Grow Your Own Loofah Seeds

Loofahs are great to use in soap making, for dish scrubbing, for back scrubbing and so much more! Vigorous, rapidly growing vines form gourds that can be harvested over a long time period, with the first harvest at about 60 days.

Our seed packets contain 20-25 seeds.

Instructions

Sow seeds five to six weeks before you intend to transplant them outdoors. Don't start them too early as over-mature seedlings won't transplant well. Soak seeds for 24 hours prior to seeding. Plant the seedlings outdoors in rich soil and full sun after the last spring frost. For direct sowing and areas that have longer growing seasons, wait until the soil warms to 60 degrees. Loofahs love to climb and look beautiful along a trellis. Water regularly.

Harvesting

Late summer, your luffas will turn from green to yellow to brown and become very light weight. When the skin feels loose, when your luffa is a mustard yellow color, they can be harvested. Peel the skin off and rinse the sap off with sink or hose water. You'll notice lots of new seeds come out of the bottom. You can leave the sponges out in the sun for a day or two to bleach them naturally. If they have dark spots, you can use a bleach/water solution to further bleach them. Dry thoroughly.