Kern 162 F1 Bottle Gourd

Kern 162 is an F1 hybrid bottle gourd (lauki) for the summer season, bearing green, cylindrical fruits.

Sowing window

• Sowing: March to June
• PoP windows for Haryana, Punjab, West UP and Rajasthan: spring–summer crop February–March (mid-February onwards, once frost is over) and rainy-season crop June–July; November–December only under low tunnel or other protection
• Temperature: grows well at 25–30°C

How to sow

• Soil: well-drained, fertile soil — sandy loam to loam is ideal
• Seed rate: about 400–500 g per acre with F1 seed — one seed per hill at the spacing below, keeping a few seeds for gap filling. The PoP figure of 2 kg per acre is for open-pollinated seed sown two to a hill
• Spacing: beds 2–2.5 m wide, seed sown on both sides of the bed. The PoP spacing of 45–60 cm between hills is for desi varieties; give this vigorous hybrid 75–90 cm between hills (ICAR-IIVR plants its hybrid bottle gourd at 3.5 m × 75 cm)
• Depth: 2–3 cm, into moist soil
• Seed treatment: if the seed is not already treated, dress it with Trichoderma (4 g/kg) or Carbendazim (2 g/kg) against damping-off and collar rot
• Pack size: 10 g and 50 g — a 50 g pack covers roughly one kanal (400–500 m²); an acre needs 8–10 packs of 50 g

Manure and fertiliser (per acre)

• FYM / compost: 8–10 tonnes of well-rotted manure before the beds are made — the PAU PoP goes up to 20–25 tonnes where manure is available
• Nitrogen (N): 60–70 kg — one-third at sowing, the rest in two splits at about four weeks and at first picking
• Phosphorus (P): 40–50 kg, all at sowing
• Potash (K): 40–50 kg, all at sowing
• Placement: put the sowing dose in a band along the bed, not in contact with the seed

Water, weeds and pests

• Irrigation: water at regular intervals through the season — first irrigation just after sowing, then every 6–7 days in the summer crop and only sparingly in the rains; 8–9 irrigations in all. Avoid flooding the beds
• Weeds: hoe lightly 2–3 times in the first month, before the vines cover the bed
• Pests: fruit fly is the main one — neem-based products help. Also watch for aphids and whitefly. Red pumpkin beetle attacks seedlings (dust dung ash on young plants weekly), and fruit fly can be checked with bait sprays on a maize trap-crop row or fruit fly traps at 16 per acre. Spray only as per label and your state advisory
• Diseases: powdery mildew, downy mildew, leaf spot and root-knot nematode. Also mosaic virus (pull out affected plants, control aphids) and collar rot in wet soil. For nematode-infested fields, deep ploughing in May–June and rotation with rice, wheat or oats help. Spray only when needed, as per label and your state advisory
• Training: in the rainy season train the vines on a support or bower — fruit lying on wet ground rots

Where it will not do well

Bottle gourd cannot stand frost, so without cover do not sow before mid-February. It also dislikes waterlogging: in heavy soils that hold water, sow on raised beds and train the vines up.

Harvest

• First picking: about 60–70 days after sowing, depending on season
• Fruit: cylindrical, green
• Stage: pick tender, medium-sized fruits while the skin is still shining; in peak season pick every 3–4 days

Please quote product code KERN-162 when ordering.

Crop practices follow state agricultural university recommendations for North India; confirm doses for your district with your Kern dealer or KVK.

Agronomy helpline: 9107062062