Do you wonder how many loofahs per plant will you get in growing loofahs in your garden?
Loofah (luffa) is a kind of vegetable that crawls because it is a vine-type kind of plant.
Some gardeners prefer this plant to crawl on other plants or trees. You can also set up a trellis if you want.
If you grow the loofah plant for the first time you will probably wonder how many loofahs will you get from one plant.
How Many Loofahs Per Plant?
A single loofah plant can grow around 5 to 10 loofah gourds. That is a good number of fruits to have throughout the growing season.
There are times that the plant can produce more gourds up to 20 fruits all in all.
The number of loofah gourds that will grow on the plant will depend on the climate.
When the weather is a little bit cooler, the plant will produce fewer gourds about 3 to 4 per plant.
If the weather is hotter, there will be more loofah gourds that will grow per plant. That is why some plants actually grow up to 20 gourds.
One reason why there are more loofah gourds in warmer places is the plants have access to more sunlight.
When the plants get more sunlight, they can make more food. Those energies will help the plant to thrive well and increase the number of fruits per plant.
You will see a lot of gourds of a good size. Harvest the loofah gourds when they have a good length but avoid letting them grow too big because the gourds will not taste that great.
A little bit younger loofah gourds taste much better than those too large gourds.
Some people like to get sponges from the loofah plant.
If you want to get a lot of sponges then let the gourds grow too big and let them change color to yellow or brown.
You can peel the gourd and get those sponges.
Harvesting 100 Loofah Gourds
In order to harvest 100 loofah gourds, you need to plant 10 to 20 plants especially if a single plant will produce 5 to 10 gourds.
That is a lot of plants and you need to have enough spacing for the plants to grow.
They need good spacing so that their vines have something to crawl on which is important to make them longer and produce more gourds.
Those 100 loofah gourds can make a lot of foods but you can also divide it as 80 gourds will be used as food, while the 10 gourds will be used to get seeds from, and the remaining 10 will be used to make sponges.
How Many Pounds Of Loofah Gourds Per Plant?
A single loofah gourd weighs 3 pounds (1.36 kg). So if you will have 5 to 10 loofah gourds per plant, you will harvest 15 to 30 pounds (6.8-13.6 kg) of gourds all in all.
If you have 20 gourds then that is around 60 pounds (27.2 kg) of fruits to be harvested from a single plant which is great.
It is great to see many gourds grow on the plant. It is also great when they grow big.
But the problem with large loofah gourds is they don’t taste that great. A little bit younger and smaller loofahs taste much better.
So before the gourds grow that big, you must plant to harvest them as soon as they have enough size.
If you are planning to save more loofah seeds then you can just let those gourds grow that big and wait for them dry before you can harvest a lot of seeds from the gourd.
You can get a few pounds of loofah gourds from a single plant and you can still increase those numbers by planting more plants.
Growing more loofah gourds can definitely increase the yield you will get when harvesting comes.
How Many Loofah Plants For A Family Of 4?
You need 4 to 8 loofah plants for a family of 4. A single loofah plant can produce 5 to 10 gourds which are enough for a single person.
It will be nice if all members of the family will grow 2 plants each, you will have a lot of harvests to come.
Since the loofah gourds are crawling and they grow that long, you need enough space to grow those plants.
You can let the plants climb on trees and they will grow fine there or you can make a trellis so that the plants have something to crawl on.
The plants will not grow well if they are going to grow on the ground.
If each member of the family will actually grow 2 plants each then you will have 8 plants all in all.
If each plant will bear 10 gourds, you will harvest 80 gourds all in all. That is a lot of harvests and each gourd can make a good number of servings.
You will have a stable and consistent harvest by growing many plants. You will save money and you will have a good source of vegetables at home.
When you have a lot of harvests you need to store them well to prevent wasting them.
You can also just sell some of those gourds to earn some money.
How To Increase The Yield Of Loofah Gourds?
How many loofah gourds do you get from one plant? To maximize the yield you will get from one plant make sure that the plant will get enough water, nutrients, and sunlight.
Make sure that you are giving enough water to the plant per week. At least 1 inch of water per week is enough for the plants to thrive.
When rainfall is available you don’t need to water the plants because it can cause overwatering.
Water is essential for the plants to grow but excessive water will affect the growth of the plant.
At least 6 hours of sunlight is also needed by the plant. It is best to grow the plants in a well sunny place.
The more sunlight the plant gets, the more food/energy it can get. Those energies will be used by the plant to thrive and increase the number of fruits.
Another thing is that nutrients are important to plant growth. Improve the soil nutrients by applying fertilizer.
You can use synthetic fertilizer or organic fertilizer. If you are practicing organic gardening then it’s much better to use organic fertilizer like compost.
Also, the plants have male and female flowers. The loofah gourds will be formed once the female flowers are pollinated.
There will be more male flowers on the plant than female flowers.
Commonly pollinators like bees pollinate the female flowers. When pollination becomes successful the gourds will be formed.
If there are no bees roaming around your loofah plants, it is better to do hand pollination.
You can transfer the pollen from the male flower to the female flower. You can use a brush or just get the male flower and brush them on the female flowers.
Also, protect the plants against pests and diseases to increase the yield of loofah gourds.
Do You Need Two Loofah Plants To Get Fruit?
No, you don’t need two loofah plants to get fruit. A single loofah plant can produce fruits alone because it has male and female flowers.
The loofah gourd is self-pollinating and it can bear fruits even if you have only 1 plant. With the help of pollinators, the gourds will be able to produce more gourds.
If the plant is not producing fruits, you just need to let the plants get more mature to produce gourds. Another way is you can do hand pollination if pollinators are not available.
Should I Pick The Flowers Off My Loofah Plants?
If you want more loofah gourds growing on the plant you must not pinch off the flowers on the plant.
But if there are many gourds growing on the plant and you want them to grow big then you can pinch off those flowers so that the energy will be focused on the exciting gourds.
When the energy is focused on them they will grow much bigger in size.
Conclusion:
So, how many loofahs per plant? You can get around 5 to 10 loofahs per plant which can weigh around 15 to 30 pounds (6.8-13.6 kg).
There will be more loofah (luffa) gourds going to grow on the plant if you will give them enough water, and nutrients, and by planting them in a well sunny place the plants will be able to make more food.
You can get a lot of sponge gourds by increasing the number of plants you grow and by making the plants thrive well.
