Irrigation

• Initial growth stage: Water every 3-4 days.
• Flowering & fruiting: Water every alternate day.
• Preferred method: Furrow irrigation.
• Rainy season: Ensure proper drainage to prevent waterlogging.

Staking & Trellising

• Can be grown on pandals or on the ground.
• Pandals (1.5 m height) are commonly used in Kerala.
• Materials for staking: Bamboo poles, wooden stakes, GI pipes, etc.
• Support structure: Coir/plastic ropes tied in a crisscross manner for vine support.
• Alternative method: Spread dried twigs on the ground for trailing.

Pruning

• Remove lateral branches until the vine reaches the top of the trellis.
• Keep 4-6 lateral branches and cut the main runner tip for early cropping.
• Removing lateral branches in the first 10 nodes increases yield.
• Without pruning, female flowers appear mostly between 10th-40th nodes (0.5-2.0 m height).

Pollination

• Bottle gourd is cross-pollinated, mainly by bees.
• Wet season issue: Bees are less active in cloudy weather, reducing pollination.
• Solution: Introduce beehives to improve pollination and avoid hand pollination.

Hormone Application

• Spraying flowering hormones at the 6-8 leaf stage increases female flowers and fruit count.
• Gibberellic acid (25-100 ppm): Increases female flowers by 50% and lasts up to 80 days.
• Ethrel (ethylene-releasing compound): Enhances femaleness in bottle gourd.

Weed Control

• Weeding & raking done during fertilizer application.
• Earthing up during the rainy season.
• Weeding methods: Hand or hoe weeding as needed.
• Mulching:
  • Organic or plastic mulch helps suppress weeds.
  • Can be laid before or after transplanting/sowing.

Inter cultivation

• Trailing can be done either on pandals or on the ground
• Earthing up may be done during rainy season.