Grow Your Own Loofa (Luffa) for Sponges

Yep, you don't have to do without or purchase sponges if you grow your own.

Please don't confuse Loofa with Sea sponges, which are part of the animal kingdom and grow on the sea floor.

Loofa's are part of the cucurbit family, a group of plants including gourds, pumpkins, and cucumbers. So you will not want to grow these near any of those plants to avoid cross pollination.

These plants originated in subtropical Asia. But like most plants if you provide the right conditions they can be grown just about anywhere. LuffaInfo has been growing and enjoying loofa fiber since the mid 1990s in Carter County Tennessee.

I have started two of these plants on my back porch and will see how this goes.

See the following sites for great information, how to grow, harvest and save seeds, etc.

http://www.luffa.info/ Tons of history, pictures and how to
http://www.luffa.info/luffagrowing.htm
http://www.luffa.info/luffaharvest.htm

http://www.backwoodsliving.com/loofah.html Great How to

http://www.ehow.com/how_2126943_grow-loofah-sponges.html
http://www.ehow.com/how_5100993_grow-loofahs.html

http://www.groovygreen.com/groove/?p=689

To download a document to get you started the above links are condensed in "Grow Your Own Loofa (Luffa) for Sponges" at http://www.scribd.com/doc/29234099/Grow-Your-Own-Loofa-Luffa-for-Sponges

"No occupation is so delightful to me as the culture of the earth, and no culture comparable to that of the garden."-- Thomas Jefferson

From a 50 Something, soon to be rural homesteading Prepper