Horticulture :: Vegetables:: Bottle Gourd

Horticulture :: Vegetables:: Bottle Gourd

Bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria (Mol) Standl.) Cucurbitaceae Varieties CO 1, Pusa Summer Prolific long, Pusa, Summer Prolific Round, Pusa Manjari, Pusa Megdoot and Arka Bahar. Soil Sandy loamy soils rich in organic matter with good drainage and the pH ranges from 6.5 to 7.5 is suited for bottle gourd cultivation. This crop requires a moderate warm temperature. Season July and January are suitable for sowing Seed rate 1.5 kg/ha. Seed treatment Treated with Trichoderma viride 4 g or Pseudomonas fluorescens 10 g or Carbendazim 2 g/kg of seeds before sowing Preparation of field Plough the field to fine tilth and dig pits of the 30 cm x 30 cm x 30 cm size at 2.5 x 2 m spacing. Sowing Sow the seeds @ three seeds/pit and thin the seedlings to two/pit after 15 days. Irrigation Irrigate the field before dibbling the seeds and thereafter once a week. Application of fertilizers Apply 10 kg of FYM (20 t/ha), 100 g of NPK 6:12:12 mixture/pit as basal and 10 g of N/pit 30 days after sowing.Apply Azospirillum and Phosphobacteria 2 kg/ha and Pseudomonas 2.5 kg/ha along with FYM 50 kg and neem cake @ 100 kg before last ploughing. Drip irrigation Install drip system with main and sub-main pipes and place the inline lateral tubes at an interval of 1.5m. Place the drippers at an interval of 60 cm and 50 cm spacing with 4LPH and 3.5LPH capacities respectively. Field preparation Form raised beds of 120 cm width and place laterals in the centre of bed. Nursery raising In hi-tech horticulture, plant 15 days old healthy seedlings raised in shade net houses. Raise the seedlings in protrays having 98 cells or in polythene bags. Transplant about 15 days old seedlings in the main field. Fertigation Apply a dose of 200:100:100 kg NPK/ha throughout the cropping period through split application. Fertigation Schedule-Bottle gourd (Hybrid) Recommended Dose: 200:100:100 Kg/ha Stage Crop stage Duration in days Fertilizer grade Total Fertilizer (kg/ha) Nutrient applied % of requirement N P K N P K 1 Crop establishment stage 10 19:19:19 + MN 13-0-45 Urea 26.81 11.00 29.03 5.00 1.43 13.35 5.00 - - 5.00 4.95 - 10.00 5.00 10.00 Subtotal 19.78 5.00 9.95 2 Vegetative stage 30 12-61-0 13-0-45 Urea 12.28 66.00 109.00 1.47 8.58 50.14 7.50 - - - 29.70 30.00 7.50 30.00 Subtotal 60.19 7.50 29.70 3 Flower initiation to first picking 30 12-61-0 13-0-45 Urea 12.28 44.00 115.00 1.47 5.72 52.90 7.50 - - - 19.80 - 30.00 7.50 20.00 Subtotal 60.09 7.50 19.80 4 Harvesting stage 45 19:19:19 + MN 13-0-45 Urea 26.31 78.00 97.52 5.00 10.14 44.86 5.00 - - 5.00 35.10 - 30.00 5.00 40.00 Total duration 115 days Subtotal 60.00 5.00 40.10 Total 200.06 24.98 (or) 25.00 99.35 (or) 100.00 100 25 100 *75% RD of Phosphorus applied as superphosphate = 469 Kg/ha. 1. 19:19:19 = 53 kg/ha 2. 13:0:45 = 199kg/ha 3. 12:61:0 = 25 kg/ha 4. Urea = 351 kg/ha After cultivation Weeding can be done by hoeing as and when necessary. Fruit rot during rainy season can be checked by training the plants over the bamboo stick or dried branches. Plant protection Pests Mites: Spray dicofol 18.5 % SC @ 2.5 ml per litre of water. Aphid: Spray Imidachloprid @ 0.5 ml/lit along with sufficient quantity of stickers like Teepol, triton X100, apsa etc., for better adhesion and coverage. Beetles, fruit flies and caterpillars Beetles, fruit flies and caterpillars can be controlled by spraying Malathion 50 EC 1 ml/lit. or Dimethoate 30 EC 1 ml/lit. or Methyl demeton 25 EC 1 ml/lit. Do not use DDT, lindane 1.3% dust, copper and sulphur dust as these are phytotoxic. Powdery mildew Powdery mildew can be controlled by spraying Dinocap 1 ml/lit. or Carbendazim 0.5 g/lit or Tridemorph l ml/l. Downy mildew Downy mildew can be controlled by spraying Mancozeb or Chlorothalonil 2 g/lit. twice at 10 days interval. Harvest Fruits are harvested at tender stage and before 100 % maturity. Yield 15 - 20 t/ha in 135 days. Market Information Crop Growing districts Dindigul,Thiruvallur,Coimbatore,Thoothukudi Major markets in Tamil Nadu Periyar Vegetable Market Koyambedu, Chennai Gandhi Market, Oddanchathiram Natchipalayam vegetable market, Coimbatore