RE: [gourds] Re:Planting time in S. Central Texas
Lillian Kepp (gourds@globalgarden.com)
Thu, 12 Feb 98 22:02:38 PST
Pat,
I haven't heard that gourds won't set fruit when it gets too hot.
That may be true, I just never heard of it. I do know two reasons
that plants fail to set fruit. The first of course is that the
blossom is not pollinated at all or "incompletely pollinated".
As you know, gourd blossoms only open once. If it is raining when
it opens, pollinators are not flying around in the rain and the
gourd won't get pollinated. Every little piece of pollen that is
pollinated makes a seed. If not enough pollen if pollianted and the
gourd doens't have a lot of seeds, the vine will abort the growing
of that gourd and the gourd will fall off.
When the blossom does get pollinated properly for the vine to
believe it is making enough babies (seeds) it will nourish that
gourd to maturity to ensure it's reproducing. It will not stop
flowering until the gourd is mature since it really doesn't know it
some nut will come along and pick it off before it matures. So it
keeps flowering until it knows it has enough mature seeds produced.
When an annual has produced enough seeds, it shuts generally shuts
down. The little gourd vine says, I've done my job, I've produced
enough babies, find me a little gourd vine casket, I'm going to
plant heaven. (I did have one vine that asked to be cremated but
that was a really weird variety :) ) I'm sure we've all grown
annual flowers that we keep "deadheading" so they will continue to
bloom. That plant wants to produce seed and we keep cutting the
flowers off so it makes more flowers. Nice for us but bad for the
plant. I'd hate like hell for the obstetrician to keep swiping my
babies so I'll produce more!!
I know I have posted this before, but what the heck, I don't have
much to do tonight so I'll post it again. Gourd vines are like us.
They have so much to give to each child. If I have $5.00 dollars to
give my children for allowance and I have five children, each child
gets $1.00. That's it. Each child may need $5.00 but only get
$1.00. Same with the gourd vine. It only has so many resources to
provide it's babies. Generally the more gourds on the vine, the
less resources each one gets. If you want a big gourd, (providing
of course the vine is the type to produce big gourds to begin with)
only leave a few gourds on the vine to maturity, cut the others off.
Maybe if you only have two big gourds they will each get a $2.50
allowance and grow "richer".
A plant (any plant) has one and only purpose in life, to reproduce.
They are programed to reproduce by making enough mature seeds to
do the job, usually in their native growing conditions. The little
chile plant that usually grows in South America doesn't know that I
planted it in South Central Ohio. (And I don't tell it either!)
Most gourds are annual plants. When they produce enough mature
seeds that they think will ensure reproduction, they more or less
shut down. How that old root in the ground get the message from the
big gourd on the vine is beyond me since I've never heard any Morris
Code being tapped out on the vine. :) But it does know.
Now, I've posted this before also, but what the heck again, my
fingers are just flying around this keyboard looking for words to
make so why should I stop them. You can pretty well tell if your
gourd is mature if the stem and tendrils that connect it to the vine
are dead. When the stem dies it nutrients can't flow through it
anymore. If for some reason it dies before the gourd is completely
mature it doesn't matter if you leave it on the vine or not, it
won't get any bigger. If it has matured enough you will notice that
the baby fuzz on the gourd is all gone. This is one of the first
things I noticed when I started growing gourds. If the gourd still
has the baby fuzz when the vine dies or frost comes it probably will
not dry, more than likely it will rot or if it starts to dry, it
will collapse. I have a theory about that fuzz, but this is only my
theory. The minature gourd on the female blossom is covered with
fuzz from day one. It is also relatively soft. You can "tie" a
knot in a young dipper when it is still "soft", but not as it gets
bigger and the shell get harder. I think that since the gourd is
soft the fuzz might protect it a little from things like cucumber
beatles or something else getting to the soft gourd. When the gourd
gets more mature and the outside gets harder, to protect it from the
"things that can get it", the fuzz is no longer needed and
disappears. I would also guess that as long as the fuzz is present
that the seeds have not matured. Any gourd I have at the end of the
season that still has fuzz on it I consider near worthless.
So, Pat, if you've read this far, you have made my fingers quite
happy. :)
Lillian
On Wed, 11 Feb 1998 06:00:30 -0600 Pat Storer R-Zu-2-U wrote:
>Thanks for the detailed reply, however, my question, which was not
clear
>meant to say: We have a Loooooooooooooooooooong growing season
here and I
>understand that excessive heat interferes with fruit set. I called
our
>county agent here and he said the average last frost is March 6.
Our
>earliest first frost is in November in a COLD year. What I was
wondering
>was: If I plant too late, I won't get fruit set. If I plant a 100
day
>species in March, do the plants keep growing after the 100 days?
Is a frost
>necessary? I guess what I am trying to ask is:
>What is the life of the plant and the fruit on the vine. How do I
know when
>it should be picked? I've read that some growers leave them on the
vines to
>dry. If I just left it on the vine until the first frost, we
might not get
>one at all. So far this winter we have only had one frost!!!! I
remember
>winters where we got our first one in January!
>
>
>