Enhancing performance and profitability of bottle gourd (<i>Lagenaria siceraria</i>)  through growing methods and bio-regulators in semi-arid region

This study investigated the effects of different treatment combinations of growing methods (vertical and horizontal) and foliar applications of bio-regulators (control, NAA at 200 ppm, GA3 at 150 ppm, ethrel at 200 ppm, and salicylic acid at 150 ppm) on the yield, quality, and profitability of bottle gourd under semi-arid conditions. Results revealed that the vertical trailing system significantly enhanced various growth and yield parameters, including vine length (70.12 cm), number of nodes (25.86), number of leaves (24.73), leaf area (518.18 cm²), fruit length (17.70 cm), number of fruits per vine (4.08), fruit weight (0.78 kg), fruit yield per vine (3.19 kg), total soluble solids (TSS) (3.96%), total sugar (3.07 g/100g), crude protein (0.51%), and ascorbic acid (11.72 mg/100g). Among the foliar treatments, GA3 at 50 ppm demonstrated significant improvements in vine length (67.83 cm), number of nodes (25.76), number of leaves (24.30), leaf area (523.14 cm²), fruit length (17.92 cm), number of fruits per vine (4.13), fruit weight (0.77 kg), fruit yield per vine (3.16 kg), TSS (3.91%), total sugar (3.08 g/100g), crude protein (0.52%), and ascorbic acid (11.44 mg/100g). Additionally, this treatment resulted in greater net returns compared to the control. The findings highlight the potential of vertical cultivation and GA3 application as effective strategies for improving bottle gourd production in semi-arid regions.