Preparation of land

Preparation of land

  • The land should be thoroughly prepared in order to get fine tilt for seed bed.Various systems of sowing have been adopted depending on the season, crop and system of cultivation. In garden soils, furrows are made at 2-3m. The sowing is done on the top of the sides of furrows and the vines are allowed to trail on the ground.
    Sowing
  • Two seeds sown in both sides of furrows. Finally good and healthy one seedling per hill should be kept. Pre-sowing treatment of seeds with 600ppm of succinic acid for 12hr improves germination and seedling growth as evidenced by more leaves per seedlings. Also see soaking in water for 12-24hr improves seed germination. Bottle gourd is propagated through seeds. The seeds are large white in colour, and seed count is about 450-500/kg the recommended seed rate is 3-6kg/ha. The seeds are sown directly in furrows or trenches or pits
    Spacing
  • In Maharashtra, bottle gourd is trained on bowers and sown at 3.0 x 1.0m distance. In West Bengal and South India sowing is done in pits. Pits of 90cm width, 60cm depth and of convenient length are dug and filled with well-rotted farmyard manure, followed by top soil.The recommended spacing is 2-3m between two rows and 1.0-1.5m between two plants. The same spacing followed in river bed plantings. In Punjab, spacing of 2.5 x 2.0m is recommended for bottle gourd.
  • Bottle gourd responds well to Manuring and fertilizer application. The doses of fertilizers depend upon the soil type, climate and system of cultivation. It is difficult to be specific about fertilizer recommendations because of variation in soil types, soil fertility and system of cultivation. Nevertheless, well rotten farmyard manure at the rate of 15-20 tonnes/ha is applied to the field at the time of preparation of land. This is supplemented by a full dose of super phosphate and potash; and half dose nitrogen before sowing and remaining half dose of nitrogen should be applied about a month later. It is better to complete all the fertilizer applications just before the fruit set.
    • Fertilizer recommendation in different states of India

    State

    N (kg/ha)

    P (kg/ha)

    K(kg/ha)

    Punjab

    100

    50

    50

    Himachal Pradesh

    100

    75

    50

    Karnataka

    50

    50

    37

    Maharashtra

    50

    40

    00

    Tamil Nadu

    32

    24

    24

    Gujarat

    25

    50

    25
  • During hot and warm weather, irrigation after every third or fourth day is needed to maintain proper soil-moisture level. Drip irrigation has been reported to yield 48% more fruit yield than furrow irrigation.In spring-summer crop, frequent irrigation is very essential, while in rainy season crop, irrigation may not be necessary at all, if rain fall is well distributed between July-September. The first irrigation may be given after seed sowing in order to improve the seed germination. The crop requires frequent irrigation as high humidity is needed for prolific bearing. The rainy season is very good for bottle gourd crop.
    Weed control
  • Two or three weedings are necessary to keep the crop free from weeds. Herbicides can also be used in this crop. Better weed control was obtained with Fluchloralin 2.0kg a.i. /ha and Alachlor and Butachlor 2.5kg a.i. /ha in bottle gourd variety Pusa Summer Prolific Long.The cucurbits do not require much attention by way of interculture. In the early stages before they start vining, the beds, ridges, etc. require to be kept free from weeds. Hand weeding should be done carefully so that the root system is not damaged.
    Training and pruning
  • This increases yield over untrained vine. High productivity on bower system is due to better use of sunlight by maximum number, of leaves and higher number of side branches resulting in better assimilation of carbohydrates. A spacing of 2.5 x 1.0m was adopted in this experiment. In small home gardens, bottle gourd is trailed over thatched huts and walls. Various pruning methods failed to exert favorable effects on fruit yield of bottle gourd. Bottle gourd is trained on bower systems.
  • After germination of seed the vine is to be trailed on bower with the help of jute string. The auxiliary buds are to be removed weekly till the vine attaining bower and finally the top of the vine is to be pruned 15cm below the bower allowing two auxiliary buds to grow which are later on trialed on the bower. Two months after sowing male flower initiate following the female in the sequence of 5:5 at the end of 5th flower of female the vines are again pruned allowing 2-3 auxiliary bud to grow on the primary vines. When crop attains 2-3 months and stem of vine becomes thumb thickness the jute string is to be removed and the older pale to yellow coloured leaves near the bottom of the vine are to be removed and destroyed.
    Use of Growth regulators
  • Fruit set can be increased by spraying the plants twice at the 2 and 4-true-leaf stage with Ethrel (150ppm), Malichydrazide (400ppm), Triodobenzoic acid (50ppm), boron (3-4ppm) and Calcium (20ppm). Yields can also be increased by maintaining adequate soil fertility levels; particularly when growing hybrids. Malichydrazide at 400ppm along with 100kg N/ha promotes the female flower production and increases fruit set and inturn the yield

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Last modified: Tuesday, 14 February 2012, 8:59 AM