Hi Bruce, Oh wow. Got spring-planting fever? (grin)

I've grown luffas and they are simple and easy and fun to grow. They grow like weeds when the weather is hot and do best when direct-seeded. I think it was too early to start them indoors, even with a greenhouse, but I hate to even say that because I don't want you to think I am discouraging you and the grandkids from doing some winter experimentation. If you have them on a heat mat, they might sprout at this time of the year, but since they prefer growing in soil that is warm (70 degrees or warmer), I am not sure how y'all can keep them happy until their usual planting time, which would be around May down here in south-central OK and perhaps the same or slightly later for you since you're further north. Do you heat your greenhouse at night?

When I grew them both in Texas and here (I grew them for the natural luffa sponges, not as an edible), I direct sowed the seed around the same time I was planting the real heat-loving veggies like okra, southern peas, sweet potatoes and melons. The luffas here will climb the highest support near them and then cascade back down to the ground after they reach the top, or you can train them to grow lengthwise along a garden fence. The vines often run for 15-20' or longer, so they do great on a fence though you may occasionally have to pull tendrils off adjacent plants and work them back through the fencing to keep your other plants from being buried under the luffa vines.

I think you and the grandkids will have great fun growing luffas, but you might have to sow seed again later when it is warmer. If you can get them to sprout in the temperatures we have now and if you have room inside the greenhouse (and keep it heated at night) to train the luffas up a trellis, you could grow the ones you just sowed completely within the greenhouse, if the greenhouse is large enough to contain them. What happens, though, once they are up and growing is that if they get too cold their growth just stops and it doesn't resume until they are sufficiently warm and happy. So, trying to grow them at this time of year might be an exercise in frustration.

If the seeds you just sowed don't germinate because it is too cold, I hope y'all will try again later. If you soak the seeds in water for 24 hours before you plant them, that also speeds up the germination process.

Good luck,

Dawn

Thanks Dawn!

The early start is partly from needing to get a 'dirt fix' and partly due to some misinformation on the internet. No biggie! If nothing else I'll ditch these and direct sow at a later date.

I do heat my small greenhouse, but the one thing I don't want to deal with are monster plants trying to take over everything in their path. Previously experiences with cucumbers and squash took care of any desire to ever deal with that again!

A much larger greenhouse is in the works and I have an opportunity to lease or manage a small commercial operation nearby. But, with needing to break ground on the new house, I doubt either happens this year!

I've done them early. They were weak. Ones I started in ground at the right temps outgrew the early sprouts. But DO IT ANYWAY, cuz it's fun !!

bon

You're welcome, Bruce.

I saw your message on FB about managing the commercial operation and didn't reply because I was completely speechless. I have to admit all I could wonder was how in the world you'd have time to do that AND your garden AND the new house AND all the grandkids' activities. You have my sympathy. So much to do and just not enough time to do all of it.

In gardening season, I only want to garden, though I don't always get to do just what I want to do. We've been working on a multitude of projects inside the house this winter, and none of them is getting done fast enough to please me because I want them finished so they won't interfere with my need to be in the garden in nice weather.

Dawn

Wait! Where have luffa gourds been all my life? I must grow some! I must. Any special considerations (other than wait until it's warmer to start them)? Any particular bug that likes them?

All bugs like them but, like most plants that thrive in tropical and sub-tropical areas (I think luffa gourds first were domesticated in Viet Nam), the plants grow so fast that the bugs don't seem to hurt them at all. Insects certainly don't slow down or hurt the plants at all. This is about as close to a foolproof plant as you can grow, as long as you have plenty of heat and sunshine and do not have highly excessive amounts of rainfall. The yellow flowers seem very attractive to bees, which is a good thing because the bees need all the help they can get. Some people find that the luffa gourd plants attract aphids away from other garden plants, but I don't have many aphids in general so cannot vouch for that myself. They are rampant growers so put them someplace where they can run wild like....climbing a trellis, a pergola, fences, trees, the western wall of a house or outbuilding, an oil derrick, or maybe Jack's Magic Beanstalk. They love, love, love to climb and will climb as high as they can.

Luffa flowers open very late in the day, as I recall. I suspect they provide nectar and pollen to a number of nocturnal insects. The angled Luffa variety is the one which has been called "Chinese okra." Young pods can be eaten like okra. But when I tried them, I really didn't think they tasted like okra. I'm sure they are quite good in the appropriate dish.

I want to grow them again this year. They are a "feel good crop," as they do so extremely well, even in heat and drought. I think they plants and flowers are beautiful too.

I agree that they are beautiful. A fence covered in luffa plants is quite striking.

Well, I guess I get to make a decision! 24 cells seeded with a single seed per cell. 5 days and about half have already sprouted!

This is not good!

It's good if the greenhouse stays warm enough.