Luffa Gourd: A Delicious, Useful Heat-Loving Plant

A few weeks ago I mentioned the luffa gourds I’m growing in my garden. Lots of folks grow them for the fibrous sponges that can be made from their mature fruits. But you can eat the immature fruits as well.

I cooked some for the first time Tuesday evening. They are my new favorite vegetable.

Many, many years ago, luffas were commonly grown for table fare throughout the southern United States. Seed catalogs back then referred to the plant as “vine okra” or “climbing okra.” They grow up a trellis with ease, much like cucumbers.

They don’t really taste like okra, but I can see why gardeners back in the day compared them to okra. When sliced into rounds then battered and fried, the fruit sort of resembles fried okra with its green skin and white flesh. But it doesn’t have seeds like okra. When you slice them, their flesh oozes a somewhat mucilaginous liquid, sort of like okra, but not quite as slimy.

They taste more like zucchini, but nuttier. My wife Janessa noticed this right with the first bite she took. The taste really resembles peanuts.

Their vertical growth habit provides several benefits in the garden. The vines can cast shade to protect plants from the blasting sun. It also saves space in the garden. I’m growing them on an arched cattle panel trellis.

Picking the immature fruit for the kitchen encourages the plant to produce more, and you can always save a few fruit to mature into luffa sponges.

They love the heat. I planted them back in March – the same time I planted cucumbers. They grew a lot of foliage and began to take over the trellis. After about a month, they started flowering. Huge yellow flowers – much larger than cucumber flowers – covered the vines. But they didn’t start to set fruit until about a week or two ago as the heat set in.

Now, the vines are exploding with fruit. I anticipate harvesting much more than I can eat.

The luffas I’m growing are of the species meant for use as scrubbing sponges ( Luffa aegyptiaca, also known as Egyptian gourd or Vietnamese luffa). There is another species, Luffa acutangula, that has been specifically cultivated for food. It is sometimes called Chinese edible gourd or Chinese okra. I might try to find some seeds and grow them next year.

But I’m really impressed with the luffa sponge gourd as a dual-purpose crop. I think everyone in this part of Texas should grow some in their garden.