Loofah vine

Has any one ever grown one before? I bought some seeds as I thought they'd be fun to see if I could actually grow a loofah out of it. Well I planted it on Saturday 17th January, the following friday (23rd January) it had just broken through the soil, its monday (26th Jan) now and its maybe 3-4" tall. I have another one sprouting but its only small still and another one which hasn't come to anything yet. The big loofah was in a 2" diameter peat pot and its roots are starting to stick through the pot already :).

I live in zone 8/9ish. I know I've planted them a bit too early (they've been in a propagator); it says if you live in colder regions to plant them and allow them to grow indoors first before allowing them to go outside.

I'm just wondering if anyone has any tips on how to care for it? And once its been planted does it come back every year? or will I need to plant a new plant every year?

I'll try and upload photos as well; I've been taking them on my phone to keep a mini record of it (that is once I ever figure how to get the photos off my phone).

(http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/957/)
I'll be trying to grow this too this year. :)

I'll let you know how mine get on. The big one is about 5 inches now. It's too big for my propagator. The little one is still quite small; it's growing but slowly and not at record pace like the first one. The 3rd one I planted still hasn't broke out of its shell yet.

Please do let me know how they turn out. I love these sponges but hate the prices they charge. So amused when I leared you could grow them:)

I was amused also haha. I was looking at "fun seeds for kids" when I found them :-)

I cant remember what I was looking at that they came up. If all goes well, next Christmas everyone is getting sponges and soap infused sponges. When my sisters honey found out I was going to grow them he started begging right then:).

I think it may be too cold here to actually get any loofahs but I'll be keeping my fingers crossed I at leat get one!

I'm planning on growing them, too. I've seen pictures of the soap filled sponges, sliced and wrapped pretty with celophane and a ribbon. Very pretty!

I think I remember them being an annual.

I'll keep my fingers crossed for you too:). I think if you can start them early enough it should be ok.

Remember these are quite edible, used to be popular in the southern US as vine okra, but more popular as an Asian vegetable. If you can grow bottle gourds like birdhouse, you should be able to grow them. There are quite a few cultivars, but most of them are only available from Asian seed vendors. http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/adv_search.php?searcher%5Bcommon%5D=sponge+gourd&searcher%5Bfamily%5D=&searcher%5Bgenus%5D=&searcher%5Bspecies%5D=&searcher%5Bcultivar%5D=&searcher%5Bhybridizer%5D=&searcher%5Bgrex%5D=&search_prefs%5Bblank_cultivar%5D=&search_prefs%5Bsort_by%5D=rating&images_prefs=both&Search=Search&offset=20

Depending on how they do I might actualy try eating them. Lol. I'll probably leave them all for sponges, thinking I want lots, and end up with a house full.

I'll aim for sponges too I think. I did know you could eat them but personally I'd rather use them as a sponge. I'll just have to wait and see how they get on.

My big loofah plant has been taken out of the propagator it was in (its maybe 5-6" tall now) it's slowed down stastically; the smaller one is maybe 4" and the 3rd one still hasn't sprouted. I think I did see a slight crack in the shell yesterday when I looked. I'm going to pot the two loofahs into bigger pots next week (they are in 2" peak pots at the minute). Hopefully they'll grow a lot more before I plan on putting them outside.

Duchessdreams - if yuo get lots of sponges remember you'll get lots of seeds - so you'll be sorted for a lifetime supply of loofahs haha.

I did find a good site which told you a bit about loofahs; since I don't know how to link it properly I'll just add it here and if you want to look you'll have to copy and paste it.
http://www.luffa.info/

Lol. I'm actualy trying to only plant open polinated this year. I really don't enjoy shelling out tons of money for seeds.

Your link worked just fine:). I'm off to check it out.

Have a question? Are you talking about the Loofah gourds? If so they are easy to grow. It takes some work to clean it up for use but is fun.

Yea loofah gourds. Have you grown them cando1?

I'm pretty new to gardening and haven't grown the loofahs myself, but my dad grew them for years and years along his backfence in Waco, Texas. We have always enjoyed them as sponges. LiseP

LiseP did you dad need to do anything special for them? Or was it just a case of planting them and basically leaving them? Thanks


An update on how my two are going so far; since being taken out of the propagator the big one has stopped growing really; it's still growing but really slowly. I think I accidentlaly killed the smaller one; I put a cane in it to steady it and accidentally squashed the plant with an orchid holder :(. The 3rd one - is still in seed form. I'm thinking of planting another one so I can have two - just in case.

I don't think he did much of anything to his loofahs. They'd climb the back fence and the gourds would hang there for weeks until he got around to picking them. I think that if he shook them and they rattled (seeds), he'd know they were dry enough to peel. Sorry I don't know more. He had one heck of a garden but I didn't have a garden of my own when he was alive, so I never asked him specific questions about how he did things. Sure wish I did!
LiseP

Thanks LiseP :-)

Poor vine:(. I hope it recovers. In general I try not to add suports after the plant gets going, so easy to damage the roots or do just what you did. :)

Well I have one loofah vine growing well. It's taken ages to get to the size it is, but it's really sprouting now. It's still indoors, I'm going to start hardening it off for a while before I take it outside; how to I begin to harden it off? Do I just take it out for a few hours at a time?

I always mean to harden my plants very gently. Couple hours at at time slowly introducing more sun. I usualy manage for a couple days then forget. They'll be ok as long as they have some protection from the hotest sun, wind, too cold, and don't let them dry out. The drying out is usually my big problem.

I live in Missouri and successfully grew Loofas one year. I planted the whole package and had Loofa sponges for my entire family, friends with still some to spare. It's been 5 years now and I still am using the Loofas I planted. Love this plant and very easy to grow!

I have several vines growing with small flowers just starting. My luffa's are open pollinated* heirlooms from bakercreek so i plan to save seeds for next year. Provided all goes well....

This message was edited Jul 30, 2011 11:17 PM

Glad I ran across this thread. I plan to purchase some seeds and try growing loofas next year. My 11-year-old granddaughter loves to have a garden project with me each year (this year is was sunflowers) so this should be perfect!