Ash Gourd Farming in India: A Step-by-Step Guide to Cultivation Success

Ash Gourd requires deep, loamy soil with a pH range of 6.5 to 7.5 for better growth. It grows well in humid and high-rainfall regions. It requires 24 to 30oC for ideal growth and production.

The land must be ploughed 3 to 4 times. After that, you need to dig pits of 30 cm x 30 cm x 30 cm at a spacing of 2 x 1.5 m to form basins.

Before sowing, soak the seeds in double water quantity for 30 minutes and incubate it for 6 days. After treating it with pesticides, sow 5-6 seeds per pit and post-germination, reduce it to 2 per pit.

Irrigate the basin before sowing the seeds, and after that, irrigate the field once a week. Apply the required fertilizers and FYM before the last ploughing and after 30 days from sowing.

Hoeing and weeding can be done whenever it is required. You need to spray Ethrel 250 ppm (2.5 ml/10 litres of water) four times at weekly intervals from the 15th day after sowing.

Spray Methyl demeton 25 EC 1 ml/ litre and Dimethoate 30 EC 1, among others to deal with pests. Apply spraying of Carbendazim 0.5 gm/lit or Dinocap 1 ml/lit to control diseases like powdery mildew.