Learn How to Grow Round Gourd and enjoy fresh fruits that are highly nutritious with high water content and zero cholesterol.
Native to India, the round gourd is a vegetable, animal fodder, and medicinal plant. The fruit is round, apple-sized, and light green in color. It can be cooked, candied, roasted, or candied. This vegetable grows naturally in India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Indonesia, China, and the warm southern regions of Australia.
Round gourd grows as a creeper and produces yellow blooms. The leaves are long and appear on long, hairy stems. Immature fruits have a sweet, thick white flesh. With maturity, the hairs fade, and a waxy coating develops, which gives it a long shelf life.
Common Names: Apple gourd, round, melon, Indian squash, Indian Baby pumpkin, Tinda, Indian squash,
Botanical Name: Praecitrullus fistulosus
Propagating Round Gourd
Round gourd can be grown from seeds; monsoon and summer are the best times for sowing seeds. You can start the process when the soil temperature is 40-85 F (10-40 C), the seeds will sprout in 7-15 days.
Take a 12-16-inch pot with drainage holes and fill it with potting layers; sow two seeds at the center of the container.
While sowing on raised beds, sow two seeds per spot in a spacing of 2×2 feet. Gently push the seeds into the soil with your fingers and pack them with the surrounding soil. Water the seedbed from a light shower with a watering can.
The Growth Steps of Round Gourd
Germinating Stage: The seeds will sprout within the first 6-8 days or so, and little sprouts will be visible.
Cotyledons: In the second week of germination, the first two leaves develop; these false foliage are known as cotyledons.
First Leaves: First leaves grow above cotyledons at the end of the second week.
Seedling Stage: From the second week, seedlings will begin to grow in small plants.
Thining: After the second week, remove small, weak, legging seedlings and keep single seedlings.
Ideal Growing Conditions for Round Gourd
Sunlight
Round gourd prefers full sunlight; hence, choose a well-lit spot for container-grown and outdoor veggies.
Soil
Use a well-draining growing medium with a slightly acidic pH of 5.5-7. Mix a bit of coco peat and compost. Add sufficient organic matter in the soil while planting.
Watering
Water the plant every day during summer; use a watering can so the plants get fully hydrated.
Trellis
A round gourd is a robust climber, but it needs sturdy support to grow. Install a strong trellis up to 5-6 feet, and make your own support using bamboo, pipes, ropes, and wires.
Manure
Use good quality organic manure in the soil in a 2:1 ratio before planting seeds. You can use farmyard manure, rotten cow dung manure, vermicompost, or compost.
Round Gourd Care
Pests and Diseases
Examine carefully for insects or any other fungal infections. Spray insecticide immediately if any early signs or symptoms are seen. Look out for powdery mildew when plants are in the young phase. To prevent problems, do not spray water on the leaves, and make sure to provide a lot of light and air circulation to the plant.
Top Dressing
When your climber becomes 45 days old, add one teaspoon of 15:15:15 NPK fertilizer per plant or combine a handful of vermicompost in the soil.
Harvesting
Round gourd can be harvested in 80-90 days after sowing seeds. The plant star to bloom at the end of the third month. You can harvest the fruits after three months of propagation. The harvesting season continues for the next three months. Pick the fruits when they are slightly soft to the touch.