A Luffa is a tropical & subtropical vining plant related to pumpkin, squash and gourd. It is grown and eaten as a vegetable, but must be harvested at a young stage of development to be edible. The vegetable is popular in India, China, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Vietnam. Luffa is a very popular food item. There are various ways to prepare it including in soups or stir frys. Think of them as tropical courgettes.

When you let the fruit grow till its fully ripened, it becomes very fibrous. The fully developed fruit is the source of the loofah scrubbing sponge. Not to be confused with the sea sponge that is more like an animal than a fruit. This makes using a Luffa also vegan.

So, how do you actually grow your own, plant based, plastic free sponge?

I tend to start my luffa seeds in February as it has quite a long season for it to grow. I usually aim to start my seeds round valentines day to give the best head start. You can use heat mats and grow lights, I personally don’t use those and grow them just fine.

You’ll need:

• seeds
• Nail clippers or sharp scissors
• Damp (warm) kitchen roll paper
• Ziplock bag or lidded plastic tub
• Warm spot indoor (airing cupboard or sunny window sill)

1. Clip the smooth end of the seed, only a thin slither is needed. This is to let water get inside the hard seed shell and helps speed up germination.
2. Next put your clipped seeds in the damp kitchen roll and put inside your ziplock bag. Close it up and put in a warm spot
3. Check next day or day after to see if the seeds have germinated. Once you see seed roots and/or even some leaves poke out it’s time to plant them up into soil.
4. Use a 9cm pot (or a little bigger) and fill in with soil. Poke a hole with your finger and place the sprouted seed/seedling root down into the hole.
5. Gently press the soil and firm in & around the seedling and water well.
6. Keep indoors in a warm and sunny spot (a dome or upside down clear plastic tub can help create a mini greenhouse effect)

Tip: Try not to handle or touch the roots. They are very sensitive and fragile. Where possible use the seedling leaves or the actual seed casing to handle your seedling.

*More info for the plant profile check here -> Luffa Plant Profile (opens a new tab)

You’ll need:

• A big pot or space in a greenhouse in the ground
• Peat free compost
• Support structure like an obelisk

Once your seedlings have grown several true leaves

1. In a large pot place an obelisk, or make one out of bamboo canes and strong string, and fill it with soil
2. Plant out your seedling, I like to do it by each vertical of the obelisk so that the tendrils (little “arms” the plant grows to cling onto things) have a support at the ready
3. Whilst the luffa vines are growing, train your luffa plants up and around the obelisk. I tend to go one up, then left (or right) until the next one up. This one makes the most use of your supports.
4. Keep in a warm and sunny spot, greenhouse is best or bright sunny & warm space in the house should be fine too (like a conservatory) – luffas are, after all, a tropical plant so you want to create as close as you can to its natural surroundings.

Tip: When in doubt, it is best to wait until the last frost date has past in your area before you plant them outside. Greenhouse should be fine but you may want to fleece them if the night temperatures are still below 10°C degrees

Luffa is self pollinating, meaning that one plant produces both female and male flowers. As soon as there are flowers you will find 2 different kinds, both yellow and the female flowers have the fruit behind the petals whereas the male flowers just have a thin stem attaching them to the vine. To help things along and make sure you will have a luffa fruit growing, it is advised to help with the pollination.

• To make sure you have a pollinated fruit which will grow into your sponge you can help the process by taking the pollen from the male flower (stamen) and put them on the female flower (pistil)
• You can use a soft paintbrush or simply pick the male flower and rub the pollen onto the female flower’s centre
• Pollinators can come in and pollinate your flowers but, it is no guarantee, by doing it yourself you can be pretty sure you’ll have a pollinated fruit

Some fruit won’t take regardless of what you do to them, this is not your fault, it just happens. Sometimes you’ll only have male flowers for a week and no female flowers, this also just happens. Be patient, both types of flowers will come.

When your fruits are mature & ripe, you let them dry out on the vine. Stop watering the plants completely as this will prevent the drying process.

• Once fully dry, the luffa will have a hard crispy shell and when you shake the fruit you can hear the seeds rattling around in it
• Peeling is the fun part and the reward of all your hard work!

1. Simply gently make a dent in the top (there where it was attached to the vine) with your fingers and peel it off
2. Next you can now peel the skin off, some of it will come off as a whole, sometimes in little bits & stringy, just keep going
3. Make sure you remove all and any seeds that are in your luffa. There will be loads!
4. Once all the seeds are removed you can give them a quick rinse, then lay them out flat, not layered, onto a teatowel and pat them dry
5. Place on a clean & dry new towel and let them dry out completely, somewhere with good ventilation and out of direct sunlight
6. Next up is washing your luffa sponge. I tend to rinse mine under a running tap first whilst squeezing out any excess juices
7. Then wash it with some soap like fairy liquid and rinse very well after until clean water comes out
8. Let your sponges dry out fully before doing anything else with them

The options are (almost) endless.

1. You can use them as is in the shower (they’re great for lathering soap foam due to their fibrous structure)
2. You can cut them into little disks and use them in individual soap making, great to give as little gift or hand out to guests when they stay
3. You can carefully cut them open and cut the centre support out, sown it together like a square and you’ve got yourself a little dish sponge

I mainly use mine in a little soap as an exfoliator in the shower, the longer bigger chunks (or whole ones) as a bath sponge, and the flat square version for some dishes (like glasses).
The beauty of these things is that they don’t rot whilst you’re using them and once they’re tired and worn – I have yet to reach that point – they can go straight into the compost heap. Growing your own sponges is a sustainable alternative to shop bought sponges and once you’ve got your own sponge harvested, you’ll have seeds for the year after and after and many years to come.

 

Good luck and let me know how you get on growing your own luffa sponges. vind me on instagram via @cornerstonegardenlife and feel free to ask any questions should you have any ☺️