Vegetables - Gourd
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  This past year I grew gourds for the first time for my children. They produced huge vines--up to thirty feet or more of vine. Then they started setting many little gourds, and we started to get excited. Then the gourds turned dark within a week or two and they shriveled up. The vines looked great up until frost. The whole season, all we ended up with were four or five gourds. What did we do wrong, and how can I correct it for next season? (W. Helena)

  One thing to remember, is that gourds, like all members of the cucurbit family, set both male and female flowers on the same plant. The female flowers already have a small gourd attached to them prior to pollination. If bees or other pollinators aren’t present to transfer pollen from the male flowers, the small gourds will shrivel up and fall away. Did you see bees in your garden? The past two years we have had pollination problems due to less natural honey bees. Next season, hopefully the bees will be more plentiful or you can act the part of the honey bee and transfer pollen yourself.

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