In my previous two columns, I have explained how the seeds of apple gourd grow into a hardy, vine-like plant, highlighting the various stages of the plant's life cycle, and also discussed the many health benefits of this vegetable, popularly known locally as tinda.
The column discussed in detail the plant's requirements, common problems encountered during growth and their solutions, including aspects related to home cultivation.
This column will mainly focus on the flowering, fruiting and harvesting stages and will also discuss the fertilisers your plants require at different stages and the pesticides you may use in case of any unwanted pest attacks.
Under ideal conditions, apple gourds will begin to flower within 3-4 weeks of seed germination, and at this stage, gradually reduce the amount of nitrogen-based fertilizer applied to boost vine foliage and instead provide a potassium-based fertilizer.
The latter helps the vines during the flowering and fruiting periods. For this purpose, organic fertilizers with potassium as the main ingredient can be used. Locally, dried banana peels are one of the cheapest and richest sources of potassium, which helps the plant grow during these stages.
Mixing dried banana peels into water will give your plants an instant boost of potassium.
Organic fertilizers are usually applied every 15 days, but if necessary, the frequency can be increased to once a week. Moreover, you can make a solution by mixing dried banana peels with water and give it to the vines, which will be absorbed quickly and show immediate results.
Apple gourd vines have both male and female flowers on the same plant. The flowers are yellow and have five petals. In big cities, apple gourd vines are less likely to bear fruit due to the lack of pollinators such as bees and insects.
In the absence of natural pollinators, the hand pollination technique can be used, which involves picking a male flower and, while it is still attached to the vine stem, rubbing its central part (the stamen) against the corresponding reproductive part (the pistil) of a female flower, ensuring a complete and direct transfer of pollen.
Another, less harmful method of pollination is to not pick off the male flowers at all, but instead gently rub a small brush or cotton swab over the stamens to collect pollen, which you then smear onto the stigma, the sticky top part of the pistil.
However, before you can hand-pollinate, it is important to be able to identify and distinguish between male and female flowers. This can be done by looking for the very small fruit that grows just below the female flower, which is absent in the male flower.
Within 2-3 weeks, the apples will begin to fruit. At this point, you can begin to harvest the apples. When they are ready to be harvested, they will turn a light green color. If they are overripe, they will turn yellowish.
Three to four apple gourd vines can produce a crop large enough for the consumption of a family of four to six people.
The entire stem of the apple gourd is covered with needle-like hairs, which also grow on the fruit. Although the hairs are soft and not prickly, they can cause allergies and skin damage during hand pollination, pruning and harvesting. If you are not an expert, we recommend wearing gardening gloves.
Pests such as aphids, mealybugs, spider mites, etc. can attack apple gourd vines. To protect the vines from the attack of such pests, the best solution is to use organic insecticides.
I prefer to spray my plants with organic neem oil every two weeks, the spray should cover the entire plant.
If your vines are already infested, add a few drops of household detergent to the insecticide mixture and spray every other day for at least a week to 10 days. Once the insects are gone, reduce insecticide applications to once every two weeks.
Sometimes, excessive moisture can cause fungal infections and mold to develop on the leaves of your apple gourd. These appear as black spots. If this happens, spray the leaves with a sulfur-based fungicide.
If you have any questions or would like to send an email to doctree101@hotmail.com, the author is a medical doctor and the host of the YouTube channel “DocTree Gardening,” which promotes organic home gardening.
Published in Dawn, EOS, July 14, 2024
