Luffas really do not like their roots handled or disturbed. Being able to pot them up to the next size without doing so seems near enough impossible at times. But, we can do it! By gentle pricking them out of their current bit of soil and gently teasing them into their new (or even forever) home. I don’t know what it is about Luffa that makes them such drama queens, but over the years I’ve found that transplant shock can really set them back to a slow grow.

Gently pry your seedling out of their current container and fill a next size pot up with peat free multi purpose compost (or your favourite go to), tap the pot once or twice with a bit of force to remove any air pockets and poke a hole in the centre, big enough to lower the roots of your seedling into. When doing so make sure you very gently fold and tease the roots into the hole with use of a toothpick, dibber, pencil, fine brush – whatever works for you, fingers might be a bit blunt for this delicate task but I won’t stop you 😉

Once the seedling is in place you’ll top up the soil and gently press around the stem so the seedling makes contact with the soil. To help yourself you can fold the leave upwards together so you can put soil around the seedling a bit easier.  Give the pot another tap or two to remove any air pockets, give it a water – you can do a strongly diluted seaweed feed with this step to help minimise transplant shock and to give it a boost – and your done! Remember to keep them cosy and warm inside in a sunny spot.

After transplanting to bigger living quarters you will still want to keep them inside. If you’re growing them for in your greenhouse, make sure the inside temperature of your greenhouse is steadily above 10°C, if planting outside definitely wait until all risk of frost have past and night temperatures are consistently above 10°C. For example my last frost date lie between 1 & 10 April but there have been ties I had frost at the beginning of May.

What are seedling leaves?

Seedling leaves are the first leaves that emerge from a sprouted seed. As well as roots growing into the soil you’ll find little leaves coming out above the ground. These little power houses are called “Seedling leaves” or “Cotyledon”. Cotyledon are a significant part of the embryo within the seed of a plant – and is formally defined as “the embryonic leaf in seed-bearing plants, one or more of which are the first to appear from a germinating seed.”  Seedlings with two embryonic leaves – like the Luffa – are termed dicotyledonous (“dicots”).

“In the case of dicot seedlings whose cotyledons leaves are photosynthetic, the cotyledons are functionally similar to leaves. However, true leaves and cotyledons are developmentally distinct. Cotyledons form during embryogenesis, along with the root and shoot meristems, and are therefore present in the seed prior to germination. True leaves, however, form post-embryonically (i.e. after germination) from the shoot apical meristem, which generates subsequent aerial portions of the plant.”

*Cotyledon info taken from Wikipedia

This is why it is so important to never handle delicate seedlings by their stem, true leaves (particularly the smallest and newest) or roots. They are meant to outgrow their seedling leaves, so any damage to those will not kill off your plant. Accidentally snapping the stem, breaking off main roots or even the latest smallest true leaf can break the growth cycle and have it die off as the growing tip has been damaged beyond repair.

Handle seedling leaves only – where possible.

Luffa is a genus of tropical and subtropical vines in the pumpkin, squash and gourd family (Cucurbitaceae).  They are a tendril-climbing vine with rough-textured, maple-shaped leaves that are up to 25cm across in width. The vine can grow up to 2.5 – 4 metres long with a width/spread of 50cm – 1 metres per plant.

With that in mind you might want to consider a strong support system for your luffa plants. Not just for the vines to stay in check and climb up and around on but also to be able to bear the weight of the Luffa fruits. Before they ripen into lightweight sponges, a Luffa fruit can easily weigh a kilo – or more! Growing a vining plant up a support will save you precious ground space too.

I’ve always used a metal garden obelisk for my Luffa growing in the greenhouse and this year will be no different. You can get them fairly cheap at various places. What will be an addition to my support system is a bamboo obelisk with metal wire and bamboo straws I had lying around for the outside Luffa. I’m choosing bamboo because I live near the coast and the salty air and mists just go through the metal I have outside. I have found that the bamboo canes I’ve got outside have lasted way longer, even when stuck in the soil. If you don’t have a surplus of bamboo straws, you could cut some bamboo canes in equal pieces, just make sure they’re hollow all the way through.

Another one I’m adding to the lot is a bamboo and braided garden twine obelisk. I’m braiding three strands of strong garden twine together to create a thicker, softer on the plants, and stronger cross bar system for the Luffa to hang off of. I’m thinking of adding metal wire to the strands to help with strength and durability. I’ll make tutorials for both should you want to have a go yourself.

In the next phase we will be looking after our Luffa plants by identifying what are the male & female flowers, what we can feed the plants, when to water, when to plant out etc.

• You may very well have several female flowers at first and no male flowers, or the other way around. Please do not worry, both will appear when all the conditions and timings are right.
• We will cover how to pollinate your Luffa and how to keep training them up and round your trellis/obelisk.
• I will talk about feeding your Luffa and what I like using myself.

Good luck until next time!