Nature Seeds Chinese Mini Bottle Gourd/Calabash 10 Vegetable Fruit Gardening Seeds *DELIVERY*- Please allow 7-14 WORKING DAYS for the item to reach you. Lagenaria siceraria. Mini Bottle Gourds are adorable miniatures. Average size at maturity is 4" Can be grown on a trellis. Forms with wooden shells tend not to have an edible flesh. The plants are frost-tender annuals, they grow very rapidly and their stems can reach a length of 9 meters in the summer. A warm summer is required for good production of the fruit. Hand pollination of the fruits can increase fruit set. A climbing plant that is remarkably disease and pest-free, this might be connected to the smell of the leaves. How to grow : Seed - sow spring in a greenhouse in a rich soil, putting 2 - 3 seeds in a pot and thinning to the strongest plant. Grow on fast and plant out as soon as possible after the last expected frosts, giving some protection until the plants are established and growing well. The seed germinates best at 25 Degree Celsius. Soaking the seeds for 12 hours in warm water prior to sowing can hasten germination. Prefers a well-drained moist good rich circumneutral soil. Requires plenty of moisture in the growing season. Prefers a warm sunny position sheltered from the wind. The bottle gourd is widely cultivated in the tropics and sub-tropics for its edible fruit and for the hard wooden shell of the fruit that can be used as containers, musical instruments etc. Maturity period - Approximate 70 days.