What is lagenaria: beneficial properties and interesting facts about the plant
Lagenaria is a guest from the South American tropics. It is also called Vietnamese pumpkin, Indian cucumber. Because of its appearance, it received the names “bottle gourd” and “gourd gourd.” Belongs to the pumpkin family, the plant is an annual, has a lot of useful properties and advantages over other vegetables. Widely used in medicine and cooking.
What is lagenaria
Lagenaria is a creeping vine with large leaves and a pleasant scent. Its fruits have a wide variety of shapes, and the taste varies depending on the ripeness of the fruit. So, the young fruit tastes like a cucumber, and the ripe one is similar to zucchini or pumpkin.
More than 90% of gourd consists of water. It also contains caffeine, theobromine and fiber.
Beneficial features
The benefits of this plant are preserved not only in the fruits, but also in the seeds and leaves, which makes it possible to use bottle gourd in various industries. Thus, it has found its use not only in medicine and cooking, but also in decorative arts: kitchen utensils are made from its fruits.
Of course, the unique shape of the fruit played the main role here: from elongated and pot-bellied to similar to some animal. So decorative bottles and unusual flower vases come out of the hands of craftsmen.
Both leaves and fruits are used in folk medicine. An infusion is prepared from the pulp, which helps strengthen the immune system, and the extract from the leaves is suitable for the treatment of skin diseases.
Masks for the face and hair are also made from the pulp. They nourish the skin well, relieve dryness and flaking, and heal wounds.
But this vegetable crop is most widely used in cooking, although only the fruit is used for these purposes. The young vegetable tastes like a cucumber and is consumed raw. But the mature ones, with pumpkin flavor, are not eaten raw. They are used to make vegetable casseroles, fried or added to porridge. The pulp of the vegetable is also pickled as a winter preparation.
When used in cooking, lagenaria has a positive effect on the body:
- increases immunity due to the content of vitamins and minerals;
- normalizes metabolism - fiber has a beneficial effect on intestinal function;
- normalizes blood pressure and heart function due to the content of sodium, magnesium and potassium contained in the fruits;
- reduces cholesterol levels;
- has an antioxidant effect.
Harm and contraindications
Gorlyanka is a useful plant that has no age or other restrictions. Therefore, there is practically no harm from it, but do not forget about individual intolerance and allergic reactions.
Types and characteristics of plants
Some varieties of southern culture are grown for their tasty fruits, others for their original shape. What are serpentine, cobra, log and common lagenaria? Where their names came from, what similarities and differences there are with each other, what benefits do the creeping vines of bottle or dish gourd provide - let’s take a closer look.
Calabash
The fruit of this species can surprise you with its size. Up to 50 cm in length, with an elongated top, it resembles a large pear. It makes convenient decorative jugs.
But 50 cm is not the limit; two-meter pears also grow, but extremely rarely. Pumpkin ripens within 200 days after sowing. The length of the lashes reaches 15 m with regular exposure to sunlight.
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Lagenaria bottle
This species is considered compact. The length of the lashes reaches 3 m, and the pumpkins themselves do not exceed 70 cm in length. Outwardly it resembles Calabash lagenaria, but the fruits are practically not used for food.
Grown for decorative purposes. The scientific name of this species is Bottles.
Lagenaria polenidae
Young pumpkins of this variety are similar in appearance to zucchini. But then they grow to a size of two meters with a weight of 10 kg. The plant itself branches well, the leaves are large, similar to pumpkin.
Lagenaria serpentine
The fruit is externally similar to Lagenaria polenidae, but noticeably smaller, with a characteristic snake-like curve, which is why it got its name.
Length no more than 70 cm and weight 7 kg. This type is well used in cooking. Young fruits are sweet, but the leaves also have nutritional value.
Cobra
The fruits of this variety are of unusual shape and unusual color. The base is round, and the "neck" is thin and curved with further thickening, which looks like a snake's head. Light green spots on a dark green background complete the illusion.
Cobra is demanding on temperature conditions, so it takes root only in the southern zone. It is grown by seedlings, otherwise cold weather will come before its fruits ripen.
This species has both nutritional and decorative value. It has healing properties: helps with diseases of the heart, blood vessels and gastrointestinal tract.
Goose in apples
Apple goose is similar in appearance to the Cobra variety: wide at the bottom, it ends in a long, curved “gooseneck” (without a thickening at the end, which resembles the head of a snake).
The color of this species is dark green with white spots. This lagenaria is classified as tall, its lashes rise up to 15 m. The weight of one fruit is up to 1.5 kg, but some fruits can outgrow in productive years, gaining weight up to 8 kg.
Goose in apples is a productive variety with a long shelf life. The harvested September fruits will last until spring, retaining their color and taste.
Lagenaria clavidae
This variety does not like shaded areas. Having spread his long lashes, he is not averse to basking in the sun's rays. During flowering, the bush is strewn with white bells.
The vegetables themselves reach 2 m in length. This species got its name because of its resemblance to a mace - the elongated lower part smoothly turns into a narrow and long one.
How to grow it
Growing from seeds and seedlings, planting in open ground and care, ripening annual fruits - this topic captivates gardeners more and more every year. And it’s not surprising: high yields, shady arches of vines, and decorative value cannot leave even the most demanding gardeners indifferent.
Features of sowing seeds
Bottle gourd seeds are not similar in shape and structure to the seeds of their squash family. Square at the bottom and elongated in length, two light stripes along the seed are painted on them, as if with a thin brush.
Due to the thick skin, it is impossible to do without special preparation, otherwise lagenaria will take quite a long time to germinate. They speed up the process by cutting the top or soaking the seeds in a growth stimulant and then placing them in damp sawdust.Do not forget that the southern plant loves warmth, so the temperature should be at least 23ºС.
Planting seedlings in the ground
This method is suitable for the middle zone. Seedlings grown from April lagenaria seeds are transplanted into small holes, lightly covered with humus and wood ash. By the time of transplantation, young bushes reach 10 cm in height and are quite capable of growing in open ground.
When planting lagenaria in rows in open ground, the distance between bushes is usually from 30 to 75 cm. Do not forget that bottle gourd is a vine that will curl. Therefore, the need for support is inevitable.
Growing gourd pumpkin in a greenhouse not only brings the harvest time closer, but also helps protect it from early frosts.
Watering and care
The decorative vine will grow powerful and large only in a sunny place where there are no drafts. Only under such conditions can one count on a good harvest. In the shade, the leaves and fruits will be small. It will easily take root in neutral soil or slightly acidic soil.
Caring for lagenaria is simple: in dry weather it needs to be watered twice a week. After the fruits ripen, watering is stopped. As for feeding, it is quite possible to get by with mineral complexes.
To prevent the vine from growing too much, the lashes are pinched off. This procedure promotes the setting of female inflorescences, which produce a harvest.
Conclusion
This unusual multi-species southern culture never ceases to amaze with its unique forms, beneficial properties and wide application in various industries.
Unpretentious care, easy cultivation of lagenaria from seeds and seedlings, unusual inflorescences and fruit shapes, decorative vines - all this makes the vegetable popular not only among gardeners, but also decorators. Amazing fruits of various shapes are used not only by chefs, but also by craftsmen who turn the fruit into exquisite jugs and vases.