down, cover with soil, and then water once.

2. Bottle gourd cultivation methods

1. Garden site selection

For bottle gourd, it is best to choose flat land and second lowland with good drainage and fertile soil. Sloping land with irrigation conditions is also acceptable. Previous crops of corn, wheat, and soybean are better. Avoid continuous or alternating cropping with white gourd, watermelon, and other cucurbit crops.

2. Land preparation and fertilization

For bottle gourd planting land, ridge in early spring when the soil is still moist, promptly press to preserve soil moisture. The planting ridges are long-opening ridges. Use 2500 kg of farmyard manure per mu and 150 kg of vegetable special fertilizer or sulfur-containing compound fertilizer as base fertilizer.

3. Timely planting

The planting spacing for bottle gourd is 0.67 m. Dig holes and plant a single seedling, water to settle the roots. Before plowing, use paraquat to weed once, then after preparing the land, spray butachlor once, and only then transplant.

4. Fertilizer and water management

For bottle gourd topdressing, base it on soil fertility and apply it together with watering. Generally, 6 days after transplanting, apply 15 kg of bean bran soaking liquid, 1.5 kg of biological phosphorus, and 1.5 kg of biological potassium per mu, mixed with manure water for drenching, once every 7 to 10 days.

5. Training vines and pinching tips

Keep two main vines per bottle gourd plant. You can cultivate directional soil once to make the vine tilt in the downwind direction. When the first-level branch grows to 3 leaves, begin pinching the tips. Watch for and pinch off the second- and third-level branches. Pinch the main vine tips after August.

6. Artificial pollination

Bottle gourd generally does not bloom in the morning or on rainy days, so prune branches and pinch tips every morning, and start pollination at 16:00 in the afternoon. Pollination can stop after the End of Heat, and generally two main vines bear 6 to 8 fruits.

7. Timely harvest

Bottle gourd begins to be harvested gradually in early August. When the first crop of gourds grows to about 15 to 18 jin and makes a sound when pinched with a fingernail, they can be harvested. In principle, harvest one day, and the next day first peel off the gourd skin, then cut the gourd strips. Do not cut gourd strips on rainy days.

The above is all the content the editor wants to share with everyone. If you are preparing to buy bottle gourd seeds, you can first look at the selection methods above. The editor has also explained its seedling raising and cultivation methods in detail. I hope it is helpful to everyone.

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