Planting the seed
If you are in a colder zone (like me who is in zone seven) please wait until it is warm enough to plant your seeds. Waiting until the beginning to the middle of May (in zone 7) is a good idea. If you plant them earlier, most probably your seeds may rot. If you want to save some time, and would like to start harvesting your fruits sooner, you can sow the seeds indoors by April and then transplant them to their actual location by the middle of May.
On a single pit (2 ft diameter and soil loosened to 1.5 ft deep) you can plant about ten seeds, 6 inches apart. Ten seeds are recommended particularly because, the germination percentage of snake gourd seeds are very low compared to bitter gourd. By planting 10 seeds you can expect to get about two to three plants at the end
Steps to make the snake gourd seeds germinate faster
Seed has hard coat and may take a long time to germinate. Since the germination percentage is very low (compared to bitter melons) you may need to use more seeds.
If directly seeded, the snake gourd seeds can take almost a month to germinate. There are things you can do to hasten the germination.
Moisture and temperature play a very important role in hastening the germinating of snake gourd seeds. To provide these ideal conditions, you can germinate your snake gourd seeds indoors using any of the following techniques.
1. Socking:
By early April, soak the seed for two hours in tap water. Then put a wet paper towel in a styrofoam plate, spread the seeds and cover it with another wet paper towel. Put the styrofoam plate on the top (not inside) of your refrigator (it’s warmer there). Keep the paper towel moist all the time. After about two weeks, the seeds will germinate.
At this time you can transfer them to your small containers. Let them grow for another 3 to 4 weeks in those containers. By that time they will develop a few new leaves. Now you can transplant them to the field. When you transplant, make sure to provide some artifical shade for a few days to protect the young plants from the sudden exposure to the harsh sun.
2. Breaking the seed coat:
We also do a little trick to make them germinate faster by breaking their hard seed coat using pliers. To break the seed coat, you need to hold the seeds between your fingers by their thinnest side and then press them with the pliers on the ridge joining the two halves of the seed.
Be careful when you do this, if you damage the endosperm inside the hard shell, you will kill the seeds. So, before you use this approach, make sure you have plenty of seeds.
Building a trellis
This can be an easy weekend project for most people. If you build a good wood structure, you can re-use them for years to grow your bitter melons.
What you see on the picture is a trellis of size 12ft x 8ft built using the following:
Posts : 4 numbers (4 inch x 4 inch x 8 ft)
Horizontal support frame – long side: 4 numbers (2 inch x 4 inch x 12 ft)
Horizontal support frame – short side: 2 numbers (2 inch x 4 inch x 8 ft)
Horizontal runners: 11 numbers (1 inch x 2 inch x 8 ft)
All of these were bought from Lowes. You will be able to find them in the lumber section of Lowes or Home Depot.
Steps to build the trellis
This is very similar to building a trellis for Bitter Melon. In fact we use the same trellis for growing snake gourd and bitter melon.
Prebuild the structure (frame) that goes on the top of the posts. You can do it in any flat surface or on your garage and carry it to the location. You will need a helper to carry it as well as to raise it when you want to nail them to the posts.
Putting the Posts
The posts were put into holes dug 1.5 ft deep. To make the posts firmly affixed to the ground, dig a narrow hole using a crowbar. Also after putting the post, when you fill-in the hole, alternate between stones and soil and stamp them into the hole using the crowbar. Pour some water while you are doing this so that the soil will go in between the stones. Once everything is dried up, your posts will be as firm as you want them to be.
Some people use concrete to install the posts. Personally we prefer to use soil (dirt) to install the posts. The main reason behind this approach is that, it is very easy to remove and relocate the posts if we use mud instead of concrete.
Irrigation
If there is no rain you must irrigate your snake groud plants at least twice a week. If you can, setting up a drip irrigation system can save you a lot of time as well as water.
Pest and diseases
That’s the beauty of it: None.
We haven’t seen any major pests or diseases attacking these plants. Since they are not native to US, there aren’t major pests or diseases. Moreover, due to the harsh winter preceding and succeeding the growing season there is not much chance for a pest or disease to survive and spread season after season.
Harvesting:
For most early varieties, you should be able to start harvesting your snake gourd in about three months after germination. You should harvest the fruits before they are too mature and start ripening. If you are growing them for the first time, it may be harder to know if they are ready for picking. However it is OK to pick them young if you are not sure of their maturity. When they are young and edible the fruit will appear turgid and hard when pressed between your fingers.
If you wait longer, the fruits will ripen. Once it ripens, the fruits will appear soft when pressed between fingers. The internals of the fruit will become watery. At this stage the fruits are not good for cooking.
If you are in a colder zone (like me who is in zone seven) please wait until it is warm enough to plant your seeds. Waiting until the beginning to the middle of May (in zone 7) is a good idea. If you plant them earlier, most probably your seeds may rot. If you want to save some time, and would like to start harvesting your fruits sooner, you can sow the seeds indoors by April and then transplant them to their actual location by the middle of May.
On a single pit (2 ft diameter and soil loosened to 1.5 ft deep) you can plant about ten seeds, 6 inches apart. Ten seeds are recommended particularly because, the germination percentage of snake gourd seeds are very low compared to bitter gourd. By planting 10 seeds you can expect to get about two to three plants at the end
Steps to make the snake gourd seeds germinate faster
Seed has hard coat and may take a long time to germinate. Since the germination percentage is very low (compared to bitter melons) you may need to use more seeds.
If directly seeded, the snake gourd seeds can take almost a month to germinate. There are things you can do to hasten the germination.
Moisture and temperature play a very important role in hastening the germinating of snake gourd seeds. To provide these ideal conditions, you can germinate your snake gourd seeds indoors using any of the following techniques.
1. Socking:
By early April, soak the seed for two hours in tap water. Then put a wet paper towel in a styrofoam plate, spread the seeds and cover it with another wet paper towel. Put the styrofoam plate on the top (not inside) of your refrigator (it’s warmer there). Keep the paper towel moist all the time. After about two weeks, the seeds will germinate.
At this time you can transfer them to your small containers. Let them grow for another 3 to 4 weeks in those containers. By that time they will develop a few new leaves. Now you can transplant them to the field. When you transplant, make sure to provide some artifical shade for a few days to protect the young plants from the sudden exposure to the harsh sun.
2. Breaking the seed coat:
We also do a little trick to make them germinate faster by breaking their hard seed coat using pliers. To break the seed coat, you need to hold the seeds between your fingers by their thinnest side and then press them with the pliers on the ridge joining the two halves of the seed.
Be careful when you do this, if you damage the endosperm inside the hard shell, you will kill the seeds. So, before you use this approach, make sure you have plenty of seeds.
Building a trellis
This can be an easy weekend project for most people. If you build a good wood structure, you can re-use them for years to grow your bitter melons.
What you see on the picture is a trellis of size 12ft x 8ft built using the following:
Posts : 4 numbers (4 inch x 4 inch x 8 ft)
Horizontal support frame – long side: 4 numbers (2 inch x 4 inch x 12 ft)
Horizontal support frame – short side: 2 numbers (2 inch x 4 inch x 8 ft)
Horizontal runners: 11 numbers (1 inch x 2 inch x 8 ft)
All of these were bought from Lowes. You will be able to find them in the lumber section of Lowes or Home Depot.
Steps to build the trellis
This is very similar to building a trellis for Bitter Melon. In fact we use the same trellis for growing snake gourd and bitter melon.
Prebuild the structure (frame) that goes on the top of the posts. You can do it in any flat surface or on your garage and carry it to the location. You will need a helper to carry it as well as to raise it when you want to nail them to the posts.
Putting the Posts
The posts were put into holes dug 1.5 ft deep. To make the posts firmly affixed to the ground, dig a narrow hole using a crowbar. Also after putting the post, when you fill-in the hole, alternate between stones and soil and stamp them into the hole using the crowbar. Pour some water while you are doing this so that the soil will go in between the stones. Once everything is dried up, your posts will be as firm as you want them to be.
Some people use concrete to install the posts. Personally we prefer to use soil (dirt) to install the posts. The main reason behind this approach is that, it is very easy to remove and relocate the posts if we use mud instead of concrete.
Irrigation
If there is no rain you must irrigate your snake groud plants at least twice a week. If you can, setting up a drip irrigation system can save you a lot of time as well as water.
Pest and diseases
That’s the beauty of it: None.
We haven’t seen any major pests or diseases attacking these plants. Since they are not native to US, there aren’t major pests or diseases. Moreover, due to the harsh winter preceding and succeeding the growing season there is not much chance for a pest or disease to survive and spread season after season.
Harvesting:
For most early varieties, you should be able to start harvesting your snake gourd in about three months after germination. You should harvest the fruits before they are too mature and start ripening. If you are growing them for the first time, it may be harder to know if they are ready for picking. However it is OK to pick them young if you are not sure of their maturity. When they are young and edible the fruit will appear turgid and hard when pressed between your fingers.
If you wait longer, the fruits will ripen. Once it ripens, the fruits will appear soft when pressed between fingers. The internals of the fruit will become watery. At this stage the fruits are not good for cooking.
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