Lagenaria

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

Lagenaria (lat. Lagenaria) - vegetable culture; an annual plant of the Pumpkin family. The plant is often called bottle gourd, Indian cucumber, gourd, or pot pumpkin. The genus includes seven species of herbaceous vines, which are more common in the tropical regions of the world. The homeland of the plant is India.

Interesting Facts

It is known from the most ancient manuscripts of China that lagenaria was for a long time considered the queen of plants; it was grown in the gardens of Chinese emperors, not for cooking, but for creating strong vessels that were used at dinner parties for especially distinguished dignitaries. The walls of the fruits are very dense and strong, they are not exposed to microorganisms, and they do not decompose, unlike other plants of the Pumpkin family.

Lagenaria enjoyed immense popularity among African peoples. The vegetables were used to make dishes, snuff boxes, decorations, ladles and even the famous African tom-toms. Surprisingly, the fruit of Lagenaria was also used as a trap for monkeys. A small hole was cut in the fruit, rice was poured inside and tied up in a conspicuous place. In search of food, the monkeys thrust their hand into the hole, collected rice, squeezed it in their fists, but could no longer pull it out.

Characteristics of culture

Lagenaria is a plant with a creeping pubescent stem with pronounced edges up to 15 m long. The leaves of the culture are pentagonal, corrugated. The flowers are quite small, dioecious (male and female), white in color, have a wheel-shaped corolla, and are located in the leaf axils. Flowers open only at night. Large flowers have an unpleasant odor. The fruit is a pumpkin, it can be elongated, round, pear-shaped or bottle-shaped.

Lagenaria is characterized by rapid growth, the growth rate is 15-25 cm per day. Cases are known that the fruits of Legenaria, under favorable growth conditions and proper care, reached 2 m, sometimes 2.5 m. The plant is highly decorative, looks great on any household plots in as decoration. In Russia today, a variety of lagenaria is widespread - Vietnamese zucchini.

Growing conditions

Plots for growing lagenaria are preferable well-lit, south-western and southern slopes are optimal. Soils are desirable fertile, loose, neutral with a high content of organic matter. Acidic and waterlogged soils are not suitable.

Lagenaria is a climbing plant, it can be planted along fences, walls of houses or near gazebos. The favorable temperature for normal growth and development is 25-27C. The culture does not differ in cold resistance, it cannot stand even the weakest frosts and dies. The best predecessors of Lagenaria are legumes, potatoes and cabbage.

Reproduction, collection of seeds and planting

Lagenaria is propagated only by seed. To collect seeds, use the first fruit set, which is removed together with the stalk and left for storage in a warm room until the end of October - beginning of November. Then the fruits containing the seeds are sawn with a hacksaw, the seeds are selected and placed in paper bags.

Before sowing, seeds are germinated without fail, because without preliminary processing they will not be able to hatch, since they have a fairly hard crust. For a day, the seeds are soaked in water, and then placed in wet sawdust for 7-10 days.

In the southern regions, the culture is grown by sowing seeds in open ground, and in the northern regions - only by seedlings. For growing seedlings, special pots are used, in which seeds are sown. Sowing dates are the second or third decade of April. The seeding depth is 3 cm. The first shoots appear in 1-2 weeks. In open ground, seedlings are planted in late May - early June according to the scheme 100 * 100 cm. The soil temperature at the time of planting seedlings should be at least 12C.

Before planting, the hole is poured abundantly with water, a seedling is lowered into it, sprinkled with soil, re-watered and shaded with improvised means for several days. In order to prevent moisture from evaporating as long as possible, the soil near the stem zone is mulched with peat or humus. On cool nights, the plants are covered with a special protective material.

Care

In addition to standard procedures, caring for lagenaria includes pinching the central stem and side shoots when they reach 2 meters. Weak shoots and ovaries are completely removed. This technique promotes the formation of larger fruits. During flowering, plants need additional pollination of female flowers.

When feeding, which is also necessary for the culture, organic fertilizers alternate with mineral fertilizers. Lagenaria is watered daily, except for rains. The culture requires a garter to the support, but if this is not possible, boards or stones are placed under the plants, which will be able to protect them from the invasion of slugs and the development of rot.