Ash Gourd

🌿Plant Care Guide

📝 Description

Ash gourd, also known as benincasa hispida, winter melon, wax gourd, white pumpkin, and chinese watermelon, is a fruit native to parts of southern asia.It grows on a vine and matures into a round or oblong melon that’s approximately the same size and color as a watermelon. Once ripe, the fruit’s fuzzy exterior morphs into a powdery ash-colored coating that gives this fruit its name.The tender leaves and buds are also used as vegetable. It is primarily grown for its young and mature fruits, which are consumed as such or used to make sugar candies. The surface of the fruit is covered with a bluish-white, ‘waxy’ ash. The fruit has a long shelf life.Sandy loam soils with high organic matter are considered best for ash gourd. The optimum soil ph is 6.0-7.0. This crop requires a warm and humid climate. The optimum temperature requirement is 24 °C-30 °C. Short days, low night temperatures and humid climate are good for production of female flowers. It can be grown in mild climate, but it is sensitive to frost.