September 2021 | Volume 37 | Issue 3 | Page 747 Sarhad Journal of Agriculture Research Article Introduction I n Pakistan, traditional system of growing is used for seed production of ridge guard in which vine are allowed to spread on the soil, resulting in fruit decay and disease infestation as the fruit has to stay on ground till maturity (Kalyanrao et al., 2012). In horizontal planting system, more spacing is required for the plant growth, vine are usually damaged during diferent cultural practice, so yield and Abstract | An experiment on “Impact of growing methods and direction of sowing on the growth and seed production of ridge guard (Luffa acutangula Roxb)” was conducted at PARC-National Tea and High Value Crops Research Institute, Shinkiari, Mansehra, Pakistan during the months of April-September, 2019. Te experiment was laid out in Randomized Complete Block design (RCBD) with split plot arrangement having three replications. Tere were 45 plants in each replication. Te treatments comprises of two growing methods i.e. vertical growing method and horizontal method which was assigned to the main-plot and two direction of sowings i.e. east to west and north to south which were allotted to the sub-plot. Te results of the experiments revealed signifcant variation among studied parameters. In case of growing methods, maximum vine length (4.55 m), number of leaves vine -1 (41.22), number of fruit set vine -1 (4.04), fruit weight (2.23 kg), fruit length (41.63 cm), number of seeds fruit -1 (648.83), seed weight fruit -1 (86.66 g) and seed yield (290.33 kg ha -1 ) was obtained from plants which were trained vertically whereas minimum vine length (4.16 m), number of leaves vine 1 (33.49), number fruit set vine -1 (3.49), fruit weight (1.88 kg), fruit length (41.63 cm), number of seed fruit -1 (470.00), seed weight fruit -1 (67.60 g) and seed yield (212.83 kg ha -1 ) was recorded from horizontal growing method. In case of direction of sowing, maximum vine length (4.44 m), number of leaves vine -1 (39.14), number of fruit set vine -1 (3.86), fruit weight (2.19 kg), fruit length (46.57 cm), fruit width (9.87 cm), fruit cavity (7.33 cm), number of seeds fruit -1 (584.00), seed weight fruit -1 (80.83 g) and seed yield (257.50 kg ha -1 ) was recorded from plants which were planted on ridges in East to West direction. Whereas, minimum vine length (4.27 m), number of leaves vine -1 (35.57), number of fruit set vine -1 (3.68), number of fruit rot vine - 1 (1.44), fruit weight (1.92 kg), fruit length (43.46 cm), fruit width (9.80 cm), fruit cavity (7.23 cm), number of seeds fruit -1 (534.83), seed weight fruit -1 (73.50 g) and seed yield (245.67 kg ha -1 ) was obtained from plants which were planted in north-south direction. Te fndings of the present trial indicates that vertical growing method in combination with east to west direction of sowing suited best for seed production of ridge guard. Imtiaz Ahmed*, Naveed Ahmed, Abdul Waheed, Muhammad Abbass Khan, Noorullah Khan and Fayyaz Ahmed PARC-National Tea and High Value Crops Research Institute, Shinkiari, Mansehra, Pakistan. Received | December 02, 2020; Accepted | February 16, 2021; Published | June 19, 2021 *Correspondence | Imtiaz Ahmed, PARC-National Tea and High Value Crops Research Institute, Shinkiari, Mansehra, Pakistan; Email: horticulturiest126@yahoo.com Citation | Ahmed, I., N. Ahmed, A. Waheed, M.A. Khan, N. Khan and F. Ahmed. 2021. Impact of growing methods and direction of sowing on the plant growth and seed production of ridge guard (Luffa acutangula Roxb). Sarhad Journal of Agriculture, 37(3): 747-753. DOI | https://dx.doi.org/10.17582/journal.sja/2021/37.3.747.753 Keywords | E-W direction, N-S direction, Vertical trailing seed quality, Seed yield, Ridge guard. Impact of Growing Methods and Direction of Sowing on the Plant Growth and Seed Production of Ridge Guard (Luffa acutangula Roxb)