Did you know that Luffa is not a sea sponge? Until last year neither did we. Luffa (loofah, loofa, etc) are a gourd that grows in warm climates. We ran across some seeds and gave it a try. With the crazy weather this spring and early summer it was cooler than it normally is so we didn’t get as much growth as we would have liked.
They are also edible when young – supposedly like a zucchini – we had enough zucchini so didn’t try any.
However, we ended up with some nice plants with interesting blossoms and a few gourds and finished sponges. We were holding out for a longer fall to get a few more gourds, but only ended up with five we could use before the frost hit.
Luffa fruit needs around 120 days to mature and then another few weeks to get the tough inner fibers and dry on the vine. It takes roughly 150 – 200 frost-free days to accomplish this. It’s possible to work around it like we did to get these to dry inside before they are ready – but for best results those 200 days are important.
Mature fruit is roughly 24 inches long and grows on massive 20 foot long vines. The flowers are interesting and are quite pretty when they bud and bloom. These trellises quite well and it’s suggested to get better fruit in the end (avoids rotting in wet locations) For best results – Full Sun in warm conditions with well-draining soil.
Harvesting – In the fall the Luffa should turn tan and become lightweight with a dry hard shell – you should be able to shake them and hear the seeds rattle around. This is the marker that the fibers inside have dried.
Peel the outer skin, shake the seeds out, and then soak the Luffa in a 10% bleach solution for around an hour to clean it. Let them air dry (or put in a dehydrator with low heat) to cure the rest of the way.
Since ours didn’t have ideal condition this year – we pulled our more mature fruit early and let them cure for a bit in the house. When it seemed like enough cure time went by (one of them had started to go soft) Bridgett peeled them removed the seeds and let them dry.
As they didn’t get enough grow and dry time on the vine – the sponge itself is much finer than one would expect. However, we did determine that we can successfully grow them if the growing season is ideal. Definitely worth another attempt in 2021.
For more information – check out this article on Luffa.