Thai/Lao Luffa

This luffa gourd is a variety we got from a Thai/Lao immigrant family with a fantastic farm in Ft. Myers, Florida.  It is grown there for personal consumption and selling to the local community.  This is a “smooth luffa” of the Luffa cylindrica group.  In 2022 we did a trial of 15 kinds of edible luffas.  There were many important differences between varieties, one being flavor.  The quality of this luffa in our taste tests was as good as any of the best tasting varieties from our trial with low fiber content.  It remains tender and edible to quite a large size.  Luffa fruits are peeled and then eaten in all kinds of recipes.  The texture of luffa is very soft and delicate and may not appeal to people who don’t like the texture of zucchini.  In Asian cuisine it is often cooked into soups.  Fruits can be allowed to dry for luffa sponges.

Thai/Lao luffa is day length sensitive, meaning it does not produce blooms and fruits until the fall.  Production continues into the winter.  The best strategy is to grow plants over the summer which will be large and ready to make lots of fruits when days shorten.  Luffa is a tropical plant that grows rapidly in Florida summers.  It is a rampant vine that will clamber many feet over a fence, tree or trellis.  It can be direct seeded or transplanted.  This variety is very vigorous and productive.

Luffa cylindrica – 10 seeds