Growing Luffa Flowers for Bees

Growing luffa flowers for bees is an easy and fun project. And if you have much space available, even a few flower pots, a section for the bees can become a part of your annual garden design. Bees love luffa and the flowers of this unusual plant actually becomes sponges (not technically but we use them as such! As a beekeeper – I have naturally developed a love of planting flowers that provide nectar or pollen. Consider giving these a try.

Including flowers that bees love helps provide a diverse diet for all area pollinators-not just honey bees. And, if the plant is a bit odd, that’s even more exciting.

What is a Luffa?

As a beekeeper and gardener, I am constantly looking for new bee plant ideas. Of course, not every blooming plant attracts insects-but many of them do.

The most important thing to understand about growing luffa – is that it is a vine that requires room and it is frost tender but requires a long growing season. These plants like at least 6 hours of full sun.

If your growing season is long enough, the pretty yellow flowers eventually become sponges (not technically) – but let’s not get hung up on that. The idea of growing sponges on a vine is too intriguing to pass up for folks like me.

Is it Loofah or Luffa?

There is a bit of a debate on the correct terminology for this plant (Luffa aegyptiaca). Most often, I hear the term “loofah” applied to the fibrous sponge that is the end result.

While the word “luffa” is used to describe the tender fruits – that can actually be eaten while young. I tend to use luffa for all but do understand there may be a difference in usage.

Luffa Sponges Have Many Uses

If you are not familiar with luffa, well – first of all where have you been? Just kidding. Seriously, loofa sponges are used for so many things related to the beauty industry.

They are well known for their gentle exfoliating properties. And, they are a natural product, a renewable resource – and heck, they are just plain fun.

When the bright yellow luffa flowers appear in late Summer, they become a viable source of food to add to your bee’s diet.

I witnessed bumble bees, wasps, honey bees, humming birds and other pollinators visiting my vines.

Male flowers are rich in pollen. Honey bees use pollen as a protein source. After the male flowers appear, female flowers follow.

Female flowers occur in clusters and provide a fair amount of nectar. You may feel that you are waiting forever for blooms to appear. Patience is key. However, once they get started, the vines bloom profusely until frost.

Imagine my delight when I found information online from Deb Terrell (Nature’s Circle) showing honey bees working the blossoms of a Luffa vine!

Can You Grow Luffa in Your Area?

When you are choosing any plants for bees, you must make sure your climate is suitable for that plant. Through my research, I saw that it was possible to grow a Luffa plant in my region-if started from seed.

They require a long growing season to produce ripe fruit. Those with a shorter growing season may see luffa flowers but the fruit may not mature enough to become a sponge.

Luffa seeds are easy to find in early Spring at any garden center. Or you can avoid the hassle and order seeds online (see below) – they are not very expensive.

One pack of seeds is plenty for most backyard garden bee gardens. Even though I live in the South – next time I will start my seeds indoors earlier.

I did not want to start seeds too early and have the plant get too large. I realize now that was not a worry, more on that in a bit.

Growing Sponges from Seed

I had good luck with my seed starting and grew several starter vines. The seeds were soaked for 24 hours before planting.

Then 2-3 seeds were planted in small peat pots using seed starter soil. After choosing 4 for myself, I gave the rest to friends and neighbors.

Start the seeds indoors and then transplant the plant outside after the last frost date. This is definitely the way to go. Unless you live in the deep south, sowing seed outside may not result in ripe fruit before frost.

If you decide to grow Luffa in your bee friendly garden, watch them carefully when they are small. It seems that every plant eating bug in the universe wants to take a bite. Once the plant gets started, pests are less of a problem.

Choosing the Best Location

The luffa vine is a …well.. a vine! It will grow to a rather large size so plan on having a strong vertical support in place.

As soon as your first seedling emerges, you should be thinking about how you are going to support them. Set up a trellis or some type of heavy duty netting to allow your vine to climb. It is also possible to run the long vine along a chain-link fence.

But, with a vertical structure – it will climb. I had to rescue my wind chimes and my hummingbird feeders several times over the Summer !

Keep in mind that supporting a large green vine is one thing. Supporting a large green vine with heavy hanging fruit is another.

I have a partial block wall at one end of the house that would be perfect. I gave the vine strong cord to climb. This area gets plenty of sunlight, good air circulation and is not far away from the bee yard.

Lush summer growth of the vine will provide relief from the late day sun and provide a pollen and nectar source for my bees.

Slow to start, once started the vine grows quickly. I had not applied any fertilizer to my vine. But I had a lot of vine and no flowers for a long time.

My Luffa Plant Grows Too Big

As the vine outgrew the spot I had for it, I realized that I had chosen the wrong location. This thing was becoming a monster vine.

It was reaching the house top, I could only imagine what my husband must think… oops. But, I had invested too much heart in it to stop now.

Each week, I inspected the massive green monster vine looking for fruit. If you grow a big luffa vine like mine, expect to spend some time looking for your first fruit.

The beautiful large, green leaves are great for hiding little fruits. Finally, your luffa fruits will appear. From that point on, you will be surprised at their growth rate.

The smaller ones are similar to cucumbers and can be eaten. If you want to harvest sponges, leave the fruit to grow larger.

Harvest Loofah Gourds

When the fruit has matured, the luffa will feel soft and spongy. It is best to harvest them before frost kills the vine to prevent spoilage.

Some of your fruit will still be green and hard, you can harvest them too. But, ripe Luffa fruit will be easier to peel and I prefer them. Immature fruit are too difficult to peel in my opinion.

If you harvest only soft mature fruit, you are ready to find your sponge.

• First peel off the tough green peeling. The inside of the fruit contains pulp, seeds and a fibrous structure that becomes a sponge.
• Take your peeled Luffa fruit and spray it again and again with water. You need to use a spray of water with force to clean the pulp and seeds out. Continue to spray and squeeze the fruit until the pulp is washed away.

Now you will have a fiber loofah sponge! This is left to dry in the sun for a few days. You can use them yourself around the house or give them to your non-sponge growing friends.

While I am certainly a novice on growing Luffa, it was a great experience. My honey bees enjoyed the late Summer blooms. And other pollinators used the plant as a food source too. I had a blast with the project.

Like many beekeepers, I enjoy adding unusual flowers to my garden. Many of us grow lotus plants in our gardens to enjoy the lovely blooms. The bees love them too.

Final Thoughts

Would I grow loofah again? You betcha. But, I would only grow 1 or 2 vines and I would find another larger place to grow it or a different way to trellis. Have fun experimenting with growing Luffas-a bee friendly vine in your garden this year.

• Order Loofah Seeds
• Heavy Duty Netting

Resources

• National History Museum
• Gardening Solutions