Ridge Gourd
Season and Field preparation
Soil
Sandy loam rich in organic matter with good drainage and pH range from 6.5-7.5.
Season
Planting spreads during July and January
Seed rate
About 1.5 kg of seeds is required for a hectare.
Seed treatment
The seeds are treated with Trichoderma viride 4 g or Pseudomonas fluorescens 10 g / kg of seeds before sowing.
Preparation of field
Plough the field to fine tilth. Dig pits of 30 cm x 30 cm x 30 cm size at 2.5 x 2 m spacing and form basins.
Sowing
Sow the seeds (5 seeds / pit) and thin the seedlings to two/ pit after 15 days.
Ribbed gourd with black polythene mulch
Ribbed gourd under pandal system
Irrigation
Irrigate the basin before dibbling the seeds and thereafter once in a week.
Application of fertilizers
Apply 10 kg of FYM, 100 g of NPK 6:12:12 g mixture as basal dose/pit and N @ 10 g/pit at 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 1.5 m. Place the drippers in lateral tubes at an interval of 60 cm and 50 cm spacing with 4 LPH and 3.5 LPH capacities respectively.
Sowing
Dig pits of size 45 x 45 x 45 cm at spacing of 2 m in row spaced at 1.5 m. Sow three seeds in each pit. After germination, thin to 2 healthy seedlings. Instead of direct sowing, the seeds can be sown in poly bags @ 2 seeds / bag and 15 days after germination, they can be planted @ 2 seedlings per pit.
Fertigation
Apply a dose of 250:100:100 kg NPK/ha throughout the cropping period through split application.
After cultivation
Hoeing is done thrice to control weed population. Provide support for the plants to reach the pandal erected at a height of 2 m. Spray Ethrel 250 ppm (2.5 ml/10 lit of water) four times commencing from 15th day after sowing at weekly intervals to increase yield.
Plant protection
Spray Dichlorvos 76% EC 6.5 ml/10 lit or Trichlorofon 50% EC 1.0 ml/l