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Post by woodeye on Nov 2, 2022 15:15:05 GMT -6
It's nice to see the photos you posted, macmex. A good explanation of how to do it, plus the color of the luffa as you began the task of peeling it. Excellent post to use for reference later on...
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Nov 2, 2022 18:53:47 GMT -6
George,
Thanks, for posting those luffa peeling photos. That helps a lot.
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Post by chrysanthemum on Nov 2, 2022 19:40:55 GMT -6
Those are looking really nice, macmex. I picked a fourth luffa today. It might be the last that really matures on the vine for me, but there may be another that’s staring to dry down. I’ll probably peel this tomorrow or have a child peel it for me. My ten year old enjoys it and does quite well at it..
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Post by macmex on Nov 4, 2022 13:52:00 GMT -6
Another observation: I've had a couple of peeled loufah's turn a dark brown color, which is not as nice as a lighter color. Apparently this happened because they were in an environment which didn't let them dry quickly enough. Today I picked another loufah from the trellis and peeled it directly, setting it in my office, in front of a fan. It has remained light brown colored and after about 3 1/2 hours it is nearly dry.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Nov 4, 2022 15:34:08 GMT -6
I've not tried it myself, but one of the videos I watched said that if you washed your brownish or off-color luffa sponges in bleach water that the bleach would turn them white again. (One probably ought to wear rubber gloves while doing that though).
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Post by amyinowasso on Nov 5, 2022 9:51:12 GMT -6
If there's no pulp or seeds, I'm sure you could wash in a washing machine.
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Post by chrysanthemum on Nov 5, 2022 14:41:10 GMT -6
I’ve put the luffa sponges that I use for dishes in the dishwasher a couple of times when they’ve gotten particularly greasy or soiled from a dirty pot or pan. They’ve survived it just fine, though it might wear them out faster ultimately. I’ve never tried the washing machine. If I did, I think I’d tie them up inside a pillowcase or something to protect them. I’ll probably just stick to the dishwasher, though, on occasion if I think it necessary.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Nov 5, 2022 20:15:03 GMT -6
They make small, gallon-size mesh bags. My wife washes and dries some of her things in one of those and it seems to work just fine. That might work for washing luffa sponges too?
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Post by chrysanthemum on Nov 12, 2022 8:17:17 GMT -6
I found a nice article on luffa this morning, so I thought I’d share the link here. www.iamcountryside.com/growing/growing-luffa/It got down to 37 degrees here last night, and I’m wondering if that was enough to shock the luffa to death. I can’t really tell by how it looks this morning. It doesn’t look any more dead than it did before (it was already brown in large swaths), but I’ll know more once the sun hits it later this afternoon.
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Post by woodeye on Nov 12, 2022 10:12:42 GMT -6
Bookmarked the article, chrysanthemum. A good read and some valuable growing tips. Thank You for posting it...
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Post by chrysanthemum on Nov 12, 2022 17:10:26 GMT -6
The luffa vines seem to have made it through the cold successfully. They were sheltered from the worst of the wind in that corner, and I’m sure had the benefit of some retained heat from the house. I”m hoping to get at least one more all the way dry before a freeze. There are still six small green ones after that.
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Post by chrysanthemum on Dec 9, 2022 21:06:06 GMT -6
I don’t have a picture, and it wouldn’t be pretty if I had one. My vines are scraggly but alive in some places. I’m still waiting for luffas to dry down more before picking. I laughed out loud, though, yesterday morning when I looked out the window and saw a little female luffa flower in full bloom. There were no males for pollination, but I was amused to get a flower in December. It think it’s because our early December weather has been more like April according to the local meteorologists. The luffa must be confused.
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Post by chrysanthemum on Jan 8, 2023 9:46:00 GMT -6
I haven’t updated this thread in a while but wanted to give a sort of final round up about my luffa plants and gourds. As expected, our hard freezes did the vines in entirely (not that they were looking very good prior to that). Before the cold weather came in my husband harvested the last five green luffas for me. We were getting ready to take a trip, and I didn’t have time to process them green, but I also didn’t want them to rot. I ended up baking them to dry the skins according to this video. I ended up not having time to peel them, so I just left them in my oven for a couple of weeks (with the oven off the whole time) until I had time to deal with them the last couple of days. They were still very moist, but I think that having the ends cut off of them helped them not rot during that time. They probably would have, though, as there was a bit of a pickle smell to them, so I think the juices inside were perhaps starting to ferment. Thankfully nothing seemed to have decayed. Peeling wasn’t as easy as for fully dried gourds, but only one gourd gave me any real difficulty. After I peeled them I ran them through a stream of water at the kitchen sink and squeezed a bit. Then I put them in the dehydrator for the afternoon and overnight. The next morning I shook out what seeds I could and ran them through the dishwasher. Here’s what I ended up with from five immature luffas. The dark brown on one of them is where the gourd got burned in my oven, I believe. It was a smaller one that was drier than the others, so it didn’t have as much protective moisture, I guess. I think it will still be fine for scrubbing pots. There are also still some seeds inside the others. I think because they were less mature they haven’t opened up as much inside, and the outside structure seems a little more fragile, so I haven’t been too, too aggressive trying to remove them. All in all, even though it was a difficult summer with the drought, I’m very pleased with how the luffas did. I think I’ll have a good supply of sponges to get me through till I can grow some more.
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Post by chrysanthemum on Jan 8, 2023 9:51:13 GMT -6
I should tell one more story about my luffas. Just before Christmas, my ten-year-old daughter had an event with some other girls from our church, and it involved a small gift exchange. The gifts were supposed to be homemade or purchased with only five or ten dollars, and they were supposed to be suitable for anyone in the group. My daughter decided to peel and clean a luffa sponge and to pair it with a nice bar of soap for her gift. The girl who received it seemed quite intrigued that it was a vegetable.
What was even more fun, though, was that the little brother of another participant came at the end when it was time to pick up his sister, and he was fascinated by the luffa. He came over to me and talked for quite some time about how they grow, and he then went to his mother and told her the details. He wants to grow them this summer as they’ve just recently moved out of an apartment and into a house. I told him that I had quite a supply of seeds from my plants, and I’d be glad to share them with him.
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Post by woodeye on Jan 8, 2023 11:23:11 GMT -6
Great how-to video, chrysanthemum. I have no excuses now, I'll know how to get it done. Also enjoyed your story about the youngster wanting to grow some luffas...
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