Growing birdhouse gourds isn’t as hard as you might think. Actually, these gourds are really simple to grow. I have been growing, drying, and crafting with birdhouse gourds for some time now. It’s a fun, and beautiful hobby. First you will need your seeds. You can find birdhouse gourd seeds almost anywhere that seeds are sold. You will usually find ten seeds per pack at a cost of a dollar fifty or so. If you can’t find them in your local garden departments, you can also find them on www.ebay.com.
After you have your seeds, you will need to find a sunny location to plant them. Birdhouse gourds grow on a vine, so you need something for your vine to run. Planting birdhouse gourds against a fence is ideal. You will want to plant your seeds one inch deep in the soil. If you want to grow them in a container that’s fine, but you will need a five gallon container to grow two plants in. Once your seeds are planted you will need to keep the soil most for the seeds to sprout. In seven to fourteen days you will notice your seeds sprouting. Your young seedlings still need water, but only water them in the early mornings. Water your plant in mid day will cause them to burn, and watering at night will promote diseases, and funguses. You will find that the vine grows very quickly. The larger leafs, and fast growing vine provide a screen, and is quite pretty to look at. It takes a while before you have gourds, but you will see beautiful yellow flowers. Each flower is a potential gourd, so avoid touching it or picking them.
In 3 months you will have small gourds growing. You want to leave them on the vine until they are ready to pick. How do you know when they are ready for picking? The stem attaching the gourd to the vine will turn brown when your birdhouse gourd is ready to be picked. Each birdhouse gourd is unique in shape, and size. This along makes harvesting time worth while. Your birdhouse gourd will be the same shape and size when it is dry, as it was the day you picked it.
There are several ways to dry a birdhouse gourd. I place mine near a window inside, some people prefer using a closet, or even a shed. Regardless, every few days you need to rotate your gourds, so they do not rot. You will also need to wash them if they start to mold quickly. It can take anywhere from a month to three months for your gourds to dry out. You will know when they are dried by shaking them. If you here the seeds moving freely then they are ready to be cleaned. Using a mild bleach solution you can remove the mold from the outside of your birdhouse gourds. Next, carefully drill a hole in them, if you want. Finally, get creative and paint your heart out.
I usually get three to six birdhouse gourds for every two plants I have. If you plant them along a fence, spacing them six inches apart, you can grow thirty or more birdhouse gourds in a little space. Birdhouse gourds are great for children to grow as well as adults. And to think that it all begins with just one little seed.
