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Cucuzza squash is a productive and easy-to-grow vegetable that produces long slender fruits similar in taste and texture to summer squash. However, if left in the garden to mature, those fruits grow up to four feet long and can be dried and used for crafting or decor. In this article you’ll get all the details on planting, growing, caring for, and harvesting this incredible hardshell gourd.
What is cucuzza squash?
Cucuzza squash (Lagenaria siceraira), pronounced ku-koo-za, is a type of hardshell gourd that yields a generous crop of slender green fruits. It has several common names including snake gourd, serpent gourd, Italian squash, and gagootz and its relatives include cucumbers and squash. The plants form long vines that reach lengths of 20 feet or more! When picked immature, the squash are tender and have a slightly sweet taste. I start to harvest them when they’re about a foot in length for stuffing, casseroles, stews, stir-fries, and other dishes. Or let them mature in the garden and harvest the sizeable fruits for autumn decor or crafting. Full-sized cucuzza gourds grow 3-4 feet long and have a unique baseball-bat shape and pale green exterior.
Why should you grow cucuzza squash?
This is a fun and easy crop to grow, especially for kids! The vines are fast-growing and in July, August, and September the long, serpent-like fruits are perfect for the kitchen. Cucuzza is both an edible and ornamental gourd so any fruits that you don’t pick can be left to mature on the vines for autumn decor. After harvesting, I place them in a warm, dry spot for a few months to dry fully. You can use the dry gourds for autumn decor or paint them to look like snakes.
When to plant cucuzza squash
The biggest mistake gardeners make when growing this unique gourd is sowing the seeds too early. Cucuzza is a heat-loving crop and needs warm soil and air temperatures. Wait to direct seed or transplant seedlings until after the last frost date has passed in spring and the soil has warmed to 65 degrees Fahrenheit (18 degrees Celsius).
How to plant
There are two ways to plant cucuzza squash. The first is to direct sow the seeds outdoors in garden beds. The second is to start the seeds indoors under grow lights or in a sunny window. I start my seeds inside because I live in a short season climate and it helps ensure a good harvest before the growing season comes to a close. More on each of these planting techniques below.
Starting the seeds indoors
About a month before the last frost date, start snake gourd seeds inside. Don’t start them much earlier however, as the plants grow quickly and can overtake indoor spaces. This timing produces seedlings that are a manageable size and settle in well after transplanting.
Before sowing the seed indoors, soak them in water for 12 hours. This softens the hard seed coat to prompt germination. You can then plant them in cell packs, soil blocks, or 4 inch pots. If using containers, fill them with a lightweight seed-starting mix. Plant the pre-soaked seeds a half inch deep. Water well and cover with a humidity dome or a piece of plastic wrap to boost humidity. Place the trays or pots under a grow light or in a sunny window. I also use a seedling heat mat to speed up germination.
Germination depends on soil temperature and it can take 7 to 14 days for the seeds to sprout, sometimes longer. Once half of the seeds have germinated, remove the plastic dome or plastic wrap and turn off the heat mat. Promote healthy growth by leaving your grow lights on for 16 hours each day and maintaining a lightly moist growing mix.
About a week before you wish to transplant your cucuzza squash seedlings, harden them off to acclimate them to outdoor growing conditions. Snake gourds don’t like root disturbance so carefully slip the plant from its pot. Place it in the planting hole and gently refill with the excavated soil. Plant it at the same depth it was growing in the pot and then water well.
Direct sowing cucuzza squash
Sow the pre-soaked seeds in the prepared garden bed when the soil has warmed and the risk of frost has passed. Plant each seed a half inch deep. I plant two seeds close together with the intent of thinning to the strongest plant after germination. If I’m growing cucuzza squash on a trellis, I’ll plant a pair of seeds every 18 inches. If I’m planting in a bed where the vines will sprawl, space the seed pairs 3 feet apart in rows 6 to 8 feet apart.
The best site for growing this gourd
As noted above, snake gourds need heat to thrive, so find a sunny site that offers at least 8 hours of direct light each day. To stimulate healthy growth, amend the soil with two inches of compost or rotted manure. I also apply an organic all-purpose vegetable fertilizer to the bed when I plant.
Trellis options for cucuzza gourds
You don’t need to trellis cucuzza squash plants, but there are benefits to growing them vertically.
- Reduce disease issues – Growing up keeps the leaves off the ground and away from soil-borne diseases. It also improves air flow around and through the foliage. This helps the leaves dry off quicker after rain to further reduce the spread of plant diseases.
- Save garden space – Cucuzza squash plants have very robust vines that can grow twenty feet or more in length. Growing them up a trellis or fence looks great and frees up valuable garden space.
- Straight fruits – It encourages straight, blemish-free fruits. When grown on the ground, the fruits develop yellow or brown patches where they touch the soil. That said, if you’re growing cucuzza for mature gourds, letting the plants sprawl on the ground typically results in curled fruits which looks very snake-like.
There are many types of supports you can use for cucuzza squash including a chain link fence, wire mesh trellis, A-frame trellis, or cattle panel tunnel. The most important factor is strength because a mature vine is very heavy with its mass of foliage and ripening fruits. For this reason I like to use A-frame or wire mesh trellises made from 4 by 8 foot wire mesh panels.
Caring for the vines
These are relatively hands off plants, but there are a few tasks you can do to help encourage the most flowers and fruits. These including watering, fertilizing, and hand pollinating.
- Watering – To support their rampant growth as well as flower and fruit production, snake gourds need a consistent supply of water. I deep water the vines once a week if there has been no rain. Aim to give them an inch of water, and using a long-handled watering wand, direct the flow to the soil, not the foliage.
- Mulch – Applying a 3 inch straw mulch to the soil surface holds soil moisture and reduces the need to water. It also helps keep fruits clean if the plants are grown on the ground.
- Fertilizing – I incorporate an organic vegetable fertilizer into the soil at transplanting time. About 6 weeks later I’ll side dress the vines with another application of granular fertilizer. If you prefer, you can use liquid organic fertilizer like fish emulsion or fish and kelp emulsion. Follow the application instructions on the label.
- Hand pollinating – About two months after planting, the vines begin to produce pretty white flowers, which open in late afternoon and bloom through the night. I’ve found hand pollinating is the key to high production. Cucuzza squash plants have separate male and female flowers. It’s quick and easy to transfer pollen from a male flower to a female flower using a q-tip or small paintbrush. Hand pollinating is best done soon after the flowers open when pollen quality is high.
Harvesting snake gourds
The days to maturity for cucuzza squash is between 70 and 130 days and timing the harvest depends on how you wish to enjoy the fruits.
- For eating – Harvest the immature fruits starting about 70 days from planting. They’re best picked 12 to 18 inches in length when the skin is still thin. That said, I’ve also harvested when the squash are 24 inches long and they still cook up very tender. Just don’t wait until they’re fully mature and the skin has hardened.
- For decor or crafting – If you want mature gourds for decor or crafting, harvest at the end of the growing season. I wait until a few hard frosts have killed the vines and then clip the fruits from the plant using hand pruners. Leave a 2 to 3 inch long stem.
The young shoots and leaves are also edible and can be clipped throughout the growing season and steamed or sautéed for a delicious side dish.
Cooking cucuzza squash
I first discovered cucuzza squash as a vegetable when my mother-in-law made a big pot of a traditional Lebanese cucuzza stew with garlic, onion, fresh tomato sauce, and other vegetables. Another cooking method is to stuff the squash with rice, tomatoes, Italian sausage, extra virgin olive oil, and many, many cloves of garlic. Use this Italian summer squash in recipes the same way you’d use zucchini and yellow squash like crookneck squash. Quick dishes include sautéing thin slices, grilling the immature squash (brushed with garlic of course), or make a mouth-watering vegetable pasta (with fresh basil and parmesan cheese!). Gluten-free gardeners will appreciate how easily the tender squash can be turned into ‘noodles’ with a spiralizer and topped with favorite sauces.
Drying hardshell gourds
Use mature hardshell gourds fresh as autumn decor or dry them for crafting. Before I start the drying process, I wash the gourds with warm water and a bit of dish soap and dry them with a clean towel. Don’t try to dry damaged or immature gourds as they’re prone to rot.
Place the clean fruits in a warm spot away from direct sunlight. As they dry, they’ll turn from green to light brown and it’s normal for black mold to form on the outside surface. This process takes 3 to 6 months. I turn the fruits every few weeks to help ensure even drying. When the outside shell is brown, the fruit is much lighter in weight, and the seeds rattle when shaken, the gourd is fully dry.
Troubleshooting
I’ve found cucuzza squash plants to be relatively trouble-free, but there are a few issues to watch for. These include pests like squash bugs and cucumber beetles. Use row covers when first transplanting or direct seeding, removing the covers if the vines threaten to outgrow their protection or the flowers start to open. They need to be pollinated so covers must come off to allow for pollinators or hand pollination. You can also hand pick pests or use an insecticidal soap as needed.
Also keep an eye out for diseases like powdery mildew, downy mildew, and bacterial wilt. Good planting practices like crop rotation, proper spacing, and trellising plants go a long way to preventing diseases.
For more information on growing gourds and pumpkins, be sure to check out these articles:
- How to grow loofah gourds
- When to plant pumpkins
- When and how to harvest pumpkins
- Grow these awesome small pumpkin varieties
Are you interested in growing cucuzza squash next season?
