Gourd Growing Tips
Hard Shell Gourds (Lagenaria Siceraria) need a good 120 growing days. These have white flowers and bloom late evening. Hard Shell Gourds can take 8 – 30 plus days to germinate depending on the variety.
Ornamental Gourds (Cucurbita Pepo) need 90 growing days. These have yellow flowers and bloom during the day. Ornamental gourds can take 8 – 21 days to germinate.
You can stretch their growing season by starting your seeds indoors, about a month before they go outside into warm soil.
We use this method for growing and germination testing. We soak all our seeds in 3% Hydrogen Peroxide. We have found that this has helped with increasing germination success. The 3% hydrogen peroxide helps break down the shell, known as Chemical Scarification. In addition, Hydrogen Peroxide kills any fungus on the outside of the shell.
- Soak the seeds in Hydrogen Peroxide for 30 minutes and rinse well with water.
- Directly Sow the seed in soil or you can pre-start seeds indoors. See below on how we start our seeds.
Next if starting seeds indoors (Read All below depending on what seeds you are starting)
- We use a heat mat with thermostat that keeps the soil/seeds around 75/78 degrees.
- Fill a tray with soil that is damp and set it on the heat mat.
- After the Hydrogen Peroxide soak/rinse place seeds on top of the soil
- Place a double layer of damp paper towels on top of the seeds, and then a damp towel on top of the paper towel.
- We have a plastic cover that goes over our tray, but you could place a layer of plastic wrap on top of the towel to prevent evaporation. Key is to keep soil/towels damp not waterlogged.
- Keep the soil/seeds warm (at least 70 Degrees) with no drafts.
- No heat mat, my mom would put the seeds on top of the refrigerator.
- Check seeds daily.
- Once the seed sprouts plant in soil
- I have found that some varieties do not like the soil/paper towel method for germination. Seeds that do much better being placed directly in a pot filled with starter soil, making sure they are kept warm 70 – 85 degrees, are the larger varieties hard shell seeds (Giant Bushels, Africans, Green Drums, Large Kettles, Large Canteens, Zucca e, Cannonballs, Large Chinese and Cheese gourds).
- If you do not have a greenhouse or cold frames, then it is best to use a grow light; plants grown just by window light will likely become scrawny and pale and less likely to thrive. If you use Grow light, you will need to slowly transition them outside.
If you are in Zone 7 or higher after the last chance of frost and your soil temperature is at minimum 70 degrees, you may plant directly outside. Note: larger varieties like soil temperature 80 – 85 degrees for germination.
Another method that is often shared is the scarify for hard shell gourd seeds, using sandpaper, roughing up the edges a little bit. Do not do this method for the ornamental seeds. Details of this method can be found on the American Gourd Society website. I have found I am not good at this method, and I have better results using the 3% Hydrogen Peroxide.
Gourds are heavy feeders! Plant them in very rich soil. We have a video that can be found on the Blue Whale Arts website about fertilizers.
Do not try and harvest your gourds when they “get” to the size you want. Gourds need to be fully matured to dry well; leave them on the vines until the vines are dead. Let the gourds dry outside. During the drying process gourds will mold! Don’t throw them out. Once dry, seeds rattle, they are ready for cleaning and crafting.
Instructions
Make sure your gourd is clean and free of any dirt or skin.
Masking the gourd
The masking material, is sticky on the back and will adhere to the gourd. Carefully remove the mask shape you wish to use from the backing paper. The Masked shapes are cut from a material intended for a one time use. However if, you are careful in removing them once the color has been added to the gourd, placing them back on the backing paper, you may be able to use them again.
Note: The masking material is very sticky and you must be careful not to let it stick to itself while lifting it from the backing material. In most cases if the material does become stuck to itself, as long as you have not pressed down on the material. It can be separated by carefully using a craft knife.
Small shapes can be lifted using a craft knife. For larger shapes (the Fern shapes), as you start to remove the masked shape from the backing paper keep it close to the palm of your hand and turn your hand up as you remove the shape. This will help keep the shape flat and make it easier to work with an apply to the gourd. For intricate designs you may want to use Transfer Tape or Masking Tape to lift the designs from the sheet.
Applying the masking shapes to the gourd
To apply the mask shape, allow the tip of the mask touch the gourd and roll your hand down to the surface of the gourd, applying the mask.
The mask can be adjusted by lifting it using a craft knife. Position the mask where you want on the gourd and carefully smooth out the mask. Pay attention to the edges of the mask, making sure they are smooth so the color does not run under the edge.
Continue to add more masking shapes until the pattern is what you want.
Once all your masking shapes have been applied, look at each one and make sure all the edges are flat to the surface of the gourd.
Color can now be added to the gourd using: Alcohol Ink on an applicator, thinly applied acrylics or watercolors. I do not recommend using Alcohol Ink by dripping or being applied from the bottle. An excessive amount of alcohol can cause the masking material to lift on the edges.
How to Apply Car Decal
- Clean the area thoroughly with rubbing alcohol or soap and water. Do not use Windex or similar products because it will leave a residue behind that will prevent the sticker from adhering well.
- Prepare the sticker for application by firmly rubbing a squeegee or credit card across the clear transfer tape. This removes any air bubbles that may have formed and makes the sticker cling to the transfer tape
- Peel the blue paper backing off the sticker. If the sticker clings to the backing, slowly replace the paper backing and repeat Step 2.
- Slowly lower the sticker onto the surface and rub it in place firmly with a squeegee or credit card.
- Slowly peel the clear transfer tape off at an angle. Be careful not to pull the sticker off the surface. If sticker pulls away from the surface repeat Step 4
How to Use Transfer Tape with Vinyl Designs
Clear transfer tape is used to move an adhesive vinyl design from the vinyl backing to the surface where it needs to be applied. The transfer material sticks to the front side of the vinyl lifting it off the vinyl backing so it can be applied.
- Remove transfer tape from backing paper
- Apply transfer tape to vinyl
- Firmly rub transfer tape to adhere to vinyl
- Remove vinyl and transfer tape from vinyl backing paper
- Apply vinyl and transfer tape to cleaned surface
- Firmly rub transfer tape to adhere vinyl to cleaned surface
- Remove transfer tape leaving vinyl on cleaned surface
Note: You may be able to use Transfer tape more than once as long as it is still sticky