Making a Gourd Canteen or Water Bottle

[gourdon]

If you use soap and water, you should be fine. I just saw the post on the cutting board and vinegar and a red flag went off.

You said some of the gourds were slow growth. Does that package indicate number of days to harvest? That should give you some idea of how well they are doing.

I always store my partially used seed packets in the refrigerator to use again next year. They stay viable for a few years by doing that. Packages that I empty, I generally write the date of planting on it and store it as well. That way I can always go back and check the info if I need to.

Thanks Rick
You are more systemaic and well organized than I am.
I bought the seeds from ACE Hardware store. I did not keep
the package but I remember that the seeds were supposed to be mixed.
So far I have just one bottle gourd plant. the rest of them are
other kind with yellow flowers. I have noticed some female
flowers growing. These gourd are yellow, pear shaped,
as it can be detected at the base of female flowers.
I do not care too much about those small colorful gourds.
I have fun with bottle gourds. If all goes well till harvest,
So far I have 12 to 15 gourds (maybe more) . I have produecd all of them by hand pollination myself. When I get close to 20 bottle gourds, I will stop pollination. I want
the plant concentrate on those babies. I will also start pinching off all and any new shoots and growth. This way I may be able to get
bigger bottle gourds , fully matured and hardened.

gourdon

[Rick]

I found this on the net. Perhaps it is some help. Days to maturity:

Hardshell varieties require 110 - 130 days. Ornamental types need about 90 to 100 days.

[gourdon]

I found this on the net. Perhaps it is some help. Days to maturity:

Hardshell varieties require 110 - 130 days. Ornamental types need about 90 to 100 days.

what does "days-to-maturity" mean?
Is it from the time planted or from bloom to harvest ?.

In my experience. gourds are very slow to germinate and
grow vines. May be it has to do with the temperatur.
But once they take off they go wild. I have heard that gourds
concentrate on growing roots first and prepare for take-off.
Also, this is very interesting that bottle gourds develop much faster than ornamentals, almost 3 to 4 week fast.
I know this because I planted mixed variety from package,
same time same place. But my bottle gourds started blooming at least 3 weeks early. and what is more , is that
bottle gourds' blooms develop very quickly. Once you see a bud, it will bloom in about 3 days . But ornamentals'
buds would take for ever to bloom, specially the female ones.

So, to me, it is easier and quicker and more economical
and more fun to grow bottle gourds than ornamental which you can buy from grocery stores at fall.

Next, year, hopefully, I will grow various kind of Lagenaria Siceraria ( white flowering gourds, loffa, kettle, apple, etce)
From one plant of bottle gourd, so far, I have close to 15 fruits. Now the plant has stopped new bloom. I think that
should be enough to raise 15 babie

[Rick]

Day to maturity is the number of days from the time the seed goes into the ground to the time you pick a mature fruit under normal growing conditions. The number of days will change, of course, if it's extremely hot, cold, cloudy, etc. Normal growing conditions is the key.

Young plants concentrate on two things. Root production to feed the leaves and leaf production to feed the roots. Young plants have a lot going on if think about it. Not only do they have to stretch out but they also have to get acquainted with the soil conditions they are in.

Those ever import roots not only offer nourishment to the rest of the plant but they keep the plant anchored in place and store food in the form of carbohydrates (sort of like fat on you and me...well, me). The young roots are super busy making root hairs that can quickly absorb water and nutrients to feed the rest of the plant. Once a good number of root hairs have developed, the plant can get on with the business of growing.

[gourdon]

Thanks for the information,Rick.

My first year growing gourds confirms what you have said.
I think that maybe all cucumber family plants are like that,
i.e. they first put efforts on developing roots and then
leaves (vine) and set the stage for a big show.

As I mentined in my previous posts, Lagenarias are early
bloomers than ornamenta ( yellow flowering) gourds.
may this is due to the reason that the latter like much
warmer temperature?. My ornamental gourds are more than
3 weeks behind bottle gourds and I planted all of them
at the same time ( mid April I think it was)

I want to share something about ornamental gourds
with you all. They are not " soft shelled" gourds as
it has been believed. If they become fully mature on
the vine, befor frost, they can be dried as well.
But if picked too green ( for selling as decoration ) obviously
they will have a good chance to rot. of course. ornamental
gourds , even when fully matured and cured, have
much thinner shells . but they can be dried.
To facilitate drying, you have to scrape off their outer
layer ( colorful skin, good bye!) and let it dry.
I have dried several of them in the past( store bought ones). I have one right now that is my salt shaker.
So ,don't give up on drying ornamental gourds. Sure,
it is more difficult to dry them and some may rot but
it can be done. If you are growing your own, let them matue on the vine ( forget about their color, if you want
to dry them). Also ,only dry fully grown and matured ones, i.e. the one that were set much earlier.
until the nex time
Gourdon

[Rokas]

I read this post and decided to make gourd canteen, but I am growing pumpkins, not gourds, so there's the question:
are pumpkins good for making canteens or bottles to store water or it's possible to make them just from gourds? here's the picture of what kind of pumpkins I grow... http://www.anyksta.lt/user_img/1900_...as2_resize.jpg. Don't mind to that old women because this is only picture I found in Internet that matches my growing pumpkin's kind or smth like that. (I can't express my thoughts in English very well... sorry ). And one more thing: these pumpkins can grow quite big so I'll try to dry the smallest one, but I think it could take more than a year...
P.S. this old women is not from my family.

[Beo]

Never did a pumpkin canteen... hmmm I would say to give it a try but a pumpkin canteen in the size in your picture would hold a ton of water but be kinda heavy... lol... jk... give it a try.
As far as cleaning it out with vinagar, I wouldn't because it may leave a nasty taste and he salt would do the same. I just wash constant in hot water, stick a sinkhose in it and turn it on for about 30 minutes.

[Rick]

I've never seen a dried pumpkin either. I'm tempted to say it won't work but nothing ventured nothing gained I guess. By the way, your English is much better than my Lithuanian so no need to apologize on my account.

[Rokas]

Because Lithuanian speech is not national, not like English...

[gourdon]

Hi everyone,

I supposed there are different kinds of pumpkins with different shell thickness. But I am pretty sure that the traditional Hallowing type pumpkins cannot be dryed, because
even when it is fully matured still has soft and thin skin.That is
how kids can carve it. Pumpkins are full of flesh and when
that is emptied, probably the shell will collaps.
But as I said, different pumpking may have harder and thicker shells. Like Rick said, it is worth a try.
What you got to lose? A pumpkin? Few hours of fun ? Or both?

[gourdon]

Never did a pumpkin canteen... hmmm I would say to give it a try but a pumpkin canteen in the size in your picture would hold a ton of water but be kinda heavy... lol... jk... give it a try.
As far as cleaning it out with vinagar, I wouldn't because it may leave a nasty taste and he salt would do the same. I just wash constant in hot water, stick a sinkhose in it and turn it on for about 30 minutes.

Hi Boewulf
we were talking about cleaning the outside of gourds with
vinagar, instead of chlorine water, to kill the mildew.

Rock salt (not altered salt like morton's), will only absorb
the moisture inside a gourd. This method is just for shortening gourds drying time, if sombody, like me, is anxious and in hurry.
There will be no taste left behind, using salt. But you can alway rins it out with cold water.
Besides, if you seal the inside wit parafin, then there will be no after taste other than parafin, maybe?

[TrappinGal]

i planted several varieties of gourds and pumpkins this year. i will be trying my hand at some canteens. ty for the idea.

[Rokas]

Well, I didn't grew up some gourds this year so I'll try next year, but now I have few overgrown pattypans. It's skin is quite thick and tough so I'm wondering if it's possible to make canteen out of pattypan?

[Rick]

I wouldn't think you could make a gourd out of a pattypan because of it's size. They are pretty flat unless you have a variety there that is larger. If you could dry it, you might be able to make a cup out of it. I've never tried to dry pattypan so I don't know if it would work or not.

[Beo]

What I do sometimes is rinse the inside with a strong salt water solution and let dry, overnight or longer if I have too. The I seal with parafin wax or bees wax and once that dries I fill with real cold water (about half way) and shake real good then dump out, do this several times to get any loose wax out and then let sit as it fills and over flows with cold tap water for about a half hour. This usually leaves no taste.

[Ryleyboy]

These are the two types of Gourd Water Carriers we use. They are lite and comfy to use.
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what are those made out of ?. i didnt have tiem to read.

[Rick]

The thread title sort of gave it away.

[crashdive123]

If you don't have time to read what they are, you reeeeeeeally don't have time to make one.

[North Woodsman]

Can you make a gourd water bottle without using any wax or sealant of any kind? I'm using a typical chinese water bottle gourd, AKA calabash, and I really don't want to mess with that stuff. This is assuming I can get the gourd taste out. What I'm wondering is if water will soak through the gourd without a sealant. Also, if I did use the wax Beowulf did, wouldn't it make the water... Waxy? At all? I'm thinking of wax, and I can't imagine a water container lined with wax not affecting the water. Assure me, please. Thanks woodsmen.

[Rick]

Welcome. Why not wax you way over to the Introduction section and tells us a bit about yourself?

http://www.wilderness-survival.net/f...splay.php?f=14

Wax has been used forever to coat the inside of water vessels. Once it dries on the inside, there is no taste.