Season and Field preparation

Soil

Sandy loamy soils rich in organic matter with good drainage and the pH ranges from 6.5 to 7.5 is suited for bottle gourd cultivation. This crop requires a moderate warm temperature.

Season

July and January are suitable for sowing

Seed rate

1.5 kg/ha.

Seed treatment

Treated with Trichoderma viride 4 g or Pseudomonas fluorescens 10 g or Carbendazim 2 g/kg of seeds before sowing

Preparation of field

Plough the field to fine tilth and dig pits of the 30 cm x 30 cm x 30 cm size at 2.5 x 2 m spacing.

Sowing

Sow the seeds @ three seeds/pit and thin the seedlings to two/pit after 15 days

Irrigation

Irrigate the field before dibbling the seeds and thereafter once a week.

Application of fertilizers

Apply 10 kg of FYM (20 t/ha), 100 g of NPK 6:12:12 mixture/pit as basal and 10 g of N/pit 30 days after sowing.Apply Azospirillum and Phosphobacteria 2 kg/ha and Pseudomonas 2.5 kg/ha along with FYM 50 kg and neem cake @ 100 kg before last ploughing.

Drip irrigation

Install drip system with main and sub-main pipes and place the inline lateral tubes at an interval of 1.5m. Place the drippers at an interval of 60 cm and 50 cm spacing with 4LPH and 3.5LPH capacities respectively.

Field preparation

Form raised beds of 120 cm width and place laterals in the centre of bed.

Nursery raising

In hi-tech horticulture, plant 15 days old healthy seedlings raised in shade net houses. Raise the seedlings in protrays having 98 cells or in polythene bags. Transplant about 15 days old seedlings in the main field.

Fertigation

Apply a dose of 200:100:100 kg NPK/ha throughout the cropping period through split application.

After cultivation

Weeding can be done by hoeing as and when necessary. Fruit rot during rainy season can be checked by training the plants over the bamboo stick or dried branches.