Ornamental and Utilitarian Gourd Evaluation, Fall 2001^[1]

Donald N. Maynard^[2] Amy M. Dunlap^[3], and Brian J. Sidoti^[3]

The Cucurbitaceae family includes many widely cultivated food plants such as melon (Cucumis melo), cucumber (Cucumis sativus), watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) and squash, pumpkin and gourd (Cucurbita pepo), squash and pumpkin (Cucurbita moschata), and squash (Cucurbita maxima).   Regionally important, but less common cucurbits are bitter melon (Momordica charantia), bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria), luffa (Luffa cylindrical), and chayote (Sechium edule).  Many other cucurbits are locally important for food, ornamental, utilitarian, or medicinal purposes.

Decorative or ornamental gourds and some squash (Cucurbita pepo) and some colorful winter squash (Cucurbita maxima) provide spectacular material for centerpieces, displays, and arrangements for the autumn Halloween and Thanksgiving holidays.  Their use rivals the traditional jack-o-lantern and holiday pie, which are also based on cucurbits.  The squash are also excellent food sources.

Utilitarian gourds such as the cucuzzi gourd and bottle gourds (Lagenaria siceraria) vary widely in shape and size.  Mature gourd fruit with a tough, impervious pericarp have been used by traditional societies for various household utensils such as dippers and liquid storage utensils, birdhouses, fishnet floats, musical instruments, ceremonial masks, penis sheaths, and various decorations and objects of art.  Some of these uses have been supplanted by modern synthetic materials except in the most traditional societies.  Nowadays, gourds are prized by ‘gourd artists’ who craft art objects by burning, carving, and painting gourds to produce intricate designs and pictorials.  The unusual shape of the raw gourd adds to the challenge of the artist and interest of the final product.

The objective of this trial was to determine the potential for gourd production in west central Florida using cultural methods and scheduling that had proven successful for other cucurbits.

Materials and Methods

Soil samples from the experimental area obtained before fertilization were analyzed by the University of Florida Extension Soil Testing Laboratory (Hanlon and DeVore, 1989): pH = 6.8 (target pH is 6.0) and Mehlich I extractable P = 44 ppm (high), K = 11 ppm (very low), Mg = 57 ppm (high), Ca = 459 ppm (adequate), Zn = 3.4 ppm (adequate), Cu = 3.7 ppm (adequate), and Mn = 2.2 ppm (adequate) ppm.

The EauGallie fine sand was prepared on 10 July.  Beds were formed and fumigated with methyl bromide:chloropicrin, 67:33 at 2.3 lb/100 lbf.  Banded fertilizer was applied in shallow grooves on the bed shoulders at 2.9-0-4.0 lb N-P₂O₅-K₂O/100 lbf after the beds were pressed and before application of the white polyethylene mulch.  Total fertilizer applied was equivalent to 130-0-180 lb N-P₂O₅-K₂O/acre.  The final beds were 32-in. wide and 8-in. high and were spaced on 9-ft centers, with four beds between seepage irrigation/drainage ditches which were on 41-ft centers.

Decorative and utilitarian gourds and colorful winter squash seeds were planted on 25 July in holes punched in the polyethylene mulch at 3-ft in-row spacing.  Seedlings were thinned at the two true-leaf stage to one per hole.  Thirty-two entries (Table 1) were included in the trial.  'Heart of Gold' is a hybrid but all other entries are open pollinated.  The 15-ft long plots had 5 plants each and were replicated four times in a randomized complete-block design.  Weed control in row middles was accomplished by cultivation and application of paraquat.  Plant stands recorded just before vines grew together showed no significant differences among plots.  Pesticides were applied as needed for control of lepidopterous larvae (endosulfan, methomyl, spinosad, and Bacillus thuringiensis) silverleaf whitefly (fenpropathrin), powdery mildew  (trifloxystrobin) and downy mildew (chlorothalonil, azoxystrobin, mefenoxam, and maneb).

The decorative gourds and colorful winter squashes were harvested on 4 October (86 DAP) and the utilitarian gourds were harvested on 19 October (101 DAP).  True-to-type and off-type (where they occurred) fruit were counted and weighed separately.  The five largest and five smallest decorative gourds and winter squashes in each plot were weighed to determine the range of sizes within a variety.  For the utilitarian gourds, the three largest and smallest fruit were selected to determine the size ranges.  The data were subjected to analysis of variance and mean separation was by Duncan’s multiple range test.

Results

Decorative Gourds and Winter Squash.

Yields varied from 1.1 lb/plant for ‘White Ball’ to 12.8 lb/plant for ‘Aladdin’s Mini Turban’ (Table 2).  ‘White Ball’ yields were reduced because 81% of the fruit were not true-to-type (Table 4), but may have been marketable.  Fruit per plant ranged from 2.7 for ‘Turks Turban’ to 25.3 per plant for ‘Small Warted Indy Mix’.  Average fruit weight varied from 0.1 lb for ‘Striped Pear’ and ‘Miniature Ball’ to 2.8 lb for ‘Turks Turban’.  There was considerable weight variation between the averages of the five smallest and the five largest fruit in each plot.  For most varieties the largest fruit were two to three times heavier than the smallest fruit.  Exceptions were the C. pepo squashes ‘Heart of Gold’ and ‘Sweet Dumpling’; the former a F₁ hybrid and the latter a carefully maintained o.p.  The smallest to largest variation in these varieties was less than 1.  A high proportion of off-type fruit was noted in ‘Bicolor Pear’, ‘Striped Pear’ and ‘White Ball’ (Tables 2,4).  An array of decorative gourds and winter squash is shown in Fig. 1 and individual varieties in Figs. 2-21.

Utilitarian Gourds.

Yields ranged from 5.9 lbs/plant for ‘Miniature Bottle’ to 44.1 lbs/plant for ‘Giant Bushel’ (Table 3).  On the other hand, ‘Miniature Bottle’ produced the most fruit per plant, 18.8, and ‘Giant Bushel’ produced the fewest fruit per plant, 4.6.  Average fruit weight varied from 0.3 lb/fruit for ‘Miniature Bottle’ to 9.8 lb/fruit for ‘Giant Bushel’.  As with decorative gourds, there was considerable variation within varieties in fruit weight.  The average weight of the three largest fruit in a plot was two to three times greater than the average weight of the three smallest fruit in the plot.  Gourds have been selected for physical attributes from heterogeneous populations to produce the distinct types we call varieties.  Nonetheless, there is still considerable variation within varieties (Table 4).  An array of the utilitarian gourds is shown in Fig. 22 and the individual varieties are illustrated in Figs. 23-34.

There is little information available on gourd yields and comparisons are difficult because of the great variations in weight among varieties and the stage of maturity when the fruit is harvested.  Tindall (1983) reports that each bottle gourd plant produces 10 to15 fruit weighing 1.1 to 3.3 lbs each for a plant yield of 11 to 50 lb/plant.  Except for ‘Miniature Bottle’, the utilitarian gourds in this trial produced yields within the 11 to 50 lb/plant range.

Some general observations that summarize the results of this trial and potential for production are:

• Decorative and utilitarian gourds can be grown successfully in west central Florida
• Cucurbita sp. and Lagenaria sp. or should not be interplanted because Lagenaria vine growth is rampant and tends to overgrow Cucurbita vines
• Both types are subject to foliar diseases and insects so that frequent pesticide applications probably will be necessary.
• The bottle gourd type fruit are subject to decay and need to be carefully dried, but this was not researched.
• The principal demand for the bottle gourds will be from gourd artists.
• The decorative gourds will have a wider appeal for use in autumn displays.

Additional Information on Gourds

Cucurbit Network Website: www.cucurbit.org

Heiser, C. B. Jr. 1979.  The Gourd Book.  Univ. of Oklahoma Press, Norman.

Naylor, N. M. and T. A. More (eds.).  1998.  Cucurbits.  Science Publishers, Enfield, N. H.

Robinson, R. W. and D. S. Decker-Walters.  1997.  Cucurbits.  CAB International, New York.

Tindall, H. D. 1983.  Vegetables in the Tropics. Macmillan Press, London.

Whitaker, T. W. and G. N. Davis.  1962.  Cucurbits.  Botany, Cultivation and Utilization.

 Interscience Publishers, New York.