Learning how to harvest loofah actually requires the plant to produce fruit. Shocking, I know. We learned the hard way our first season that loofah (or luffa) is a tropical plant. This means loofah prefers a similarly warm and sunny growing season. One that we weren’t providing.
After that first year’s mistake, we’re so happy we learned how to save loofah seeds! Our primary mistake that first year? We tried direct sowing. The seed took a long while to germinate and then the vine grew like crazy. All the way up to the top of a nearby juniper tree! But it only produced a single blossom and zero fruit. Womp womp…
Yet we were determined to succeed, so last year we tried a different strategy. We started the seed indoors and planted the loofah plants in a much sunnier location. It took all summer, but we were thrilled to have three gourds that matured before frost. Since those plants had adapted enough to grow in our less than tropical zone 7b, we saved seeds from those three gourds to ensure an even better harvest this year.
So far this year our loofah vines are loaded with gourds! We’re excited to continue to be able to sustainably grow our own sponges for use around the house or for a little home spa treatment. One more baby step closer to self-sufficiency on the homestead.
Why save loofah seeds?
Before we get to how to harvest loofah sponges, a little background on why you want to save those seeds that pop out during the process. Loofah is a tropical plant that needs a very long growing season that is warm and sunny. As soon as there is a nip in the air and the first frost arrives, the vine dies off and any immature fruit are lost. Collecting your own seed also allows you to begin adapting a particular cultivar to your exact environmental and soil conditions. Our loofah plants have set fruit earlier each year as we’ve saved our own seed.
When to harvest loofah
Harvesting loofah is a balancing act. If at all possible, you want to allow the loofah to turn yellow and begin drying on the vine before the frost arrives. When you harvest before this point is a matter of your climate and preferences.
If you live in a very humid and/or rainy climate, you may need to harvest your loofah as soon as the skin turns yellow and feels loose enough to peel off the sponge inside. If you leave them too long in humidity or allow them to get wet during the drying process, the sponges will mold inside or develop black rot spots on the outside. Brown is good. Black is not.
Alternatively, you can allow the loofah to dry on the vines until they are brown and dry. The only con to this method is that the dry brown skin is so crispy that it flakes off in small bits during removal. Just takes a bit more time and patience to take off the sponge.
How to collect loofah seeds
Okay, you’ve harvested your loofah. Now it is time to shake and bang your loofah gourds to rattle the seeds loose from the interior. This is a great activity to incorporate your homesteading kids. Shake rattle and roll!
When you think you’ve shook all the seeds loose, the bottom of the loofah (side not attached to the vine) has a clever secret opening. Break off the little end bit, and pour the seeds into a bowl. You may need to shake the loofah a bit more to get some of the stubborn seeds to come out.
If you harvested your loofah a bit yellow, allow the seeds to dry for a week before storing. If you waited until the gourd was brown and crisp, you can skip this step. Place the seeds into a paper envelope, plastic ziploc or other container, then store in a cool dry place until next season.
Peel off the skin
Now it’s time to reveal the sponge within! If you chose to harvest your loofa before they turned fully brown, the skin should peel off in larger sections. If you happened to harvest them brown and crispy like we did last year, the skin will flake off in smaller pieces. Pro tip: the ridges have ‘strings’ that you can pull to help remove the skin.
Optional step for preservation
After collecting seeds and admiring your first naturally grown sponge, you can go right ahead and begin using it. However, we’d recommend soaking the sponges overnight in 10-1 bleach solution to help slow down decay. So far our sponges last nearly a year when we take this step for preservation. It’s totally optional, but we think it is worth the short wait!
Loofah can be used for so many tasks and chores around the house from cleaning to personal hygiene. We use ours nearly every day scrubbing dishes or exfoliating in the shower. Hope you love your first naturally grown sponge!
Want to learn more about saving seeds? Check out our other posts to help you save some cash on your next seed catalog order.
