The Organic
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Vegetables · Vine

Growing bottle gourd

Lagenaria siceraria · also called lauki, al (Kashmiri)A fast, vigorous vine grown for its long or round pale green fruit, cooked young as a vegetable. It is sown straight into warm soil and cannot take frost.

East coast: coastal Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, coastal Andhra, coastal Odisha

Our team has checked this guide against the sources at the end of the page.Includes AI suggestions where no published guide covers a detail
A pale green bottle gourd growing on the vine among large leaves
Photo: Forest and Kim Starr · CC BY 3.0

At a glance

Bottle gourd in the East coast

  • Season

    Sown in July or January6

  • Sowing to last picking

    About 135 days for open-pollinated varieties.6

  • Sow

    July6

    Part of this comes from the sources cited. The rest is an AI suggestion.

Across India

When to sow it

Twelve growing regions, January to December. Your region comes first.

Wait until January

The next sowing here is January.

Sowing now in:North-east hills and valleysCentral plateauDeccan plateauWest coast
  • Sow
  • Harvest
  • Under cover
  • Today
East coastcoastal Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, coastal AndhraSouth interiorBengaluru, Mysuru, interior Tamil NaduDeccan plateauinterior Maharashtra, Telangana, north Karnataka
Compare all 12 regions
Temperate HimalayaKashmir valley, Shimla, KulluCold desertLadakh, Lahaul and Spiti · Under cover onlySub-tropical foothillsJammu, Kangra, DehradunNorth-west plainsPunjab, Haryana, DelhiGangetic plainseastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal plainsNorth-east hills and valleysAssam, Meghalaya, SikkimArid westRajasthan, Kutch, north GujaratCentral plateauMadhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, VidarbhaDeccan plateauinterior Maharashtra, Telangana, north KarnatakaSouth interiorBengaluru, Mysuru, interior Tamil NaduWest coastKerala, Goa, Konkan
Today
See the dates as a table
RegionSowNurseryTransplantHarvest
East coastJulyJanuarySeptember to NovemberMarch to May
Temperate HimalayaApril to MayJuly to mid-September
Cold desertUnder cover onlyUnder cover: Late April to May, in a greenhouseUnder cover: July to mid-September
Sub-tropical foothillsMid-FebruaryJune to JulyMarchApril to MayUnder cover: First half of NovemberMid-April to JuneMid-August to October
North-west plainsFebruary to MarchJune to JulyUnder cover: November to DecemberMid-April to JuneMid-August to October
Gangetic plainsFebruary to MarchJune to JulyMid-April to JuneMid-August to October
North-east hills and valleysNovember to MarchMarch to AprilFebruary to June
Arid westFebruary to early MarchJuly, with the monsoonMid-April to JuneSeptember to mid-November
Central plateauFebruary to MarchJune to JulyNovemberMid-April to JuneMid-August to October
Deccan plateauJune to JulyNovemberJanuary to FebruaryMid-August to October
South interiorJulyJanuarySeptember to NovemberMarch to May
West coastJanuary to MarchSeptember to DecemberMay to June, after the first showersMarch to mid-JuneNovember to March

From seed to harvest

One season, day by day

Days from sowing

  1. Before sowing

    Neem cake

    100 kg per hectare · Spread before the last ploughing · Before the last ploughing

    Farmyard manure (FYM)6

    10 kg per pit · Mix into each pit before sowing · Basal, in the pit

  2. Day 0

    Sow

  3. Day 6 to 10

    Seeds come up1,2,3Part of this comes from the sources cited. The rest is an AI suggestion.

  4. Day 135

    Last picking6

Water before dibbling the seed, then once a week. Drain quickly after heavy rain on the coast.6Part of this comes from the sources cited. The rest is an AI suggestion.

What it needs

Soil, sun and warmth

  • Soil pH1,2,6

    6 to 7

    Sandy loam to loam, well drained and rich in organic matter. It grows on most soils.

  • SunlightNo published guide covers this for the East coast, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.

    At least 6 hours a day

    Full sun, at least 6 hours a day.

  • Temperature1

    Grows best at 24 to 27 °C

    Frost: none tolerated.

    Monthly temperatures for the East coast aren't in the library yet.

Water and feeding

Watering6Part of this comes from the sources cited. The rest is an AI suggestion.

Water before dibbling the seed, then once a week. Drain quickly after heavy rain on the coast.

Weeding6

Hoe out weeds as needed. Thin to two seedlings a pit about 15 days after sowing.

WhenWhatHow muchHow
Before the last ploughingNeem cake100 kg per hectareSpread before the last ploughing
Basal, in the pitFarmyard manure (FYM)10 kg per pitMix into each pit before sowing

Sources6

Varieties and yield

Typical range6

15 to 20 tonnes a hectare

Yields vary with the plot, the seed and the season.

Varieties grown here6

  • CO 1

    TNAU

  • PKM 1

    TNAU

  • PLR 1

    TNAU. Salad type.

  • PLR 2

    TNAU

  • Arka Bahar

    Listed by TNAU

  • TNAU Bottle Gourd Hybrid CO 1

    TNAU hybrid

Good neighboursNo published guide covers this for the East coast, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.

Keep it away from

Pests and diseases6Part of this comes from the sources cited. The rest is an AI suggestion.

Organic and cultural controls only.

  • Pest

    Red pumpkin beetle

    What to do

    • Pick the beetles off by hand in the early morning.
    • Dust young plants with wood ash.

  • Pest

    Fruit fly

    What to do

    • Pick up and bury fallen and damaged fruit.

  • Pest

    Aphids

  • Pest

    Whitefly

  • Pest

    Pumpkin caterpillar

  • Disease

    Powdery mildew

  • Disease

    Downy mildew

Seed and the season's end

Saving seed1,2Part of this comes from the sources cited. The rest is an AI suggestion.

Keep a seed crop at least 800 m from other bottle gourd varieties. Check it three times (early growth, flowering and fruiting, and before harvest) and pull out off-type and sick plants.

When the seed is ready

Seed fruit is ready when its skin turns a dull green.

Cleaning the seed

Dry the harvested fruit, then take out the seed, grade it and pack it.

Keep dry seed in a sealed container in a cool, dark place.

After the last pickingNo published guide covers this for the East coast, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.

Pull out the vines after the last picking and compost them if they are healthy. Follow with a crop from another family, such as a leafy vegetable or a legume.

Destroy old cucurbit vines after the crop so downy mildew has nowhere to carry over.

Rotation

Where root knot nematode builds up, rotate with rice, oats, wheat or taramira.

Sources

Where this comes from

Our team has checked this guide against the sources at the end of the page.Reviewed by our team on 13 November 2026.

These published guides are the sources. Where none of them covers a detail for this region, the page shows an AI suggestion and labels it.

  1. 3Production Technology of Vegetables and Flowers (VSF-231), Part I: Vegetable production (cucurbitaceous crops; protected cultivation)CSK Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishvavidyalaya, Palampur (Department of Vegetable Science and Floriculture)Read the source
  2. 4Advisory for Kharif Season in Uttarakhand (2 May 2020)G B Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Directorate of Extension EducationRead the source
  3. 6Bottle gourd (Lagenaria siceraria): crop production guide (Horticulture, vegetables)TNAU Agritech Portal, Tamil Nadu Agricultural UniversityRead the source

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