Day 19

Last time I posted was when my wonderful dog attacked my loofah plants as they were just starting to grow. I potted the three that were left in planters and put them out of her reach. No more eating mommy's plants Nala.
Now, on day 19 they are all three doing great and have been moved into the full sun shine. They are growing good and have started to develop the vine leaves on them already. I am going to plant them in the ground this weekend and put a fence around them that is puppy proof. Cross your fingers guys and gals.
I will be posting new pictures this weekend and maybe even a video.

Day 11

OOOOHHHHH NNNOOOOOO!!!!!!
The plants were outside this am and then my son let the dog out. They were sitting on a tote on the porch.

This is Nala, evidently she likes to eat plants. Loofah plants that is. 

This is the result of the the teeth on my baby girl.

As you can see she had to eat the biggest sprouts. Most of the plants have teeth marks in them. I have replanted most of the ones that weren't messed up too bad back into the soil. I am hoping that i can save them.

The next day after fixing and replanting them i have decided to replant them again in a bigger pot with Miracle Grow potting soil. Miracle Grow is the only soil that i use for all my plants. It works well and will continue to feed the plants for up to 6 months.

I used my finger to push the plant up through the bottom hole as not to ruin the roots of the plant. 

 I filled the pots with soil and packed it down.

 I placed the plant and roots in the middle of the pot. Held it up with one hand and packed the soil in around it. I made sure to secure the roots well and cover them completely with soil. I then watered them and place them on a shelf out of reach of the dog this time. Hopefully she won't learn to climb anytime soon...lol

This is the finished plant.

These are the four plants that i was able to save. The roots are still white and healthy. If you look at the one in the top left corner, it doesn't have any leaves at all.

 I hope this works. I will be glad with only four plants left. I have bought my lattice and stakes and just waiting for them to get a little bigger. I am getting a little impatient now.

Will keep you update on their growth. If you have any questions please feel free to ask. Even if it isn't related to the stage that my plants are in now.

byebye and keep growing.

Day 10

Things are going great for our plants. They are going a little everyday and seem to be healthy. I think that i will take then outside for a couple of days. I think the extra sunlight will be good for the seeds that haven't sprouted yet. Take a look at what we have today.

I hope that they will continue to grow just as well if not better outside. Let's check on them tomorrow. 

byebye for now and keep growing

Day 8

I woke this morning to see that my plants have had a growth spurt.

They have all gotten bigger over night. Yeah!!!

They will continue to grow over time and i can't wait to share it with you. Two of these sprouts in the front have almost grown tall enough to reach the top of the greenhouse. I have put the lid back on for now to try and help the rest of the plants sprout. Loofah gourds like a lot of sunlight and air. Since it is summer time here i think that i will put them outside in a day or two under the porch. Just to give them more room. Soon i will have to put stakes in to keep them growing up. Remember that this plant is a vine. You can train it to grow wherever you want. Make sure that you start the path while the plant is young though.

byebye for now and keep growing

1 Week

1 week after planting my seeds you can already see the growth of some of my seeds. They have started to sprout. This is the exciting part of growing. Watching them get a little bigger every day. Loofah (luffa) gourds will grow a little each day.

Day Seven:

On the far right you can see that one of the sprouts has grown out of the soil with the second seed attached to it. It almost looks like a bug on the stem of the plant. Don't know how this is going to look and grow, but i guess that we will find out. Interested to see what will happen with this one. Have never had this before.

I will refer to this plant as my twins....hey hey. 

So far i only have seven seeds that have sprouted from the soil. I can't wait to see how many more surface of the next few days.

byebye for now and keep growing

Started Aug 4th

Plants started August 4, 2013

step-by-step

Most people because of the long growing time will have to start their germination inside at the end of winter season. Loofah sponges will need 150-200 days of growth. You can figure out when you need to start your plants depending on your USDA zone or when your spring starts.
I live in Alabama in zone 6, so i can start mine either the end of december or the beginning of the year. I have a long warm season so i could even start them in February or March. I have chosen to start then now in August just for demonstration only. I will start another batch at the right growth time for me at the end of the year. I know that this batch will most likely not produce sponges, but that is ok. This is more of a tutorial for my readers.
I bought a Burpee seed starting greenhouse for my germination this season. This seems to be the easiest greenhouse kit that i have found. All you have to do is add water then seeds. I bought it at my local walmart.
This greenhouse has pellets that will grow and turn into nutrient rich soil just by adding water.

STEP #1: Get your pots or greenhouse ready for seeds.

Depending on what you are using your steps may very from mine. I will just go through my steps using the Burpee greenhouse though.

You make sure the each pellet is sitting flat down and not turned to the side. You want the pellet to grow up when you add water. You can see the picture on the package. Once you have done this you will be adding the correct amount of warm water to the cells as recommended on the package. 

You will see each pellet start to grow and expand the size of the cell to become loose soil.

As you can see i started with the pellets in the front and poured some water just over the top of each cell to loosen the top soil until it expanded. I had to use my fingers to loosen some of the cells though. That is okay too. It doesn't hurt the soil.

STEP #2: Grab your seeds and place two seeds in each pot or cell if you are using an indoor greenhouse.

Press the seeds into the soil and make sure to pack them in all the way. You want to make sure that the seeds are fully covered for good growth and germination. 

This is a short video on youtube of me planting my seeds in my kitchen.

STEP #3: Once you have planted all of your seeds your tray should look like this.

Nice and neat, all packed down with no seeds showing. Yeah!!!

STEP #4: Then you are going to cover your greenhouse and place it in a safe place from pets and kids. Unless you have my kids, they will climb on anything to get to what they want, lol.

Your finished product should look like these pictures below.

You will start to see some condensation of the lid of your greenhouse. This is normal and what you want to see. It is caused by the warm water that you are using. It is good for the plants to create the right type of environment for growth.

If you have any questions so far please feel free to ask. Goodbye for now and keep growing

Info about site and plants

I am growing loofah gourds in my garden. These gourds will become fibrous and harden as they mature. The fibrous part of the plant will then become a sponge. These sponges are used for cleaning and scrubbing in the shower. They don't require a lot of time on your part, but you do have to have a lot of patience. It is a slow growing plant that takes about 150-200 days of growth. It is a long season plant. Best grow in USDA zones 6 or 7. Some people are able to grow them in zones 4 and 5 by starting them late in the winter season indoors first before transferring them outside in the spring.
Loofah gourds are grown on a vine. The vines have been known to grow 25 to 30 in length. Over time the vines will grow and produce yellow flowers. The female buds will then grow and produce fruit. This fruit will be the gourd. When they are fully developed and dry out you will be able to pick, peel, and clean then. This will happen late in the season.
Even though it is not the right time to start growing loofah gourds, i have started some. I want to give my readers something to follow while growing these plants. I will start another batch of plants when the season is right. All of the photos are going to be the same from planting and growing process.
If you have any questions please feel free to comment or email me. I will be happy to answer any of them.
Please check out my new page.....WHAT IS GROWING NOW TO SEE THE NEW CROP.