GROWER’S GUIDE (Wax Gourd)

Description

Wax Gourd – Grower’s Guide

Season
Can growth all year but best Rainy and Winter.

Soil
Loam soil, good irrigation, pH 5.5 – 6.8. To plough the soil with dry sun 7-10 days To plough the soil deep 20 – 30 cm. Additional manure rate 0.5-1.0 ton/rai fertilizer 40 Kg./rai soil to cover up plot wide 80 cm. high 30 cm., 2 row/ plot 5.5-6.0 m. Use plastic or strew to cover up step end.

Agriculture
Trasnsplant sprout 10-12 days, open water in to plot, perforate on plastic space 100-120 cm. 2 row.

Fertilizer
1. With plough formula 15-15-15 rate 40 Kg./rai
2. After transplant 7-10 days formula 21-0-0 rate 20-25 Kg./rai
3. After transplant 20-25 days formula 15-15-15 rate 30-40 Kg./rai
4. After transplant 40-45 days formula 15-15-15 rate 30-40 Kg./rai

Disease Important
Downy Mildew, Antracnose, Powdery mildew
Insect Important: Beetle, Thrips

Maturity
60-65 days after transplant

WAX GOURD FACTS: Also called Chinese Watermelon (Benincasa hispida) trailing fleshy vine, of the gourd family (Cucurbitaceae), native to tropical Asia but grown in many warm countries for its edible fruits.

A wax gourd has solitary yellow flowers 8 to 10 centimetres (3 to 4 inches) wide, hairy oval leaves that are heart-shaped at the base, and a melon-shaped or cucumber-shaped fruit up to 40 cm long. Each hairy green fruit has a whitish, waxy covering and contains flat, white seeds about 1 cm long.