My nephew Aussie and our giant New Guinea Bean last summer
New Guinea Beans (Lagenaria siceraria), are an ironic vegetable. They’re not from New Guinea but actually from Africa – and, they’re not even a bean! They are actually a climbing edible gourd or squash – a member of the cucurbit family. Its common name comes from a taste similar to green beans.
New Guinea Bean is a bottle gourd with creamy white flesh that is similar to a zucchini. They’ll grow over a metre long. However, if you want to eat them as a vegetable, you should harvest them when they are about 30 to 40 centimetres long. The fruit of the New Guinea Bean can be dried and the shell used to make objects such as musical instruments.
Cultivation of New Guinea Beans date to the late 16th century and the species is now considered a traditional Italian vegetable. Lagenaria siceraria, is also known as white-flowered gourd, calabash, bottle gourd, edible gourd, cucuzza in Italian, yugao in Japanese, lauki in Hindi and dudhi in Gujarati
The New Guinea Bean has a delicate white flower
New Guinea Bean plants are very vigorous. Last year, we grew them on our Giant Edible Trellis and they were the first plant to reach the top of the trellis. Following their showy display of large,scented, white flowers, they produce masses of tasty fruit.
They are a subtropical variety of squash, but they grow very well in Melbourne climates. You prepare and eat them in much the same way that you would a zucchini.
How to Grow New Guinea Beans in Melbourne
A well-drained soil needs to be prepared with plenty of compost and well-rotted manure. The plants are sensitive to frost. Hold off sowing the seed, until all danger of frost has passed, and the soil has warmed up. Wait until early November for most Melbourne gardens. You may be able to start at the beginning of October, if you have a warm microclimate. Alternatively, seeds can also be sown earlier in pots in for later transplanting when the soil has warmed up.
The new guinea bean won the race to the top of the Giant Edible Trellis last summer
The plants climb vigorously – even more so than Zucchni tromboncino plants. Sow them next to a large trellis or high fence, so that they have plenty of room to grow. They’ll naturally creep and climb. However, it’s a good idea to train them so you can direct the plant to grow where you want it to grow. Otherwise, it will take over your garden! They don’t seem to cope well with strong winds, so it’s a good idea to protect them with a windbreak, if winds are an issue for you. If you want to grow some nice, long straight fruit, then they will need to be able to hang straight down. I found that the fruit are easily marked if they rub against the trellis wires.
We didn’t have any problems with pollination last year, and the plants produced plenty of fruit, without the need for us to interfere in the pollination process.
The plants will benefit from being well watered and will need to be positioned where they get full sun.
We grew this New Guinea Bean last summer. It ended up growing a whopping 122cm long!
Are you having a competition this year? We have a 135cm cucuzza hanging in our garden
Hi Isabella,
What a whopper! We took a year off from running a competition this summer. We’re hoping to run it again next summer, so stay tuned.
Good Luck and Happy Gardening
Duncan
I have a great pant (first time grower) and it produced hundreds of females which didn’t continue to grow into mature fruit. Only 2 were successful over the summer. I even tried to assist with pollination. What have I done wrong? Thanks.
The New Guinea Bean is a sub-tropical plant. It grows a vigorous vine, but I’ve noticed that it likes lots of water to set fruit properly. The vines also set most of their fruit quite late in the season. Perhaps try Zucchini Tromoboncino next year, as they are better suited to our climate and far more productive for the same sized plant.
Good Luck and Happy Gardening!
Duncan
My new Ginea beans are running rampart but aren’t flowering ,not even a sign of flowers ,I’m running out of running place ,how big do they get before flowering
Hi Glendon, they do flower and set fruit late, and they do grow very big. We had ours grow over 2 metres up a trellis before they set much fruit. Hopefully with a bit of patience they’ll set some more for you. In our climate, I actually find the Zucchini tromoboncino just a vigorous to grow, but far more productive than the New Guinea Bean. Perhaps give them a try next year?
Good Luck and Happy Gardening!
Duncan
Interested in the seeds..How can i get one.
Hi Ian,
You could try an online seed supplier such as Diggers or Green Harvest.
Good Luck & Happy Gardening!
Duncan
Green Harvest, mail order seed supplier has seeds. They have a page on line.
We grow Trombonecinis and have planted New Guinea Beans for the first time this season. We store Trombonecinis to use in the winter and they last well if left to go brown on the plant. Do these Beans store well too or are they best eaten fresh. If they grow to full size I suppose no point in storing them if they are too big and inedible. There are only so many Musical Instruments you can make.
Im in Adelaide we dont get frosts on the plains.Will they keep flowering all winter?
Hi Geoff,
Thanks for sharing your experience with us. They don’t store well as an eating veggie. If you let them harden off like the tromboncinos then they go all fluffy inside. Best ot eat them fresh. They’re not that cold tolerant, so even without frosts I’d imagine they’ll soon by dying back.
Good Luck & Happy Gardening!
Duncan
Sorry I just posted a comment and forgot to tick the box for notification of comments. I have done so now.
Can you give me the nutritional profile, please. Thank you.
Hi Barbara,
We don’t have the ability to give you that kind of information. We just know how to grow them!
Good Luck & Happy Gardening!
Duncan
Hi how long does the plant grow for before dying?
Hi Amanda, it all depends on where and when you plant it.
Sowing seed in Melbourne in November, the plant is likely to grow until the weather turns cooler in autumn. The plant is definitely not as hardy as say pumpkins, so they will die off before your pumpkins will.
Good Luck & Happy Gardening!
Duncan
I’m in Adelaide and have the plants growing vigorously but no sign of fruit and the plants are starting to die off.
Hi Di,
They need a long, hot growing season. So they need to be planted very early in the spring for them to grow long enough to fruit.
Good Luck & Happy Gardening
Our neighbour grows these in Geraldton WA, once picked our lasted 2 weeks in the fridge even when cut…it lasted all week for us to make 4 dishes. It is a bit like a zucchini but a better texture and flavour. I peel it, slice, shallow fry in butter with onion, add red capsicum add hoisin sauce and cook until all tender – turn off heat and add baby spinach – serve topped with feta …. Even my husband, the “where’s my meat man”, loved it!
Ha… that’s great Leeanne… Glad the “where’s my meat man” loved it.
Thanks for sharing your recipe.
I’ve been given a few of these. Cooked some yesterday with garlic, leek & tomato + herbs. Very tasy. I’m wondering if the white seeds are also edible? Perhaps can be dried? Cooked like other dried beans? Made into hummus perhaps? OR are they poisonous? Does anyone know please?🙏
Hi Janet,
Yes, all parts of the New Guinea Bean fruit are edible. They are actually a gourd, not a legume, so the seeds are not true “beans”!
Good Luck & Happy Gardening!
Duncan
I was just wondering, I got about 200 seeds from a 5 foot gourd… I was given….amazing….
and someone asked if the seeds could be sprouted and eaten as sprouts.. ??? My friend didn’t know the answer!
…..I was also given 2 foot long ones……I made a lovely veg and lentil stew with one and a Jalfazee curry with the other..
the seeds in these 2 were white ….and the big one. Left a couple of months on the patio to mature, the seeds had changed colour …
I live in SE QLD….I did actually strike these and gave the plants away to friends ….it’s now early August and one plant I kept has suddenly jumped into life..I was away for 3 days and it grew about 4 foot ??
It’s about 6 foot long now, has about 10 flowers …alas all males…
Any comments about sprout to eat….if so it would be worth growing a few!,
Hi Joyce,
Thanks for your comments. It depends on which variety or species of gourd you have. Most of the cucurbit family are edible from the root to the fruit. However, occasionally you can have self-sown pumpkins or cucumbers with high amounts of the toxin cucurbitacin. This toxin can cause issues such as hair loss and symptoms similar to food poisoning. It’s fairly rare but we have had bitter pumpkins from self-sown plants in the past. Theseare likely to have been high in the cucurbitacin toxin. Other gourds are from the Lagenaria genus, which are also edible. As always with these things, you need to make yourself aware of the risks and ensure that you are comfortable with them.
Happy gardening
Duncan
Where can we buy the New Guinea seeds? Thank you!
Google is probably your best way of answering this question. My search resulted in quite a few options for you to consider.
Happy gardening
Hi, I would like to grow this to provide shade on the side of my tall pergola. How close should I space these apart?
Thankyou, from South Australia
Hi Danielle,
Great idea, I usually space them about a metre apart. Good luck with the project.
Duncan
Thankyou 🙂