Ridge gourd plants require full sunlight; therefore your raised bed should be made at a bright sunny spot and keep the Ridge gourd container under open sunlight in the backyard.

Watering technique: Water your potted Ridge gourd plant every day in summer by watering the soil near the plant by using a watering can to make sure that the plants get water in the form of the shower & not by a single flow. You can also make provision for watering by drip irrigation system for your raised beds in the kitchen garden.

Ridge gourd is an aggressive climber & needs plenty of space to grow. So develop a strong trellis support up to height of 5-6 ft, by using locally available material like pipes, bamboo, ropes, wires etc. for your Ridge gourd plant.

Manuring: As mentioned earlier, add good quality organic manure in the soil with 2:1 ratio before sowing seeds. Organic manure can be well rotted cow dung manure, farmyard manure and compost or Vermicompost.

When your Ridge gourd climber is more than 45 days old, provide one tablespoon of 15:15:15 (NPK) fertilizer per plant or mix handful of Vermicompost in the soil around each plant as top dressing manure

Always look for the early signs of any insect/fungal/ any other infections. Spray appropriate medicines as soon as any symptoms of such diseases are spotted. Watch out for Powdery Mildew when plants are young & care the plants

Ridge gourds have separate Male & female flowers on the same plant, so fruits will be formed on female flowers after pollination.

Taking ‘pollens’ from male flowers on a painting brush or cotton bud & dust them on ‘stigma’ of female flowers is called hand pollination. This will increase overall production of Ridge gourd. This step is not mandatory because many types of insect pests in your garden will pollinate the Ridge gourd plants on their own.

Ridge gourd is a climber & harvesting will start flowering at the end of second month. You can start harvesting raw Ridge gourd fruits after 80-90 days after seed sowing, and the harvesting season can continue for the next 90 days after the first harvest.

Disclaimer: This information is exclusively given by experts when tried and tested in our trial fields. The performance of variety / hybrid may vary under different agro climatic / seasonal condition / cultural schedules