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Horticulture
Horticulture :: Vegetables:: Bottle Gourd

Bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria (Mol) Standl.)
Cucurbitaceae


Varieties:
Pusa Summer Prolific Long, Pusa Summer Prolific Round, Pusa Manjari, Pusa Megdoot and Arka Bahar, PLR 2, PLR 1(salad type).
Hybrid:
TNAU Bottle gourd Hybrid CO1
PKM 1:

It is a induced mutant from H375 with in yield potential of 25t/ha in 135-140 days. The fruits are extra long (180-200cm)

TNAU Bottlegourd Hybrid CO1

CO.1:

Selection from germplasm type. Fruits are with prominent bottleneck at the top.fruits are pale green in colour and yields 25-30t/ha

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.

Varieties
CO 1, Pusa Summer Prolific long, Pusa, Summer Prolific Round, Pusa Manjari, Pusa Megdoot and Arka Bahar, TNAU Bottle gourd Hybrid CO1

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.

Fertigation Schedule-Bottle gourd (Hybrid)
Recommended Dose: 200:100:100 Kg/ha

Stage Crop stage Duration in days Fertilizer grade Total Fertilizer (kg/ha) Nutrient applied % of requirement
N P K N P K
1 Crop
establishment
stage
10 19:19:19 + MN
13-0-45
Urea
26.81
11.00
29.03
5.00
1.43
13.35
5.00
-
-
5.00
4.95
-
10.00 5.00 10.00
Subtotal 19.78 5.00 9.95      
2 Vegetative
stage
30 12-61-0
13-0-45
Urea
12.28
66.00
109.00
1.47
8.58
50.14
7.50
-
-
-
29.70
30.00 7.50 30.00
Subtotal 60.19 7.50 29.70      
3 Flower
initiation to
first picking
30 12-61-0
13-0-45
Urea
12.28
44.00
115.00
1.47
5.72
52.90
7.50
-
-
-
19.80
-
30.00 7.50 20.00
Subtotal 60.09 7.50 19.80      
4 Harvesting stage 45 19:19:19 + MN
13-0-45
Urea
26.31
78.00
97.52
5.00
10.14
44.86
5.00
-
-
5.00
35.10
-
30.00 5.00 40.00
  Total duration 115 days   Subtotal 60.00 5.00 40.10      
Total 200.06 24.98
(or)
25.00
99.35
(or)
100.00
100 25 100

*75% RD of Phosphorus applied as superphosphate = 469 Kg/ha.
1. 19:19:19 = 53 kg/ha
2. 13:0:45 = 199kg/ha
3. 12:61:0 = 25 kg/ha
4. Urea = 351 kg/ha

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.

Plant protection
Pests

• For Leaf miner – Liriomyza trifolii
• Red pumpkin beetle - Aulacophora foveicollis
• Aphids- Aphis gossypii
• Thrips- Thrips palmi
• White fly - Bemesia tabaci
• Pumpkin caterpillar – Diaphania indica and
• Fruit fly- Bactrocera cucurbitae

Mites: Spray dicofol 18.5 % SC @ 2.5 ml per litre of water.

Aphid: Spray Imidachloprid @ 0.5 ml/lit along with sufficient quantity of stickers like Teepol, triton X100, apsa etc., for better adhesion and coverage.


Beetles, fruit flies and caterpillars
Beetles, fruit flies and caterpillars can be controlled by spraying Malathion 50 EC 1 ml/lit. or Dimethoate 30 EC 1 ml/lit. or Methyl demeton 25 EC 1 ml/lit.
Do not use DDT,copper and sulphur dust as these are phytotoxic.

Powdery mildew
Powdery mildew can be controlled by spraying Dinocap 1 ml/lit. or Carbendazim 0.5 g/lit or Tridemorph l ml/l.

Downy mildew
Downy mildew can be controlled by spraying Mancozeb or Chlorothalonil 2 g/lit. twice at 10 days interval.

Harvest
Fruits are harvested at tender stage and before 100 % maturity.

Yield
15 - 20 t/ha in 135 days.

Hybrid:
75-80 t/ha in 135 – 175 days.

Market Information


Crop Growing districts

Dindigul,Thiruvallur,Coimbatore,Thoothukudi

Major markets in Tamil Nadu

Periyar Vegetable Market Koyambedu, Chennai
Gandhi Market, Oddanchathiram
Natchipalayam vegetable market, Coimbatore

Updated on Nov 2022
 
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