[liskeardlass]

I am getting married in October and had decided it would be a good idea to decorate the tables with gourds (going for an autumn theme - local seasonal produce i.e. pumkins from garden for soup etc, wedding favours are pots of chutney/jam - and that is what I am spending this weekend doing), anyway I am growing these gourds. Got the seed, planted up, put in plot and all is going well. Having come back from a weeks holiday they have gone mad and look like they want to climb - sending out curly things like sweet peas do - are they serious? do I need to get some canes in there pronto? How high are they thinking about?!!
I found this site about 10 mins ago whilst searching net for marrow chutney recipe (see note above!!) and think it is fab! any ideas welcome.
Thanks, Sally in Cornwall
PS it has not rained for 3 days!!!!!!!!!

[richyrich7]

Hi Sally welcome to the forums  

As far as I'm aware gourds will climb if you let them, feed them with tomato food for best results .

Good luck with the wedding  

[Lemon]

Gourds, squashes and courgettes are part of the same family, curcubits.  

Some are bush types - like courgettes, have a main central stem that grows slowly longer as plant matures and leaves and flowers come off the stem.  Makes cropping veg easier as you can see the fruits near the main stem.

Pumpkins behave a little differently and love to trail along the ground growing very quickly spreading across your beds/borders.  They send out tendrils to anchor themselves along.  My mum grows spaghetti squash which trails all over her borders.  I have heard that you can train them up a totem pole of canes wrapping the plant around the canes in a spiral as it grows.  This is so they don't take up so much room.

Good luck with the growing and with the wedding plans!  What a thoughtful and unique idea!

[Bob]

I've my gords climbing up canes, they have been growing like crazy.

[liskeardlass]

Thanks guys for all the info and advice. Will probably give them some canes then - at least that way they may stay drier. My courgettes start to rot very quickly because of the wet.
The house now smells of vinegar but have made about half the chutney I need so thats a good start!  

[gobs]

They all have tendrils or likes, they used to be lian like plants, developed into scrambling on the ground, can be grown equally successfully both ways, I'd shy away from bothering them at this stage. They would have developed secondary roots on the stems running on ground and secured themselves to all sorts of things in the way, you can do more damage than use lifting them now.

Pruning every branch after a decent sized fruit will help those ripen faster for the big occassion.

Don't get exhausted though, you want to enjoy the day!