Ever grown a gourd?

[Sportball]

Hi everybody,

A neighbour has just given me a gourd cutting. Apparenly it's an ornamental plant and the fruit can be used for decorative items like pots.

Has anybody had any experiance of growing these?

[Alison]

I grew some from seed a few years ago but have never heard of them as cuttings. They're basically exactly the same as winter squashes but a non-edible version. I grew mine at the back of a border and trained them up canes and onto some trellis. They looked really good and I then cured the gourds and had them in a fruit bowl for about 6 months until I got fed up with them and chucked them. Not grown them since as I've more concentrated on their edible sisters.

[vicky]

I've grown them - again from seeds not cuttings - they were incredinly vigourous and the stems were painfully spikey. Site them somewhere you won't be brushing past! The chickens wouldn't even eat them, so I now grow them in the run where nothing else survives!
Pretty good fun and the gourds last well - I still have some from 2 years ago looking almost as good as when first picked.
The ex FIL is an artist and he took a few to paint (blue whale, snake, clown fish) which look great.

[Sportball]

Are there any particular growing conditions I need to know about?

[vicky]

Rich soil, sturdy frames to climb and lots of sun - think pumpkins. They were pretty prolific!