Tag Archives: long gourds

Long gourds trellis

Baby long gourd plants-4 inches tall

Here are the baby long gourd plants that hopefully will grow into giant long gourds! I can’t imagine it. They’re so small!

Long gourd trellis in garden

Here is the giant long gourd trellis that Caleb and I built that will offer support to the long gourd plants that will grow up it. Yea right! It is 10 feet tall and about 3 feet wide. I can’t imagine growing a long gourd that tall much less even think about those teeny weeny little plants going all the way to the top of this gigantic trellis but it will be fun to try! I guess I better move the ladder down to the garden…

long gourds growing on trellis (not mine!)

Here are some pictures of the 2007 world record long gourd that reached just over 127 inches that another person grew. The plant is really beautiful. In the picture above the long gourd was so tall they had to dig a hole in the ground so it would keep growing straight! If it hits the ground it will start to curl.

looking up inside a trellis (not mine!)

Looking up at the gourds from inside a trellis-Beautiful!

Here is a picture looking up through the trellis at the long gourds. This looks so lush! I wonder what I will be able to do in this desert!?

The current world record for long gourd is a whopping 135 inches tall-that’s just over 11 foo tall. Now that’s a lot of gourd! Wish me luck-I’m going to need it!

Giant Vegetables Coming SOON!

Me with a giant marrow growing in 2010

So someone asked me, ‘Hey Jannine, how come we haven’t heard about your giant vegetables yet?” Well, I’ve sort of been preoccupied with getting the tomatoes in the ground lately but all the giant vegetables are still in the house all cozy under my gro lights just waiting to go out. We still have some cold nights ahead in the next few nights so I want to wait a little more. Also all my peppers and eggplants are still inside as well as they HATE being cold more than tomatoes do. One cold night can stunt a pepper plant all season so I suggest you protect them with something the next few nights if yours are already out.

But back to the giants-I have 2 giant pumpkins, one giant ‘greenie’ squash, 2 giant marrows (think supersized zucchini), 1 giant pear gourd, 2 long gourds and 6 giant tomatoes. I’m shooting for next week to get them out. Don’t worry, I’ll be talking alot about giant vegetable how-to’s once they get going. Here is what I still have to do for the GIANTS:

I still have to do a final mixing of my soil and add some amendments in the giant vegetable patch I have.

I still have to get out my low tunnels for the giant pumpkins and greenie to go under to protect them from our intense sun and cold nights.

I still have to build a super tall arbor for the long gourds which can get as tall as 109+ inches. But I can still get them in the ground and build the arbor around them. If you build it, they will come!

I still have to create the drip system for a new giant tomato bed.

I still have to do a drip system for the GIANT VEGETABLE PATCH

I don’t know where the giant pear gourd is going yet! I think Bri’s GIANT VEGETABLE PATCH (named after my beautiful horse Bri who is no longer with us) is going to be really full this season!

Starting Long Gourds

My goal!

This year I’m going to try planting Long Gourds. I understand getting them to germinate is no easy feat. First I just nipped off the very tip of the seed and soaked it for 24 hours although I read you can soak for 8 hours. Then this morning I put the seeds between damp paper towels and in a ziploc baggie and put them on my heating mat to keep very warm. In a few days they will put out a root and I will put them in pots. Then they should germinate. Hopefully all will go to plan!

New GIANT VEGETABLES To Grow in 2011

My GIANT (competition) VEGGIES for 2011

I’ve expanded my giant varieties this year, adding to my existing list from last year. It’s a obsession inside an obsession! It’s just that it is so much fun to see how BIG some of these varieties can grow. Last year, Kong, my giant pumpkin grew at it’s peak, 18 lbs a day. That’s incredible and one can actually see the difference from morning to evening in growth. This year I also plan to get one of those time lapse cameras that I will set up in the pumpkin patch to see them growing! The big boys who grow giant pumpkins tell me theirs put on 30-40 lbs a day. Imagine! I’m going to plant the same 895 Grande giant pumpkin seed that gave me the New Mexico State Record in 2010, its offspring (mine)-421 Cabossel, and one more-1046 Grande. I like Grande as a grower and his seed did so well here for me in Santa Fe. I think it’s because he’s a grower out of Colorado and we have similar growing conditions and soil.

New varieties for 2011 include giant green squash (looks like green pumpkin), giant green pear gourd (this one was from an 89 lb gourd that looks like a giant pear) and long gourd (this one came from a 96 inch long skinny gourd-I’m going to have to build a tall trellis)!

Also this year I’m going to get serious about growing the giant marrow (last year I sort of ignored it till it started getting big and it was one of the most fun things to see grow) and of course I’ll be trying to break into the 3-4 lb tomato range and I always love my Titan sunflowers (I call them the guardian angels of the garden) with their 20-24 inch heads. It’s going to be an ambitious year and I can’t wait!! Last year was a tough year with so many personal losses but this year feels different! I can’t wait!

2011 GIANT PUMPKINS
895 Grande 08 (1016 Daletas x 1385 Jutras)
421 Cabossel (895 Grande x self )
1046 Grande 10 (901 Hunt x 1385 Jutras)

2011 GIANT GREEN SQUASH
903 Noel 07 (848 McKenzie x self)

GIANT MARROW (like giant Zucchini)
206.5 Wursten 09 or 75.4 Wursten 09
43 Cabossel 10

GIANT TOMATOES
7.18 N. Harp 09n (5.58 Timm x open)
5.416 N, Harp 09 (5.58 Harp x open)
Big Zac (fr Totally Tomato)

GIANT PEAR GOURD
89 Scherber 10

LONG GOURD
96″ Scherber 10

GIANT SUNFLOWERS
Titan