Ash gourd
Ash gourd (or wax gourd), is related to the cucumber. The large fuits are eaten as a vegetable.
Names
Scientific
Benincasa hispida
English
Ash gourd
Wax gourd
White gourd
Winter melon
Dutch
Waspompoen
French
Courge à la cire
Courge cireuse
Pastèque de Chine
German
Wachskürbis
Wintermelone
Taxonomy
Genus
Benincasa
Family
Cucurbitaceae
Order
Cucurbitales
Basic information and facts
Origin:
Ash gourd probably originates from India.
Distribution:
Southeast Asia, East Asia and South Asia
Annual, biennial, or perennial:
Ash gourd is an annual plant.
Plant:
Ash gourd is a crawling or climbing vine. The vines can be several meters long.
Flowers:
The yellow flowers are either male or female.
Leaves:
Leaves are 10 to 20 centimeters long and have a long hairy stem.
Fruits:
Ash gourds have cylindrical or oval fruits which can reach a length of 80 centimeters and sometimes longer. The diameter is up to 30 centimeters.
When immature, the fruits have a thick white flesh with a sweet taste. Mature fruits are not hairy but develop a waxy coating. Mature fruits are not sweet; the whitish flesh is rather tasteless The waxy coating provides a long shelf life; ash gourd fruits can often be kept for a year or longer.
Climate and weather:
Ash gourd is tropical and requires warm weather.
Pollination:
Ash gourd has separate male and female flowers on the same plant. Cross pollination is by insects.
Height:
Vines can crawl or climb (e.g. in trees) and reach a length of several meters.
Spacing:
?
Propagation:
Ash gourd is propagated by seeds.
Insect pests:
?
Diseases:
?
Harvesting:
Fruits are hand picked, either green or ripe.
Uses:
Ash gourd fruits are used as a vegetable. They can be used green, for example in curries, or ripe. Also the tender leaves and twigs of ash gourd are eaten as leafy vegetables.
Crop categories
Vegetables
Fruit vegetables
Food crops
Tropical crops
Pictures
Ash gourd
Ash gourd in a vegetables garden
Ash gourd