How to grow luffa in Launceston
Luffa species
Also called loofah, loofa, Chinese okra
Frost in Launceston rules out the cool zone's usual months for luffa. Ask the growers at your garden what works locally.
Eaten young as a vegetable, luffa is the fruit of a vine in the pumpkin and gourd family. Once fully ripe it turns too fibrous for the table, but the mature fruit can be processed down to its fibre network and used as a sponge for the bath or kitchen.
When to sow in Launceston
Launceston, TAS is in the cool zone. The zone also plants in Oct to Dec, but Launceston's frost dates make those months risky for a frost-tender crop.
Not yet checked against a local guide.
Your local conditions can shift any months shown here, so treat them as a guide.
Frost in Launceston
Frost usually arrives in Launceston around late March and finishes by late November. In about 1 year in 10 it comes as early as late January or as late as late December, so frost-tender crops are planned around those dates.
From its Bureau of Meteorology station, 1991 to 2020, counting a night at 2°C or lower as a frost. Frost hollows and hillsides can shift these dates by weeks, so ask the growers at your garden too.
On a shared plot: needs a lot of room
A big climber that needs a strong frame. Check where its shade will fall.
Growing details
- How to start
- Raise seedlings, then transplant
- Sowing depth
- 15mm
- Plant spacing
- 50cm
- Row spacing
- 25cm
- Height
- 900cm
- Germination
- 14-21 days at 25-30°C
- Frost
- Frost tender
- Sun
- Full sun
- Life cycle
- annual
These are typical figures, and varieties differ. Your seed packet takes priority.