# Who wants to volunteer to grow a fig-leaf gourd accession for GRIN?
**URL:** https://goingtoseed.discourse.group/t/who-wants-to-volunteer-to-grow-a-fig-leaf-gourd-accession-for-grin/1047
**Category:** General Discussions
**Created:** [May 1, 2023, 9:22pm UTC](https://goingtoseed.discourse.group/t/who-wants-to-volunteer-to-grow-a-fig-leaf-gourd-accession-for-grin/1047 "2023-05-01T21:22:22Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 3
### Author:  [@DebbieA](https://goingtoseed.discourse.group/u/DebbieA)
#### Post date: [May 25, 2023, 3:11pm UTC](https://goingtoseed.discourse.group/t/who-wants-to-volunteer-to-grow-a-fig-leaf-gourd-accession-for-grin/1047/41 "2023-05-25T15:11:01Z")
Great that you found something that works for your daughter! One of the reasons I want landrace gardening to work for me is to reduce the amount of time needed to have a productive garden, leaving more time for family while still feeding them healthy foods. Good luck with your daughter’s continued progress.
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### Author:  [@UnicornEmily](https://goingtoseed.discourse.group/u/UnicornEmily)
#### Post date: [May 25, 2023, 3:23pm UTC](https://goingtoseed.discourse.group/t/who-wants-to-volunteer-to-grow-a-fig-leaf-gourd-accession-for-grin/1047/42 "2023-05-25T15:23:54Z")
Thank you! And yes, I completely agree! More time to spend with my family is a high priority.
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### Author:  [@Joseph\_Lofthouse](https://goingtoseed.discourse.group/u/Joseph_Lofthouse)
#### Post date: [May 26, 2023, 11:33pm UTC](https://goingtoseed.discourse.group/t/who-wants-to-volunteer-to-grow-a-fig-leaf-gourd-accession-for-grin/1047/43 "2023-05-26T23:33:38Z")
Great germination after ten days on PI-438572. Seven seeds went into that pot.
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### Author:  [@UnicornEmily](https://goingtoseed.discourse.group/u/UnicornEmily)
#### Post date: [May 27, 2023, 3:28am UTC](https://goingtoseed.discourse.group/t/who-wants-to-volunteer-to-grow-a-fig-leaf-gourd-accession-for-grin/1047/44 "2023-05-27T03:28:17Z")
Yay! 😃
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### Author:  [@Joseph\_Lofthouse](https://goingtoseed.discourse.group/u/Joseph_Lofthouse)
#### Post date: [May 30, 2023, 7:54pm UTC](https://goingtoseed.discourse.group/t/who-wants-to-volunteer-to-grow-a-fig-leaf-gourd-accession-for-grin/1047/45 "2023-05-30T19:54:07Z")
After 13 days, planted the seedlings into the soil of the greenhouse.
Germination of PI-438572 = 14/20 = 70%.
Nothing visibly germinated in the other accession.
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### Author:  [@kdurivage](https://goingtoseed.discourse.group/u/kdurivage)
#### Post date: [May 30, 2023, 9:07pm UTC](https://goingtoseed.discourse.group/t/who-wants-to-volunteer-to-grow-a-fig-leaf-gourd-accession-for-grin/1047/46 "2023-05-30T21:07:59Z")
Its been 15 days for me and i cant see any signs of germination😬 the corn that i planted in the same spots is germinating. I am still holding out hope that it will just be a slightly slower germination since i started them outdoors
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### Author:  [@UnicornEmily](https://goingtoseed.discourse.group/u/UnicornEmily)
#### Post date: [May 30, 2023, 9:30pm UTC](https://goingtoseed.discourse.group/t/who-wants-to-volunteer-to-grow-a-fig-leaf-gourd-accession-for-grin/1047/47 "2023-05-30T21:30:45Z")
Out of the ones I planted outdoors after seeing signs of germination, I now have four visible cotyledons, one of which now has a true leaf. #5-#8 haven’t popped up yet, and #3 barely popped up yesterday and #4 just appeared today. So, I think there’s a very good chance your seeds are growing roots and just haven’t put their leaves up yet. 🙂
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### Author:  [@Lauren](https://goingtoseed.discourse.group/u/Lauren)
#### Post date: [June 2, 2023, 3:04am UTC](https://goingtoseed.discourse.group/t/who-wants-to-volunteer-to-grow-a-fig-leaf-gourd-accession-for-grin/1047/48 "2023-06-02T03:04:13Z")
Are you still open to volunteers for this project? I have plenty of space.
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### Author:  [@UnicornEmily](https://goingtoseed.discourse.group/u/UnicornEmily)
#### Post date: [June 2, 2023, 4:02am UTC](https://goingtoseed.discourse.group/t/who-wants-to-volunteer-to-grow-a-fig-leaf-gourd-accession-for-grin/1047/49 "2023-06-02T04:02:38Z")
Sure! If you PM me your address, I’ll ask Bob at GRIN if he can send you an accession! (Do you want one, or do you have enough space that you could easily have the isolation space grow more than one?)
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### Author:  [@clweeks](https://goingtoseed.discourse.group/u/clweeks)
#### Post date: [June 2, 2023, 10:28am UTC](https://goingtoseed.discourse.group/t/who-wants-to-volunteer-to-grow-a-fig-leaf-gourd-accession-for-grin/1047/50 "2023-06-02T10:28:11Z")
I put 11 sprouting seeds in soil. None of them have popped above the surface. I’m worried something went wrong, but hoping they’re just slow.
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### Author:  [@UnicornEmily](https://goingtoseed.discourse.group/u/UnicornEmily)
#### Post date: [June 2, 2023, 7:53pm UTC](https://goingtoseed.discourse.group/t/who-wants-to-volunteer-to-grow-a-fig-leaf-gourd-accession-for-grin/1047/51 "2023-06-02T19:53:07Z")
I’m hoping they’re just slow, too. It may be that they’re good at growing deep roots before they sent up cotyledons. That can happen with squashes, and it’s common with varieties or species that are super drought tolerant.
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### Author:  [@Joseph\_Lofthouse](https://goingtoseed.discourse.group/u/Joseph_Lofthouse)
#### Post date: [June 9, 2023, 1:28am UTC](https://goingtoseed.discourse.group/t/who-wants-to-volunteer-to-grow-a-fig-leaf-gourd-accession-for-grin/1047/52 "2023-06-09T01:28:45Z")
After 23 days, the first seed of PI-532341 germinated.
Looks like a couple more may emerge soon.
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### Author:  [@UnicornEmily](https://goingtoseed.discourse.group/u/UnicornEmily)
#### Post date: [June 9, 2023, 2:14am UTC](https://goingtoseed.discourse.group/t/who-wants-to-volunteer-to-grow-a-fig-leaf-gourd-accession-for-grin/1047/53 "2023-06-09T02:14:29Z")
Woo hoo hoo! Congratulations! 🎉
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### Author:  [@Lauren](https://goingtoseed.discourse.group/u/Lauren)
#### Post date: [June 16, 2023, 11:06pm UTC](https://goingtoseed.discourse.group/t/who-wants-to-volunteer-to-grow-a-fig-leaf-gourd-accession-for-grin/1047/54 "2023-06-16T23:06:16Z")
I got 438571, wild, Guatemala, from 1979. The seeds appear healthy, none flat or cracked.
Apparently at some point they were stored in newspaper, because they still have black lettering on them. 🙃
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### Author:  [@UnicornEmily](https://goingtoseed.discourse.group/u/UnicornEmily)
#### Post date: [June 17, 2023, 4:35am UTC](https://goingtoseed.discourse.group/t/who-wants-to-volunteer-to-grow-a-fig-leaf-gourd-accession-for-grin/1047/55 "2023-06-17T04:35:21Z")
Hee hee, that’s a fun detail to notice. They look nice and healthy, especially for old seeds!
I asked Bob at GRIN how the seeds had been stored, because I was curious. He said this:
–
Hi Emily,
Those seed were initially stored at 4C (refrigerator) and about 25 years ago were moved to -20C (freezer). Under the correct storage conditions they remain viable for quite a long period of time (per your results). We have very little to no data on the storage life of those materials as there are so few seed remaining that there are not enough to use for periodic germ testing. Nice to hear that you recovered some plants.
–
So, cool! With them having been stored at such low temperatures, that’s a hopeful sign that all of the accessions we receive will have some viable seeds. 🙂
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### Author:  [@Lauren](https://goingtoseed.discourse.group/u/Lauren)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2023, 11:28am UTC](https://goingtoseed.discourse.group/t/who-wants-to-volunteer-to-grow-a-fig-leaf-gourd-accession-for-grin/1047/56 "2023-06-19T11:28:03Z")
We have germination, after 2 days in the bags. 8/20
I scraped the edges of 15 out of 20, but those not scraped have germinated at the same rate.
I noticed that a few of the seeds started showing “bruising” almost immediately. Basically they were absorbing the water very quickly.
I marked those with a small dot on the bags. It appears that 7 of those that have germinated were in that group.
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### Author:  [@Lauren](https://goingtoseed.discourse.group/u/Lauren)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2023, 5:27pm UTC](https://goingtoseed.discourse.group/t/who-wants-to-volunteer-to-grow-a-fig-leaf-gourd-accession-for-grin/1047/57 "2023-06-19T17:27:43Z")
14 out of 20 now.
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### Author:  [@clweeks](https://goingtoseed.discourse.group/u/clweeks)
#### Post date: [June 20, 2023, 9:09am UTC](https://goingtoseed.discourse.group/t/who-wants-to-volunteer-to-grow-a-fig-leaf-gourd-accession-for-grin/1047/58 "2023-06-20T09:09:16Z")
I think I have to conclude that I’ve killed all my plants. Nothing has come out of the soil even though they were growing when I buried them.
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### Author:  [@UnicornEmily](https://goingtoseed.discourse.group/u/UnicornEmily)
#### Post date: [June 20, 2023, 5:13pm UTC](https://goingtoseed.discourse.group/t/who-wants-to-volunteer-to-grow-a-fig-leaf-gourd-accession-for-grin/1047/59 "2023-06-20T17:13:53Z")
Awww. (Hugs.)
I got four out of twenty that survived. I think I would have had 8-12, but most of them got eaten by a swarm of pill bugs. (I have now thoroughly learned my lesson: mulch _only_ belongs on the soil _after_ seeds have germinated.)
I checked yesterday, and it looks like one of them may have died in the last few days. Aww! Hopefully it’ll recover, but it’s in a bad way. The other three all look good. I don’t think it was drought, because we’ve had really heavy rain _twice_ in the past week, and there’s mulch on the soil, and the soil is staying damp. Well, whatever the cause, I hope at least those three live, and it would be great if the fourth one recovers.
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### Author:  [@DebbieA](https://goingtoseed.discourse.group/u/DebbieA)
#### Post date: [June 21, 2023, 2:02pm UTC](https://goingtoseed.discourse.group/t/who-wants-to-volunteer-to-grow-a-fig-leaf-gourd-accession-for-grin/1047/60 "2023-06-21T14:02:56Z")
Hello, all. I need some advice. My plants are growing, albeit slowly. I had planted 2 seeds per hole thinking that there would be some loss. But all the seeds germinated and so there are two plants very close to each other in most spots. Some plants seem a little more yellow than others. The soil is a sandy loam and has not been amended. Our highs have ranged from the low 70’s to the upper 80’s, with light showers from time to time. I’ve been watering about once a week. In another post, @ThomasPicard mentioned that they like water:
> [@Fig Leaf Gourd, Chilacayota, Shark Fin Melon](https://goingtoseed.discourse.group/t/fig-leaf-gourd-chilacayota-shark-fin-melon/295):
>
> 2022-10-13T07:00:00Z (UTC) I know not everyone is a fan of Wikipedia, but I found this article interesting: It says that the seeds are fat- and protein-rich, while the flesh is low in vitamins/minerals and moderately high in carbs. The mature fruits are sweet and can be kept for several years without decomposing if kept dry! Might be good as part of an emergency stockpile? Hope someone will share seeds in the Fukuoka grab bag. Thomas P first year I cultivate them, so I still don’t know m…
Should I give more water? Some fertilizer? Should I thin to 1 plant per spot? In this instance, I assume that we are trying to get seeds without much selection pressure. Thanks for your help!
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