Gourds on a Tower Garden

Gourds come in many shapes and sizes. Like the loofah, gourds grow exponentially and can vines can reach 12 m.

Gourds are extremely prone to mildew and fungi. Like with all cucurbits, we advise you to have a growing strategy allowing the plant to grow on a structure rather than growing on the ground.

In fact, gourds growing on the ground are prone to pathogens which can contaminate the entire tower. Like all cucurbits (cucumbers, squash, pumpkin, loofah…), gourds grow huge root systems.

Like all curcurbits (cucumbers, squash, pumpkin, loofah…), gourds grow huge root systems. Do not choose the bottom planting section in order to avoid DWC (deep water culture). Only put one seed per rockwool/ coco coir.

When the powdery mildew starts showing signs on the leaves, we advise you to mix a tablespoon of cornstarch per 5 L of water and spray such mixture on the leaves and stems (sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t depending on the level of infection… even if it does not eradicate the problem, such natural remedy does help with slowing down fungi infections.).

In spite of the ongoing problem of powdery mildew amongst other fungus related diseases, gourds are fun to grow as they can give incongruous oversized fruits which unusual shapes never fail to impress.

In terms of crop yield, gourds are generous plants which give lots of fruits.

We only recommend you to grow gourds for experimental purposes. Gourds are rarely grown to be eaten and we advise Tower Garden® owners to prioritize the use of their tower to grow food.

Nevertheless, gourds are also the perfect crops to grow with children from an educational perspective.

Bottle Gourds have been used since ancient times for a wide variety of uses. Aside from being edible, Bottle Gourds are traditionally dried and then used as storage containers, bottles, instruments, and decoration.