How to to Grow and Make Your Own Loofa Sponge

A member of the Cucurbitaceae family, loofah, also called loofa or luffa, is closely related to other trailing vine gourds, such as watermelon and squash. Loofah is desired for its fibrous fruit interior, which is harvested for the production of organic exfoliating bath sponges. These sponges are found wherever health and beauty products are sold, but you can grow and make your own loofa sponges. The plant requires a long growing season with full sun and may not be well-suited for areas with short growing seasons. It is best suited for USDA hardiness zones 7 and higher.

Things You'll Need

• Trellis
• Nail file
• Digging tools
• Compost
• Mulch
• Garden shears or scissors
• Knife
• Hose
• Bucket
• Bleach
• Small rope

Instructions

Growing and Harvest

1. Scratch the seed coats lightly with a nail file and soak them in water overnight to speed up the germination process.

2. Plant the seeds 8 to 12-inches apart in rows or create hills spaced 4 to 6-feet apart and plant four seeds 1/2-inch deep in the hills. Plant the loofa by a fence or install a sturdy trellis onto which the vines and fruit can grow. Thin seedlings back to just one plant per space once they are an inch or two high.

3. Add organic compost for nutrients and mulch around the plants, leaving an inch or two around the stem free of mulch. Luffa requires a lot of nutrients to grow; mulch helps keep the soil warm to encourage rapid growth.

4. Train the vines to grow along the fence or trellis. As the vines get longer, simply wrap the ends around a post or push them through a hole in the trellis.

5. Pluck the first flowers from the plant and cut back the first four lateral branches so that fewer, better quality fruits are produced. This step may be skipped, but will likely result in many poor quality loofa fruits.

6. Cut a male flower off and rub it on the female flowers if you want to hand pollinate the flowers.

7. Clip luffa gourds from the vine toward the end of the growing season when the skin begins to brown; try to leave them on as long as possible so they are fully ripe. The gourds will weigh much less than they did before ripening and the skin may have started breaking open. Harvest all gourds immediately if frost occurs.

8. Peel back the skin to remove the fibrous fruit. If the skin hasn't started to peel on its own, slam and roll it on the ground to loosen the skin, and then puncture it with a knife.

9. Dry out the seeds and freeze them for use in the next growing season.

Making the Sponge

1. Spray the fibrous loofa fruit with a hose to wash away the sap and any remaining seeds.

2. Soak the loofa in a bucket of water with 1 cup bleach to remove dark spots and disinfect the loofa, if desired. Only soak them for as long as needed to remove the dark spots and then rinse well.

3. Cut the loofa down to different sizes, if desired, or leave it in its original shape.

4. Push a thin piece of rope or string through the fibers while the loofa is wet, if desired. This makes it easy to hang the loofa so it can dry out between uses.

5. Set the loofa out in the sun to dry, turning it occasionally until it is completely dry. The fibers harden as they dry, making a completely organic, exfoliating loofa sponge.

Tips & Warnings

• Try cutting slices of loofa and inserting them in soap molds to make exfoliating soap.

• Cut and discard any loofa gourds from the vine if you notice rotten, black spots.

References

• Luffa: How to Grow Luffa
• Luffa: How to Harvest Home Grown Luffa
• The University of Georgia: Luffa Sponge Gourd; Jack Arnott
• North Carolina State University: Cucurbitaceae (Vine Crops); Todd C. Wehner
• North Carolina State University: Commercial Luffa Sponge Gourd Production; Jeanine M. Davis; June 2008