Bottle gourd requires a minimum temperature of 180C during early growth, but optimal temperatures are in the range of 24–270C. The crop can tolerate low temperatures, but extreme cool temperatures will retard growth and frost will kill the plant. The plants are adapted to a wide variety of rainfall conditions. Bottle gourd tolerates a wide range of soil but prefers a well drained sandy loam soil that is rich in organic matter. The optimum soil pH is 6.0–6.7, but plants tolerate alkaline soils up to pH 8.0.