Hello ! I have a few tips and some advice for you when your gourds in your garden at the end of summer look like they are mature and ready to pick. DON:T PICK them if you can help it . Let them sit all winter on the vine, some may fall off the vine but its best to leave them all winter & harvest them in the spring. I;ve had customers say they picked them and they shrivled up or dried up and rotted, I tell them to DON"T PICK ! Because 90% of the time thats what happens. Then I have had customers say to me that thet tried growing gourds but at the end of the season they left them out all winter on the vine but come spring time they were so moldy that they threw them away and I say NO DON"T throw them away they are really suppose to look like that heres a picture of some with mold on them but the mold can be worse . Then to clean them I put them in some bleach water ( about a cap full ) & soak them for maybe 15 mins to 1/2 hour. Then I put on a face mask & take a Scotch Brite stainless steel scrubbing pad & scrub the mold off, it comes off easy. Heres a picture of how they look with mold and cleaned . I hope this helps some of you who might have wondered. One other tidbit if you leave them out all winter & they freeze the seeds inside will be no good for planting, so if you want to harvest some seeds for next year planting you need to pick one or two just before the first freeze & store in a cool place til it cures & you'll know cuz gourds are about 905 water & heavy & when they dry they are light in weight. If you have any questions please ask & post them in the comment box or email me & I will answer them .
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