How To Harvesting Loofah Gourds; Loofah Sponges
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Harvesting Loofah Plant Gourds
After a season of growing a loofah plant I find harvesting loofah gourds exciting!
But I have to admit the most exciting part of the harvest is harvesting the sponge! More on that later.
Loofah plants are best grown on a sturdy fence or some type of trellis.
I started my loofah plants from seed indoors March 17, 2019 and transferred them outdoors May 5, 2019. If you are interested in growing loofah sponges see my article on How To Grow Loofah Sponges.
End of Growing Season
Depending on which Plant Hardiness Zone area you live, towards the end of the season, like late summer, the loofah plant may begin to look stressed like the photo below. If you can, leave the gourds on the vines until ready to harvest.
Loofah gourds can be left on the vine to dry until ready to harvest unless you live in an area where temperature drop below freezing.
Since loofah plants are a tropical plant they will not tolerate cold temperatures.
Therefore, if you live in an area that calls for frost it will be necessary to harvest the gourds before they have a chance to dry on the vine.
I live in Zone 6 and am unable to leave the gourds on the vine to dry so I will be sharing my experience.
Inspecting Loofah Plants
The loofah plant grows vigorously during the hot summer months and may not produce fruit until the later part of the season.
I check on my plants quite often and am always very surprised when I come across a large gourd. This loofah gourd was nearly 17″ long.
Gourds Buried In The Foliage
Don’t be surprised if you come across some hidden gourds. It is bound to happen.
I wish all my gourds were this size. The large gourds make nice loofah sponges.
Harvesting Loofah Gourds
If you live in a warm climate like Zones 8 through 12 you can leave the gourds on the vine until they dry out.
I can’t say how long it takes for the gourds to dry out while still on the vine because I live in Zone 6.
We usually have a frost or freezing temperatures as early as mid to late October therefore, I have to harvest the gourds early. Or, at least before temperatures drop below 32 degrees Fahrenheit even if it is for one night.
Tools Needed For Harvesting Loofah Gourds
- Sturdy ladder
- Wagon or wheelbarrow
- Bypass Pruner’s
If you are harvesting gourds from a trellis you may need a ladder and a wagon to carry the gourds back to the house.
Be very careful when harvesting the gourds. Use the pruners to cut the stem of the gourd away from the vine.
Gently place the gourd on the ground or in the wagon. Never drop or toss the gourd on the ground as it may just snap and break in half.
These are all the gourds I got from two loofah vines on the trellis. The smaller gourds are not ideal for sponges as they are not mature enough.
I do encourage you to go ahead and keep the smaller gourds for the first year’s pickings just so you can see how they turn out.
You see, the smaller gourds could be used for cooking. I have not tried that yet but for my second year I definitely will. I’ll be sure to post a recipe when I do.
Drying Loofah Gourds
The next step is to dry the loofah’s. I placed a piece of brown builders paper on top of a table and then placed the gourds on top of the paper to dry for several months. Maybe three months at the most.
Be sure there is good ventilation or the gourds may get moldy. You may want to consider having a fan blowing on or near them just for that reason.
When I placed these gourds on the table in October they were all green. The majority of the gourds were dried by January. So, how long it takes for them to dry? It really depends on the moisture content of the gourds. But three months is about how long it took my gourds to dry.
When the gourds are dry it is time to make sponges!
The gourds are very brittle so take care not to squish them or they will break.
I do encourage you to shake them and you will hear all the seeds inside.
Remove Seeds
I recommend removing the seed before moving to the next step.
Gently pull ends off both ends of dried gourds and shake out as many seeds as possible and set aside.
Place gourds in a tub of tap water (a sink works well too) until the skins pull away easily. This may take 15-25 minutes.
Gently remove skin from loofah and discard. Place loofah sponge aside and continue removing the rest of the skins.
Note: While removing the skins from the smaller loofah’s it may be necessary to cut the undeveloped ends off. Those will end up being little sponges. Wink Wink!
Inside the sponge there may still be seeds. Just leave them be.
If the sponges are too dark to your liking you can place them in the tub of water and spray them with a little Clorox Clean-up, let them soak for about 5 minutes and then rinse well with tap water.
Arrange loofah sponges in an area where they can be dried out completely before storing.
Tip: Save the seeds for your next years planting.
Uses For Loofah Sponges
What I like best about using a loofah sponge is that it is all N-A-T-U-R-A-L!
It’s so natural that when you are done with it you can toss it in the compost and give it back to our Earth!
So what can you use a loofah sponge on?
- Use it in the shower or tub as a scrub brush to exfoliate your skin
- Be crafty and make pretty DIY soaps with slices of dried loofah sponges
- Use them in the kitchen to clean dishes
- Use loofah sponges on anything you would use scrub brushes on
- Possibilities are endless
How To Get Seeds
If you are wanting to grow your own loofah plants you’re in luck as I can offer my heirloom seeds to you!
Seeds are carefully packaged in a zip-lock baggie and shipped standard mail within 2 business days after payment. Check out my on-line store to get your seeds here.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR INTEREST IN HARVESTING LOOFAH GOURDS. I HOPE MY JOURNEY IN GROWING LOOFAH SPONGES HAS BEEN HELPFUL TO YOU.
How To Grow Loofah Sponge Gourds
Find out how to germinate and successfully grow loofah plants from seed here.
May I interest you in some of my recipes? Click here
8 Comments
Lisa Burris
This is our first year growing loofahs. We did not know it was possible!! Ours are 8 to 15 inches, but thinner and a lighter green. Fruit just formed 2 weeks ago. Ours are in pots, and appear to be primarily from one of the 10 vines, and I’ve only found 7 so far, but I’m hopeful. Flowers only appeared 3 weeksago. We are in zone 9 and hope to dry them on the vine. I plan to stop watering when they begin to dry out. It’s a plan based on winging it!
It’s a fun experiment. I make soap, so this seems to be a natural progression in my search for hobbies!
I appreciate your sharing, and hope you’ve continued during the pandemic, and are doing well!!
Newbie loofah gardener in Modesto, CA.
Jett
Congratulations on your successful loofah crop. My plant this year just started taking off about two weeks ago too. You will find as the nights get cooler the plant will really begin producing flowers and fruit. I counted about 5 good sized loofah gourds with a total count of 35 still growing. I’m sure you will be surprised of your finds. I just experimented with making a batch of soap with loofah sponge. I’m sold! You will be too!
Michelle Mclaughlin
I wished I would’ve happened upon your post prior two grown by loofahs for the first time. I’m in zone 7, and I was trying to figure out how to get them dried out. The plant produced so many I might’ve had 30 of them at one point. I made the mistake of putting some too close together in a box so there wasn’t sufficient air so I did lose a few but I have a lot.
May I ask if you know why did I plant white seeds but the loofahs produced black seeds.
Jett
Hi Michelle: Normally the white seeds are immature and do not germinate well. I wonder if the seeds you had were genetically altered. I don’t keep the white seeds so I don’t know what the germination rate would be. I know this is not much information but I hope this helps.
Veronica Edgell
I am nearing the end of the growing season and have been quite successful having got 4 loofahs going, one very big and the others smaller. I am waiting now for them to dry out, but it has been fun growing them and this post has been very informative thank you.
Jett
Hi Veronica: Congratulations! I’m glad this post was helpful to you. Happy harvesting!
Tiffany
My loofah was just strating to “give up”, but still on the vine. (I live in South Txas). We had a freak 3 day freeze and it’s officially “off the vine” now, but has some dark spots on the outside (poss mold?). I have it in the sun to finishing drying, but what about the possible mold??
Jett
Hi Tiffany: If the loofah gourd got frost bitten then the skin may have become soggy to the touch. And if you are seeing dark spots that very well may be mold. I had about six of mine in the garage drying out and the temperatures dipped into the teens. Unfortunately, most of mine are not going to make it to the final drying process. They are soggy and starting to get mold spots. I am curious if yours will make it. If they end up drying out and the mold is there when you remove the skins you can always bleach the sponge.