I have had good luck taking gourd pictures outdoors on a cloudy day and not using a flash. You should get less glare that way.

Here is a link that might be useful: Gourds

Not sure if this is the right place to post; but I have a question about the gourds. I live in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. Where we get freezing teperatures in the winter. I have read to just leave the gourds on the vine throughout the winter (in california). Do I do that here, or will they be ruined by the freezing? I planted some last year and got quite a few. I brought them in in november. Some of them didn't create their hard shell. I guess I brought them in too soon.

Thanks for your help:o)

You could get a dozen different answers to your questions, so I'll give you my answer:

We live in central Illinois, where we have freeze/thaw conditions from November to May. We have tried bringing them in to dry, and leaving them outside, either on wood pallets, or on the vine.
The risk of leaving them outside is animals looking for the seed, or deer stepping on them. Otherwise, they dry just fine. We also think the freezing and thawing helps the drying process along. We feel the outside risk is very minimal.

If you bring them indoors, be sure they are in a cool place and have good circulation. You also need to check them frequently for rot/soft spots. You don't want to keep rotting gourds in your house or basement or garage.

You said you brought last year's gourds in the house in November......we wait until the stem is brown and hard(dry), before we cut them from the vine. That could be early or late November, depending on your growing season.

Jan

My wife brought most of the gourds I raised for her into the house last fall, even after I had read that they cured better outside. This spring she found a couple that had been overlooked and they turned out better than those inside, some of which are still curing.

I have found that keeping them outside is better for the shell, however in the Rocky Mountains where the freeze comes earlier, the seeds will probably freeze before many of them have matured completely, which will give you a lower germination rate.

After they are completely dry, you will want to put them under cover so the sun doesn't bleach them out.

Here is a link that might be useful: Birdhouse Gourds

chipkonrad,
Its probably a good idea for you to choose a "sacrifical gourd" from each type for seed saving. Choose that gourd while they are still green, but wait till late in the season, around the time of the first frost, while they are at the peak of maturity. Take that gourd from the vine and cut it open for the seeds.* Separate the seeds from the guts and let the seeds dry on newspaper for a few days.
Be sure to stir them every day as they are drying. When the seeds are good and dry, bag and label them and stick them in the freezer.

* When I say 'cut it open', I mean cut it down the middle, top to bottom, or side to side. A bird house hole is not enough, and the gourd would likely rot anyhow.

Jan

Planted my gourds today - Can't put them out until after Memorial Day here, as I have learned through bitter experience.

Dinkydot,

I haven't planted my seeds yet. I don't normally put them out until the first few weeks in June. If our weather doesn't get more normal here real soon I might not be putting them out even then! I had to put the heat on last night!

Belight,

This will only be my 3rd year of growing gourds. That being said, I have left my gourds outside and they have dried just fine. I'm not as cold as say zone 6 but we still have our freezes and even get a little bit of snow.

I do go check on them once in awhile and maybe turn them if the mood strikes me.

We had around 23 degress last night on our cranberry bogs. It's still too early for tender things outside here.

Finally got my gourd plants into the ground. I planted:
Bushel
Corsican
Large Bottle
Speckled Apple
Speckled Swan

Tom