I Grew My Own Shower Sponge

[let_uslunch]

you can eat them before they get fibrous is the wild part.

[magesalmanac]

I bought a ton of these in Mexico! They’re so great, I use them for scrubbing dishes too.

[mikeschaoticgardening]

You can start seeds in them and use as grow medium in hydroponic gardening..very cool plants

[NillerMann]

I absorbed every bit of this video like a sponge.
Thank you and good night 👌

[clokie]

Just a heads up for anyone that tries to grow them:
The leafs have a very strong and pungent smell that sticks to everything, so i recommend setting them on a place where you won't be crossing or touching them usually.

[robinpatterson]

You'll probably need more space for your gourds. I've found the vines are very aggressive growers. Mine headed up the trellis and onto the roof (we repositioned them). They went over the block wall and into the backyard at least 10 feet. Climbed through a duranta and into a pomegranate. Had over 30 sponges on that single vine. I had read they perish in the cold, leaving you to pick and attempt to dry any gourds left on the vine indoors.
My vine did turn a crisp brown in the late fall. But I left the gourds thinking Arizona winter would allow the gourds to dry out. No way I had an indoor area large enough to deal with my bumper crop.
Well I harvested all but 2 (they were on the ground not hanging). And when spring came my "dead" vine sent out green shoots and leaves. I've harvested 5 gourds that started growing in February. And the vine is once again covered with gourds and headed over the wall again.
I fun plant for sure. You can almost see them getting bigger every day.

[FrozEnbyWolf]

For anyone having trouble getting luffa seeds to germinate, try scarifying them by carefully cutting open the shell with nail clippers. You have to make sure to only cut the shell, and not damage the embryo inside. This will allow water to get in more easily, and you should see germination in as little as 2-6 days, as opposed to 2-4 weeks.

[VamLoveAndKisses]

I honestly don't know why I thought loofahs were dead sea sponges.

[maggpiprime]

I remember picking these in Brazil when I was 7. I was in awe of this wall of vines, it was so beautiful.

[neontitanium]

I THOUGHT THESE WERE MADE IN A FACTORY!! WHAT, THEY'RE A PLANT?

[jasmingovers]

I grew up having these, they're awesome!

[randomacts]

We've grown this twice now, 2 years in a row!!

[mamabanana]

We call them patola, and we usually eat the fruits when they are young, it’s so yummy and refreshing in misua soups, or simply cooked with egg!

[Space-Potato-oh]

These grew all over where I'm from (Guyana 🇬🇾) we call them "Nenwah" I've used them so many times growing up and even now sometimes when I can find, some people actually eat em' too as before they're ripe, it kinda cooks and eats like a squash or zucchini~ when I was in Uni, there were these backdam cross roads where I stayed and it was overgrown with the vines, you could pick bucket loads!

[griseldagaribay]

I love those!! I have them! They’re rough at first then they do soften.

[aimeesgardens]

I'm growing one for the first time this year!! So excited!!

[gesillebodacaortiz]

here in the Philippines specifically in cebu we call that sikwa in our own dialect, we make that into good soup all you need is young sikwa, red tomato, onion, garlic and if you like you can add sardines or whatever available. (first you need to put an oil in a pan saute the onion and garlic 2.put the sardines (if you don't eat sardines you can always substitute other meat) 3. put the young lofa (chopped into circles) and 4. then add the tomatoes (slice) 5.add a little bit of water and 6.put little bit of soysauce and 7.salt and pepper to taste . I hope you enjoy our easy Filipino dish !!

[abisailopez]

I used to have this as a kid and used them for a lot of things, old memories.

[ankitrai]

We call it "gherawla" in here, it's really good for making curry too just have to harvest early before fibers develop

[anaconaway]

I'm growing some to hopefully embed in soap to sell. I have 3 that came up so far, 2 more that germinated but have not popped out of the ground. And at least six that refused to germinate even with a bit clipped off. I'm aiming for 8 plants total.