Seed Germination With Bottle Gourd Shell As Planter

The outer shell of most of the gourd varieties are thrown out after extracting the inner portion. Here I have used the outer shell of a Bottle Gourd as a planter to germinate Fenugreek seeds. The seedlings are very healthy and are not affected by any insects. The outer shell of the bottle gourd also decomposed and provided the nutrients required for the seedlings to grow.

Please go through the instructable to see how you can utilise the parts of vegetable which we normally discard

The gourd variety I have here is a round shaped Bottle Gourd

• Cut and remove stem from the Gourd
• Place a cup or lid small enough to fit the gourd on top of it. This will give an approximate line of cutting about 1/4th of depth from top
• Following the outer edge of the cup or lid, cut the Gourd all around and remove the top portion

• Using a spoon, scoop out inside of the Bottle Gourd leaving an half an inch thick outer shell
• You can use the scooped out flesh of bottle gourd to make your favourite dish

• Mix equal amounts of sand and garden soil and fill the Bottle gourd shell to about 2/3rd depth

• Take a handful of Fenugreek seeds and spread on top of the soil in the gourd
• Cover the seeds with a layer of soil and water lightly
• You can keep the Bottle Gourd shell on a window sill where it will get some light

• Water the Bottle Gourd planter regularly
• After about four days, you can notice that fenugreek seeds started to germinate
• You will also notice that the outer surface of bottle gourd showing signs of decompose

• After about ten days, most of the seeds have germinated and are looking very healthy
• The Bottle Gourd shell is also mostly decomposed
• Now I have placed the seedlings with the bottle gourd shell on another planter. I have also covered the holes of the planter with a plastic sheet to help in retaining the soil as well to provide sufficient drainage
• The Bottle Gourd shell inside the planter is covered with potting soil all around

Within few days I will have a bunch of Fenugreek greens to be used as vegetable from this planter