Lagenaria siceraria

Lagenaria siceraria (bottle gourd / calabash) seed — vigorous climber for edible young fruits (cucuzzi, opo) and hard-shelled ornamental gourds. Tender; needs warmth and support.
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Lagenaria siceraria — bottle gourd

Lagenaria siceraria is the botanical name for the bottle gourd or calabash, a vigorous climbing member of the squash family (Cucurbitaceae) grown for both edible young fruits and hard-shelled ornamental gourds. It sits within our wider gourds & squash range and is one of humanity's oldest cultivated plants.

History & origin

The bottle gourd has an extraordinary history: native to Africa, it spread across the world in prehistoric times — reaching Asia and the Americas thousands of years ago — valued not as food but as a ready-made container, float and musical instrument once dried. It remains a staple vegetable in Asian and African cooking, where the young fruits (such as cucuzzi and opo) are eaten like courgettes, while mature shells are still made into bottles, bowls and birdhouses. The genus name Lagenaria comes from the Latin for a flask, and siceraria relates to its use as a drinking vessel.

Botanical characteristics

This is a fast, sprawling annual vine with large, soft, felted leaves, white flowers that open in the evening (unlike the yellow daytime flowers of true squashes), and fruits of astonishing variety — long snake-like cucuzzi, rounded calabashes, slim-necked bottle and birdhouse shapes, and swan-necked ornamentals. Young fruits are tender and pale-fleshed; left to ripen and dry, the shells turn hard, woody and waterproof. As a strong climber it is happiest scrambling up a sturdy support.

Growing Lagenaria siceraria from seed

Bottle gourds are tender and need warmth and a long season. Start seed under cover in spring, plant out after the last frost into rich, well-fed soil in full sun, and give the vigorous vines a strong trellis or arch — trained upward, the fruits hang straight and clean. Keep them fed and watered through summer. Pick young for eating, or leave fruits on the vine to ripen fully for drying. Our vegetable growing guide covers the basics, and the vegetable sowing calendar shows the windows.

Ready to grow edible gourds or your own dried calabashes? Browse the varieties below.

Related categories: Gourds & Squash · Cucumber · Container-Friendly Vegetables · Direct Sow Vegetables · All Vegetables

At SeedsChoice, every order ships from Meppel, NL with fast, tracked EU delivery.

Can you eat bottle gourds?
Yes — picked young and tender, types such as cucuzzi and opo are cooked much like courgette or marrow. Left to mature, the fruits become woody and are used only as dried gourds. How do I dry and cure bottle gourds?
Leave mature fruits on the vine as long as possible, then cure them somewhere dry and airy for several weeks to months until the shell hardens and the seeds rattle inside. Why grow bottle gourds up a support?
Training the vigorous vines up a strong trellis or arch lets the fruits hang freely, so they grow straighter and cleaner and are less prone to rot than those lying on the soil. When should I sow bottle gourd seed?
Start seed under cover in spring and plant out only after the last frost, as the plants are tender and need a long, warm season to ripen fruit.