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Bowdon, GA

I know with melons and pumpkins you try to leave them on the vine till weighoff time so they hold weight better. My bushel gourds finished up quicker than expected. I know gourds dry out on the vine, but should I leave them on there as long as the stem is good. Or would it be better to clean them up and put them under some shelter.

9/7/2022 9:24:28 PM

Bethlehem CT

That is a good question Jake, I am not sure anyone has grown one on a scale and really figured out what these things are doing. I have always left mine on. Unlike melons or pumpkins, animals don't really care to eat them so there is less risk and worry to leave them in the patch.

9/8/2022 8:08:37 AM

Bowdon, GA

Thanks John, I mostly grew them for grafting rootstock. Taking one to a weighoff was kind of an after thought. I rolled a few over and there’s a lot of mold and scratches were it was sitting on the ground. I may try to get a scale under one and see what it does after the ott stops.

9/8/2022 9:25:12 AM

Pittsburgh, PA

I've always left them on the vine until the day before the weighoff

9/9/2022 12:25:53 PM

Bowdon, GA

Well I reweighed a small one I cut off a few weeks ago it’s lost a good 10-12 pounds. So I guess that answers the question. Surely they won’t lose that on the vine.

9/9/2022 5:04:39 PM

Bowdon, GA

I weighed 2 gourds on the vine. Both quit growing and sat on the vine for several weeks. 1 had a green stem and 1 had a brown stem. The green stem lost no weight while the brown stem lost as much weight as the one I cut off the vine and put in the barn.

11/16/2022 9:31:24 AM