Paano Magtanim ng Upo: How to Plant Bottle Gourd the Traditional Way
Paano magtanim ng upo? Here is how traditional Filipino farmers usually plant upo (bottle gourd), step by step from getting the field ready to the harvest, with the day of each step and what to change for a higher yield.
This guide shows how traditional farmers usually plant upo. Use it as a starting point. For a higher yield, update it: plant certified seed or clean planting material, test your soil, and follow the right spacing and fertilizer.
How Filipino farmers grow upo on an overhead trellis, from sprouted seed in hills to young fruits cut about two weeks after they set. It is for small farms and backyards that sell or cook the young fruits and tops.
Before you plant, get the field ready with our land preparation guide for cucurbits. Then choose your seed or planting material with the upo varieties sold here. If the leaves turn pale later on, the upo nutrient deficiency guide helps you find what is missing. For more on the crop, read pagtatanim ng gulay, vegetables in the Philippines.
When to plant upo
Upo grows in both the wet and dry seasons but does best in warm, fairly dry weather. Wet season plantings go on ridges or raised beds with good drainage, since the vines dislike soggy soil, and dry season plantings need weekly irrigation.
What you plant
Seed, about 1 to 3 kg for a hectare. Farmers soak the seed in clean water overnight or up to a day, wrap it in a damp cloth in a cool, dark corner until the shell cracks open, and plant it straight in the hills. Hybrid seed is often raised in trays and transplanted about 15 days after it comes up.
Paano magtanim ng upo, step by step
Fruits reach market size about 15 days after they set, which is about 60 to 80 days after sowing depending on the variety. Picking then goes on every few days. The crop is ready about 65 days after sowing.
Before planting (Bago magtanim)
21 days before sowing: Plow and harrow the field
Plow 15 to 20 cm deep two or three times, a week apart, so weeds sprout and get turned under each time. Harrow after each plowing to break the clods.
2 days before sowing: Open the furrows
Make furrows 2 to 3 meters apart. In the wet season plant on the ridges or on raised beds and dig canals so water drains away.
1 day before sowing: Soak and sprout the seed
Soak the seed overnight in clean water, then wrap it in a damp cloth and keep it in a cool, dark place until the seed coat splits.
Planting day (Pagtatanim)
Sowing day: Fertilize and plant the hills
Put well rotted manure and about 20 grams of 14 14 14 in each hill and cover it with a little soil so it does not touch the seed. Plant one or two sprouted seeds a hill, about 1 meter apart along the furrow, and cover thinly.
Care while it grows (Pag aalaga)
Day 5: Replant missing hills
Replant hills where nothing came up within the first week.
Day 7: Water weekly and mulch
In the dry season irrigate the furrows about once a week. Lay a ring of rice straw at the foot of each plant so the soil stays damp and you water less.
Day 10: Build the overhead trellis
Build a flat roof about 2 meters high over rows 2 to 3 meters wide, on ipil ipil or bamboo posts, with tie wire or nylon twine woven across and along the top. Give each plant a pole or a string ladder to climb. Tip: In the wet season the trellis keeps the fruits off the ground, where they rot and grow crooked.
- Why the roof paysOn an overhead trellis the fruits hang straight and clean. In the rainy season it keeps them off the wet ground, so far fewer rot or come out crooked.
- Set the postsSet ipil ipil or bamboo poles along and between the rows so the roof covers rows about 2 to 3 meters wide and stands about 2 meters high.
- Weave a strong roofRun tie wire or nylon twine across and along the top of the posts, both ways, to make a strong net. It must carry the weight of many hanging fruits.
- A pole or ladder for each plantBeside each hill, set a single upright pole or a small ladder of sticks that reaches up to the roof, so the young vine has something to climb.
Day 18: Hill up
Between 15 and 20 days after the seedlings come up, push soil against the base of the plants and pull the weeds.
Day 20: Train and prune the vines
Tie the stem loosely to its pole until it reaches the roof. Remove side branches and female buds on the main stem below the roof, then cut the vine tip once it reaches the top so fruiting branches spread out.
Day 30: First side dressing
About 30 days after planting, put about 10 grams of urea at each hill, some 10 cm from the stem so it does not burn the plant, and cover it.
Day 35: Watch for beetles and fruit rot
Pick and crush the yellow leaf beetles, and some farmers dust wood ash on the leaves to keep them off. Collect and remove rotting fruits and keep the field clean. Tip: Upo flowers open in the late afternoon, so never spray then. The insects that pollinate the flowers come at the same time.
Day 40: Hand weed only
Once the vines bear, stop hoeing or plowing between rows so the spreading roots are not cut. Pull weeds by hand.
Day 45: Second side dressing
About 45 days after planting, give each hill about 20 grams of urea and 10 grams of muriate of potash, away from the stem, and cover it.
Harvest (Anihan)
Day 65: Cut the young fruits
Upo fruits grow fast, so walk the trellis every day or two. Cut fruits that have reached market size, about 15 days after they set, with a sharp knife, leaving about 5 cm of stalk.
Day 66: Pack without bruising
Line a bamboo basket with banana leaves and lay the fruits in it, then pack the good ones in plastic bags or crates for market.
Watering upo, stage by stage
Dry season upo is irrigated through the furrows about once a week, with a ring of rice straw at the foot of each plant so the soil stays damp longer. Wet season upo grows on ridges or raised beds with drainage canals and is watered only when the soil dries, because the vines dislike soggy soil. Furrow irrigation is the usual way in the dry season. Small growers water each hill with a can or a hose. Water in the early morning or late afternoon, at the base of the plant.
Flowering and fruit set, when dry soil drops the flowers. Fruit filling and picking, when the fruits grow fast and need steady water. Any time water stands: upo is sensitive to soggy soil, which brings disease.
| Stage | When | How often | How much |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sprouting the seed | 1 day before sowing to sowing day | Keep the soaked seed wrapped in a damp cloth in a cool, dark place until the coat splits | Damp, not dripping |
| Sowing to first leaves | Sowing day to day 7 | Plant into moist soil and water the hills by can if they dry before the seedlings are up | Moisten each hill, no puddles |
| Vines climbing the trellis | Day 7 to 40 | Irrigate the furrows about once a week in the dry season. Lay the straw ring at the foot of each plant. Water after the side dressing | Soak the rows, then drain |
| Flowering and fruit set | Day 40 to 65 | Keep the weekly furrow watering steady | A full soaking each time, never left standing |
| Picking | Day 65 to 100 | Go on with the weekly furrow watering while cutting fruits every day or two | A full soaking each time, drained off |
Without irrigation. A wet season crop on ridges or raised beds lives mostly on the rain. Dig canals so the water drains away, keep the straw ring around each plant, and carry water to the hills if a dry spell comes during flowering.
In the dry season. Irrigate the furrows about once a week, more often on sandy soil, and keep the rice straw ring at each plant so you water less. Water when the big leaves stay limp into the afternoon or the soil a few cm down is dry.
In the rainy season. Plant on ridges or raised beds and dig canals so no water stands. Upo is sensitive to too much soil moisture: the roots rot, the vines wilt and fruits touching wet ground rot.
- Too little water: Large leaves wilt and stay limp into the afternoon, flowers drop, and the fruits stay small, thin and slow to fill.
- Too much water: Leaves yellow, the vines wilt from rotten roots, and fruits rot at the blossom end or where they touch the wet ground.
To water better for a higher yield: A rice straw ring at each plant, or mulch along the whole row, keeps the soil damp and cuts the watering. Keep the watering steady through flowering and picking instead of soaking the field after a long dry spell.
Spacing, water and fertilizer for upo
Spacing
Furrows 2 to 3 meters apart and hills about 1 meter apart along the row, one or two plants a hill.
Water
Upo dislikes soggy soil, which brings disease, so wet season fields need drainage canals and ridges. In the dry season the furrows are irrigated about once a week, and a ring of rice straw at the foot of each plant keeps the soil damp longer.
Fertilizer
Well rotted manure and about 20 grams of 14 14 14 a hill at planting, covered with soil. About 10 grams of urea a hill at 30 days, and about 20 grams of urea with 10 grams of muriate of potash a hill at 45 days, placed some 10 cm from the stem. To read what a bag really gives, see our guide to fertilizer for this crop.
Care and harvest
Care while it grows
An overhead trellis about 2 meters high on ipil ipil or bamboo, with a pole or string for each plant. Vines are tied as they climb, the shoots and female buds below the roof are removed, and the vine tip is cut at the roof. Hilling up at 15 to 20 days, then only hand weeding once the vines bear. Yellow beetles are picked by hand, and some farmers dust wood ash on the leaves.
When and how to harvest
Fruits are cut about 15 days after they set, 60 to 80 days after sowing, with a sharp knife leaving about 5 cm of stalk. Because they grow fast the trellis is checked every day or two. Fruits are laid in bamboo baskets with banana leaves at the bottom, then packed in plastic bags or crates. Fully mature fruits with a hard rind are kept for seed or dried for containers and crafts.
Common mistakes when planting upo
- Planting on flat, wet ground in the rainy months, which brings fruit rot and dying vines.
- Spraying in the late afternoon, which kills the insects that pollinate the flowers.
- Hoeing between rows while the vines bear, which cuts the spreading roots.
- Letting fruits grow past market size, so they turn hard and do not sell.
- Putting fertilizer right against the stem, which burns the young plant.
How to get a higher yield of upo
The traditional way gets a crop, but small changes add up. These are the first things to change, one season at a time.
- Have the soil tested and feed by the result, with potash in the fruiting weeks.
- Choose a variety that sets fruit well in your season and that buyers in your market like.
- Hand pollinate in the late afternoon when few insects visit, to get more fruits set.
- Use yellow sticky traps and hand picking for leaf beetles, and remove rotting fruits every day.
- Rotate away from other gourds and melons so pests and soil diseases do not build up.
- Mulch every row with rice straw or plastic to save water and weeding.
anee.io helps with each of these. The NPK Plus calculator checks that your fertilizer plan feeds the yield you want, the pest and disease finders tell you what is on the leaves before you spray, and Anee, the smart farm technician answers your questions in Tagalog or English.
Members open this guide in the How to Plant tool and send every step to the Protocol Builder in one tap, each on its own day. There you can change the seed, the spacing and the fertilizer, then turn it into a cropping calendar for your lots.
Start from the traditional way, make it better, and let anee.io date every task from your own planting day. Free to start.
Start freeQuestions about planting upo
Paano magtanim ng upo?
When do farmers plant upo in the Philippines?
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How long before upo can be harvested?
How often do you water upo?
What do you plant to grow upo?
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