The practice of growing of gourds goes a long way back and different cultures have used the gourds for different uses. Though, in modern times, the gourd is mostly associated with decorating bird houses. The gourd is a relative to pumpkins and squash and a few other vegetables from the Cucurbitaceae family that also includes melons and cucumbers. What’s more, growing gourds is a relatively easy task though special attention needs to be paid in regard to drying bird house gourds.
Be Very Patient Is The Key When Drying Bird House Gourds
There is need to be very patient when it concerns drying bird house gourds because this process is a time consuming affair for which there are no shortcuts. It is necessary to ensure that drying bird house gourds is taken seriously because there is no getting around the fact that the outside portion of the gourd must be allowed to completely dry out – even if it takes months in doing so. The Lagenaria form of gourd in particular takes an especially long time in drying out – about twice as long as is the case with Cucurbita gourds.
Before starting the process of drying bird house gourds you need to wipe their surface in soapy water after which the gourds should be left to air dry and even rubbing some alcohol will help ensure that the drying is more complete.
Next, you should put the gourd in a place where there is plenty of ventilation and which is a place where no direct sunlight hits the gourds. It can take a week for this phase of the drying of bird house gourds to complete. After this phase, you can move your gourds to another well ventilated place where it is also dark and then you can just leave the gourds there for another six months for the drying process to complete.
However, it is necessary that you closely inspect the gourds on a daily basis and also remove any gourds that have rotted or are decaying or shriveling up. In addition, in this phase of drying of bird house gourds you need turn the fruits over every fortnight or so to ensure even drying and to also prevent the gourds from rotting.
The last phase of drying of bird house gourds involves putting the gourds out in the light at which time the gourds will have become very hard and if you hear the rattling sounds of seeds inside you can be sure that the drying bird house gourds process has been successfully completed.
It is also necessary to ensure that you are well informed regarding harvesting bird house gourds. Once the harvesting is done you can then proceed with the drying bird house gourds process.
