Guide to growing garden plants - Cucurbita (Gourd, luffa)
The fruits of Cucurbita are much prized by gardeners and home makers alike.
The plant is a half hardy annual that flowers in the summer and bears fruits of many colours (especially orange and yellow), and shapes (round, pear shaped).
Some of the common names for Cucurbita include Gourd and Luffa.
Sponges can be made from luffa by soaking the ripe luffa fruit in warm water for about three days. The skin can then be easily peeled off. The luffa should then be washed to remove all traces of seeds. Following drying for a week the luffa sponge is ready to be used.
Gourds also make great decorative pieces. The fruit of the gourd should first be cleaned, then dried from three weeks (small) to six months (large) until they rattle. The gourds should then be glazed with wax.
How to grow Luffa, Gourd (Cucurbita)
The seeds of Cucurbita should be sown at a depth of 6mm about two weeks after the last frost of spring. They like to grow in a sunny area of the garden that has good drainage and a rich soil of pH 6 to 7. Luffa and gourd plants can also be grown first as seedlings indoors; they should be planted into peat pots about four weeks before transplanting out in the middle of spring. The seedlings of Cucurbita members should be spaced at about 60cm apart when transplanting them outdoors.
Caring for Gourd and luffa
As Cucurbita are runners they will require something to grow on such as a trellis or cane; it is very important to keep the fruits off the ground, so tie up strongly to prevent the fruits from rotting. You will know that they are ready for picking when the luffa or gourd fruit does not react to light pressure.