Cultivation of Bottle Gourd or Lauki or Calabash cucumber or White Flowered Gourd (Lagenaria steraia)
Cultivation of Bottle Gourd or Lauki or Calabash cucumber or White Flowered Gourd (Lagenaria steraia)
Botanical Name:
Lagenaria steraia.
Local Name:
Dudhya Sweet- Marathi, Lauki- Hindi.
Family:
Cucurbitaceae.
Bottle gourd is a very important crop in India. The fruit in green stage and leaves with stem are used as vegetable. The hard shell of the fruit is used for different purpose.
Climate:
Hot and moist climate is favorable for its cultivation. It cannot withstand frost.
Soil and its Preparation:
Bottle gourd can be grown in any types of soil. But sandy loam soils are best suited for its cultivation. The land should be prepared thoroughly by five to six ploughings.
Time of Sowing and Layout:
The seed is sown from January to end of February for summer crops. June – July for rainy season crop in the plains and April in the hills. Layout is ring and basin used.
Seed Rate:
The seed rate is 3 to 6 kg/ ha.
Methods of Sowing and Spacing:
The seed is sown by dibbling method at spacing of 2 to 3 X 1.0 to 1.5 m. Generally three to four seeds are sown in a pit at 2.5 to 3.0 cm depth. Manures and fertilizer same as for pumpkin.
Intercultural Operation:
Two to three hoeing is given to keep down the weeds during the early stage of growth. The rainy season crop is usually stalked, often trained on a bower made of bamboos and sticks.
Irrigation:
The summer crop requires frequent irrigation at an interval of 4 to 5 days. The winter crop is irrigated as and when needed.
Harvesting:
The fruits should be harvested when they are still green. Delay in harvesting causes the fruit to become unit for marketing.
Yield:
The average yield is 90 to 120 quintal / ha.
Varieties:
There is some varieties of bottle gourd, viz summer prolific Round, summer prolific long, Pusa Navven, Arka Bahar, Pusa Manjiri, Pusa Meghdoot etc.
Bottle Gourd: (Lagenaria sicerat)
1. Samrat:
Development by selection from local germplasm collected village Dahanu, Dist. Thane of Maharashtra and released in 1992. Fruits are 30 -40 cm long, green in colour with dose pubescence and cylindrical in shape. Good for box, packing. Good keeping quality. During is 180- 200 days. Average yield is 430 quintal per hectare.