The planting distance of ampalaya (bitter gourd) is important to know how much spacing you need to apply in growing this vegetable. The distance between plants will help the plants to grow well. Keeping the plants with a little distance from other plants will help them to grow their vines and thrive well. The distance will give them enough space for growth. But how much space to apply.
Planting Distance Of Ampalaya (Bitter Gourd)
The planting distance of ampalaya (bitter gourd) is around 12 to 15 inches (30-38 cm) apart. The spacing is required to maximize the growth of the plant. Having enough planting distance creates a room for growth of the vines, leaves and roots. This makes the plant growth bigger and wider. Planting the bitter gourd too crowded should be avoided.
Directly On The Soil
Before you plant ampalaya directly on the soil you need to make sure you apply some distance for plant spacing. At first you find a place where to grow ampalaya. Next, you clean it by removing unwanted materials like garbages, grasses, big rocks and other matters. Then when the time has come you are ready to plant the seeds of ampalaya directly on the soil, you need to apply some distance. Plant the seeds around 1/2 to 1 inch deep on the soil with 12 to 15 inches (30-38 cm) distance.
If you have a little bit big land space and you can grow many ampalaya plants. You need also more seeds to sow. The distance is needed because once the plants started to grow, they will become bigger. Having a short planting distance for ampalaya will be a problem in the future once the vines grow bigger. So during the early stage of growing, the spacing is very important matter.
The spacing between the plants is applied when there are many plants planted. Sowing seeds with a little spacing will results to a crowded garden. But if you have a small garden space and you just grow one ampalaya (bitter gourd) then there will be no problem in terms of planting distance. Having more plants need spacing. More plants more vegetables to be harvested soon. Knowing the planting distance of ampalaya will gives a guide to new growers.
On The Container Or Pot
How much space for ampalaya (bitter gourd) planted inside the container or pot? A 5 gallon container is a litte bit small to grow many ampalaya plants. You can grow one to three ampalaya plants inside. Spacing will not be applicable because of container size. You can sow one to three seeds in the container and it will be fine. Growing more than three ampalaya plants is not recommended because it will make the plants crowded and they will not grow well.
There are several people who wants to grow ampalaya (bitter gourd) inside the container because of lack of gardening space. Spacing especially in the urban place have lack of space because there are many buildings, houses and the more areas are concrete. You will see more concrete than soil. So because of that, some people finds a way of making a garden by using recycled materials like containers or maybe buy some pots. They use the small spacing to grow ampalaya plant.
Growing the plant inside the container is great. The grower make holes under the container, fill it with soil and some compost and then sow the seeds and water it. After few days around 8 to 10 days the seeds will started to germinate and continues to grow until its maturity stage where it bears fruit. Growing ampalaya inside the container is fine but if your container is small then the soil inside probably will becomes dry quick compare to ground soil so watering should be more often. You will harvest the ampalaya sooner.
Distance From The House
What should be the distance of ampalaya plant from the house? 3 meters (9 feet) is a good distance for the ampalaya plant from the house. There are people who has one floor house and they grow ampalaya just beside them and its pretty fine. Since the one floor house is just short, it doesn’t block the sunlight. Growing ampalaya near the house is fine as long as it receives enough sunlight. But if the house is tall like its two or more floor then it can block sunlight, so you need to grow the ampalaya plant a litte bit far from the house.
The ampalaya plant needs to receive full and enough hours of sun to grow. You need to choose a good spot for planting ampalaya. If you grow it near the house make sure that the plant will also not block pathways. The plant will be small when young but it gets wider as grows older.
In the urban places, some people grow their plants on the top part of the house like the second, third, fourth floor. The sunlight is well abundant during the day on the spot and the plants really grow well. They grow the plant inside the container or pot and then place it on those floor. They make a garden on the top of their house. Its really fun to grow ampalaya. The ampalaya planting distance from the house can varies.
Benefits Of Having Enough Planting Distance For Ampalaya
Plants will not be crowded. The spacing will make the plants less crowded. It will give the plants freedom for their growth. They will grow bigger because of distance between the plants.
Prevent pest attack. Having a distance between other plants will prevent pest attack. Pests from other plants can affect your plants when it is too close to them. So when you place some distance away from other plants, the pest attack might be prevented. Also its great when your plants have no pest, it will grow well and healthy.
More flowers and fruits. If the ampalaya plants is growing healthy and thrive well then it can have more flowers and fruits. Seeing your plants have many flowers and fruits is great. It will be a good harvest season to come. The fruits will be show up sooner.
It will receive more sunlight. The distance also will help the plants to receive more sun. If there are no tall objects near the place where you grow the ampalaya then it can gets enough sunlight daily. Sun is a major food of this plant and when it gets enough sun, it will thrives well. Avoid growing ampalaya in well shaded area.
Executive Summary:
The planting distance of ampalaya is around 12 to 15 inches (30-38 cm) apart between plants. The spacing will help the plants to get enough sunlight, makes the plant thrives well, helps the root to grow and spread, prevent pest attack and help to produce more flowers and fruits. Distance from the house is around 3 meters (9 feet).
