Growing Bottle Gourd in Pot or Ground: Bottle gourd can be grown in ground in your garden or in pot. If you plant lauki in a pot, select a wide and deep pot, at least 50 cm diameter, also you can plant a bottle gourd type that grows very slowly or remains short. It is a vigorous trailing or climbing vine with white flowers which open at night and hard-skinned fruits, which are edible when young. When they are mature the fruits or calabashes are hardwearing, decorative and waterproof. They can be made into light, hardwearing cooking or water-carrying utensils, musical instruments, bird-houses or other items. Similar to pumpkins in cultivation, they require a sunny, sheltered site, and only a moderately fertile soil. They need plenty of water in the growing season but hate wet feet so avoid very damp soil. If you have only small place to grow bottle gourd, you can grow it in a pot, spread the vine on trellis or roof. If you are growing it on your terrace, then spread the plant on the fencing (the outer wall on the terrace). The problem with bottle gourd in ground was that it grew to very long distances climbing on to a nearby high tree, from where I could not hand pollinate the bottle gourd flowers. On the other hand, the bottle gourd in the container grew to a manageable distance. When to Plant bottle gourd: Bottle gourd is a summer growing vegetable. Raise the seedlings in a 4 inch pot indoors (growing vegetables from seeds) or in a hot frosts free place (temperature at least 20 deg C) in ground by sowing 2 seeds, half inch deep. Keep the pot moist. Germination: The bottle gourd seeds are slow in germination,may take from 7 to 25 days to germinate depending on the soil temperature. You can soak the seeds in water overnight to speed up germination. Use only the seeds that go to the bottom of the soaking bowl. When the seeds germinate and the plants grow to 2-3 leaves, transplant them to the final place. Discard the weaker plants. (In cold regions of USA, plant the seeds in small pots and keep them inside in the hottest area of the house. Move the baby plants outside when the danger of frost is over, may be in mid May.) In late spring, transfer the bottle goyrd seedling plant to the prepared bed containing compost (composting) and manure. Water regularly. They need plenty of water in the growing season but hate wet feet. When each main vine grows to about 6-8 feet long, cut off the growing tip. This will force the plant to produce side branches that will produce fruit much sooner, more flowers and more fruits. -salakot bottle gourd 4 seeds -tambuli vottle gourd 5 seeds