«Thai Extra Long» - Organic Luffa Seeds

Heirloom luffa «Thai Extra Long»

The sponges obtained from the Thai Extra Long are more coarse than its cylindrica counterpart, making this gourd a perfect foot or dishpan scrubber. The gourds depicted average about 2 m long. These are monstrous. Note that, compared to the smaller luffa gourds commonly sold, for their size, there are much fewer seeds per gourd in the luffa Thai extra long. This is partly why this gourd is so rare.
 

How to grow

The first step in growing luffas is to plant your seeds.  The season for growing luffas is extremely long, so you need to expect to start your seeds extremely early and grow them indoors under a light sort of like a house plant.  In Oklahoma, I start mine in January and set them in the ground outside around April 15 or early May.  They need to grow a foot long or more before you plant them in the ground.

(If you’re wondering if luffa is the correct spelling, you can spell it that way, or loofah, either is correct, so spell it however you’d like.)

Luffa seeds can be tough to germinate.  It can take anywhere from a week to two months for them to sprout.  The ones we planted two years ago took 6 weeks to germinate, and the ones we planted this year took one week.  Be prepared to be patient.