Cucurbita pepo Pear Bicolour - seeds

Cucurbita pepo 'Pear Bicolour' is an inedible squash used for decoration. Once dried, it can be stored for 6 to 8 months. With its yellow-green pear-shaped bicoloured fruits, this new variety, introduced in 2021, brings fantasy and originality to the already wide range of ornamental gourds. This climbing or trailing plant thrives in hot and sunny locations. Each plant can produce up to 50 fruits. Measuring 12 to 15 cm in length, their skin is smooth and forms a hard shell. It is sown and cultivated like pumpkins, squash, and other gourds.

Cucurbita pepo, in Latin, is an annual herbaceous plant that belongs to the large family of cucurbits. Like all squashes, ornamental gourds love the sun as well as rich and moist soil. Therefore, it is important to provide them with abundant water and well-decomposed compost or manure so that they can develop to their fullest potential and produce numerous fruits. Ornamental gourds have bitter, inedible flesh, but it is sometimes used in herbal medicine for certain medicinal properties. It is possible to collect seeds from mature fruits to sow them again the following year.

The 'Pear Bicolour' variety grows like a climbing plant, producing long flexible branches with tendrils that will wrap around the provided support (pergola, trellis, fence, arbour, etc.). Without support, they will spread on the ground.

The harvest: Harvested in September-October, before the first frost, Pear Bicolour gourds should be detached while keeping part of the stem. Stored in a warm and dry place, the flesh will dry out in a few weeks. The resulting dried fruits can be stored for several months, even until the end of the following spring.

There are numerous varieties of ornamental gourds and decorative squash for decorating the house or terrace with their unusual or amusing shapes, resembling pears, plates, spoons, or bottles, and their attractive colours remain decorative for a long time. Growing and harvesting these colourful mini-squashes is a great opportunity to introduce children to gardening.

Gardener's tip: Ornamental gourd fruits should remain on the plant for as long as possible, but bad weather can cause them to rot. In that case, you can dry them indoors by hanging them. They are generally vigorous plants with highly decorative fruits and flowers. Provide them with a vertical support for climbing, allowing their fruits to hang like lanterns. Gourds are prone to powdery mildew (a fungal disease that leaves a white powdery coating on the leaves). Be careful not to water the leaves or flowers and only give them necessary watering during the summer.