Pumpkin Lagenaria, or bottle gourd, is an unusual plant, especially attracted by its fruits in the form of an original vessel, the size and shape resembling either a bottle or a bowl. In our country, this plant is practically not grown, although in many countries the Lagenaria pumpkin (pumpkin lagenaria) has been known since time immemorial. What kind of plant it is, where it was bred, what it is used for - we will tell about all this below.

Breeding history of the variety

Where and when this plant appeared for the first time is unknown, since in China, other countries of Asia, the Middle East and a number of African countries, the cultivation of bottle gourd began several millennia ago. Other popular names for this pumpkin, which were given to it in different countries, are pot pumpkin, Vietnamese zucchini, Indian cucumber, serpentine lagenaria, gourd gourd.

Calabash

In China, this pumpkin was considered the king of all vegetable crops. It was grown at the court of the emperor, craftsmen made vessels of various shapes from the fruits, which were given to those who distinguished themselves as a reward, and this was considered a great honor.

And to this day, peoples in African and Asian countries make dishes from this plant, which is valued there higher than porcelain in civilized countries. Many varieties of kitchen utensils are made here from bottle gourd:

  • buckets;
  • bowls;
  • mugs and other crafts.

In such bowls, the water does not heat up for a long time, the milk stays fresh for a long time. Such properties are explained by the fact that the thick peel of the fruit of this pumpkin does not allow air to pass through and is not negatively affected by various microorganisms.

Characteristics and features of bottle gourd

Pumpkin Honey

The stem of the pumpkin is rather a liana, it grows in length to 13-14 m, it is slightly cut, when you touch it, you can feel a slight pubescence. The foliage of the pumpkin is pentagonal, slightly corrugated, large, attached to the stem with a long stalk. Growing bottle gourds on a site is important not only for the sake of unusual fruits, this plant will perfectly decorate the landscape of any site. Its main advantage is the flowers of extraordinary beauty, shaped like large glasses, painted in a cream tone in the morning, and by the evening they become boiling white.

Note! Both male and female flowers appear on the same plant, so Lagenaria is a cross-pollinated plant.

These flowers can be immediately distinguished from each other - the male pedicel is longer. They fade very quickly, but new ones immediately appear to replace them. Therefore, the flowering of bottle gourd continues almost until mid-autumn. But during the day, the flowers are closed, because in order to get more ovaries, they have to be artificially pollinated with cotton swabs or brushes.

The shape of the fruit is round, oval or pear-shaped, because of such an original shape from a distance it seems that someone jokingly hung bottles of an unusual shape on the shoots. And in length, these fruits can grow up to 1.8-2.0 m, the minimum radius is 5 cm. One fruit can weigh from 0.5 to 1.4 kg. Therefore, no more than 12-14 fruits grow on each of the plants.

The yield of such a plant is great - up to 40 kg of fruits can be harvested from one bush. They regulate the size of ripening fruits by pinching the lateral stems, as well as removing excess ovaries during the flowering process. The ripening period of the fruit depends on the goals set by the vegetable growers.For consumption, the fruits are harvested unripe; in this case, less than 3 months pass from the moment of emergence to harvest. Fruits used for crafts or other purposes may not be picked for 3.5-4 months.

The culture has powerful roots. The main thick root penetrates 0.7-0.8 m deep into the ground, and the lateral shoots reach 2.5-2.8 m in length. This plant is also capable of forming aerial roots.

 

Interesting: vegetable growers successfully use the powerful roots of bottle pumpkin as a rootstock - they vaccinate cucumbers, watermelons and melons. As a result, these plants develop faster and their yields are increased.

After harvesting the bottle gourd, seeds are harvested from the fruit and used later for planting this vegetable plant.

Important! The seed of this pumpkin variety has poor germination in the next season. In order for your seed material to have a germination rate close to 100%, it is better to plant them 3-4 years after collection.

Agricultural technology of cultivation

Pumpkin Butternut

When growing this variety of pumpkin, you should pay attention to a number of nuances.

Since this plant is very thermophilic, in most parts of our country, you first need to grow seedlings at home and only in mid-late May can it be planted in open ground.

Breeding lagenarii begin with germinating seeds for seedlings. Since the seed coat is very hard, without preliminary soaking, you can simply not wait for the seedlings to appear. First, they should be placed in a thermos with hot (about 40⸰C) water for 24 hours. Then take it out, wrap it in damp gauze and place it in a plastic bag until sprouts appear. Keep a bag of seeds in a room with an air temperature of about 26-28⸰С.

After the seeds "hatch", they can be placed in separate containers with a volume of about a liter. It is necessary to deepen them into the nutrient soil to a depth of 2.5-3 cm. Growing bottle gourd seedlings in the future does not differ from growing seedlings of other similar crops.

The soil into which the strengthened seedlings of lagenaria are planted should be fertilized, loose, with a neutral or slightly alkaline reaction. In those regions where there is a likelihood of a strong drop in temperature during the period of growing vegetables (even at night), it is better not to grow bottle pumpkin in the open field, this plant is very thermophilic and often dies with such temperature changes.

Bottle gourd will decorate the garden

In the soil, there should also be no stagnation of moisture or a groundwater level close to the earth's surface.

When planting seedlings of lagenaria in open ground, the distance between the plants must be observed - it must be at least one meter. Immediately, you should install trellises, to which the vines will be tied as they grow. The ideal option is to plant a plant around the gazebo, tying vines to its walls and ceilings.

Caring for a growing bottle gourd consists in regular watering, loosening the soil while removing weeds and applying top dressing.

Advantages and disadvantages of the variety

Pumpkin Marble

The undoubted advantages of Lagenaria include:

  • the possibility of using its fruits for the manufacture of various crafts;
  • incompletely ripe fruits are used for food, and there are a lot of recipes for cooking dishes from lagenaria - first and second courses, cereals, mashed potatoes and much more are prepared from it. Pumpkin porridge from Lagenaria is especially tasty;
  • high decorativeness of a liana-like plant.

The main disadvantages should be noted:

  • thermophilicity of the plant and hypersensitivity to a strong decrease in temperature;
  • it is necessary to pick the fruits of this pumpkin for eating on time; if you stay a little longer, then the pulp becomes tough and not very pleasant to the taste.

Lagenaria is one of those plants that will decorate any garden plot with its appearance. And although in most regions of our country it can be grown only in greenhouse conditions, the efforts are justified. The fruits of this exotic plant can be eaten, made from them all kinds of vessels, musical instruments.And in folk medicine, lagenaria is very much appreciated for the high content of valuable trace elements, vitamins and other active substances in fruits.