Lagenaria siceraria Seeds | Small Fruit Gourd
LATIN NAME: Lagenaria siceraria
COMMON NAME: Small Gourd
Plant Profile
Lagenaria siceraria, better known as Small Gourd, is a vigorous, trailing, annual in the gourd family. Small gourd swings its hard, striped fruits on old trellis, and white flowers open wide in the evening. Young fruits have a long record as fine vegetable of warm kitchens, and dried shells come to vessels and craft of old tables. It is a vine of open, sunny, deep, moist, rich ground. The flowering period doubles as a feeding season for bees and other pollinators. It is the sort of plant that quietly justifies the space it occupies.
Science & Biotechnology
Lagenaria siceraria sits in the gourd family, a group that keeps botanists, horticulturists and plant breeders busy with questions of classification, adaptation and ornamental potential. Breeders and collectors still work with it, so well-kept seed remains available.
Uses & Benefits
Gardeners value Small Gourd for its ornamental character, and the plant also fits naturally into herb, vegetable and cutting gardens. Small gourd is a fine, generous vine of old trellis and kitchen garden. It is a fine, generous vine of open, sunny, deep, moist, rich garden. Give young vine warm, sunny trellis, and fruits will come in the first warm season. A plant that has settled in will get along with only routine care.
Bottle gourd is a tender vegetable and the source of calabash vessels and instruments; only sweet, non-bitter fruits are edible, since bitter ones carry toxic cucurbitacins.
Growing from Seed
Starting Small Gourd from seed is simple and satisfying. Sow on the surface of a gritty, well-drained mix, cover lightly with fine compost, and maintain gentle, even moisture in a sunny position. When the young plants are big enough to handle, space them into pots or a nursery row and let them size up before their final move.
Our Take
It forms a vigorous, trailing, annual, which makes spacing and siting straightforward. It is generous with beginners and their occasional misjudgements.
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