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Grow Gourds!

Growing Gourds - Jessie Keith
Learning to grow gourds is fun! Nothing beats beautiful, heat-tolerant, hard-skinned gourds (Lagenaria siceraria) for fall show and decorating. Growing them is fun and easy to do! They come in all shapes and sizes and are top notch garden plants for kids. In the fall they look beautiful in festive Halloween and Thanksgiving displays and for winter they can be dried and carved into everything from lidded containers to birdhouses or luminaries.

Plant these annual vines in spring after the threat of frost has passed, and provide full sun and well-drained soil fortified with a little all-purpose fertilizer for good gourd production. When temperatures heat up, the vines will start to spread, twine and ramble, so be sure to provide a strong trellis for them.