Ornamental? Vegetable? Sponge?

The Luffa acutangula vine is the best multi-tasking plant in my gardens.  Its 20 foot vines with huge leaves and fragrant yellow flowers completely covers my less-than-attractive chain link fences.  The early "fruits" are delicious to eat and the large "fruits" produced at the end of the season make wonderful sponges that are excellent for many different uses.

I first learned about this plant at a Master Gardener meeting.  One of our members told the story of an uncle who used to cook "Chinese okra" that he grew himself.  After he passed away, they found a large jar filled with seeds.  I took some of the seeds and planted them the following spring.  It was "love" right from the start.

After searching databases on the internet, I learned that "Chinese okra" was luffa acutangula,  most commonly used in asian cuisine and loofah sponges.  I have  a friend from China so I showed her the fruits.  She immediately recognized them as something her grandmother purchased in the local market in her city.  The Chinese word is pronounced "s'gwa." 

Everything I've learned about growing
and using acutangula has basically been from trial and error.  The seeds require warm soil for germination.   No matter what date I sow them, germination never occurs until mid-May or later.  I've also tried starting them indoors--that works well until I put them in the ground, and then the plant waits to grow until mid-May when the soil is warm enough. 

The vines will grow very long and the fruits are very heavy so the plant requires a sturdy trellis.  I like to grow them on the chain link fences surrounding my backyard.

The fragrant, yellow flowers are about 1 1/2" in diameter, blooming in the evening.

I let the first of the fruits grow to full size.  This takes most of the summer.  After the vines set about 10 large fruits, I start picking the new fruits when they reach about 4 inches in length. 

The small fruit are quite tender.   I usually slice them and steam them with a little onion.  They are mildly nutty in flavor.

In the fall, the large luffas are ready to pick when they begin to turn brown and dry out.  It takes some effort to peel the outer coating but the sponges are fantastic--I use them for bathing, cleaning, painting, and for anything that requires a mild abrasive surface. 

They produce an abundance of seeds.  If you would like some luffa acutangula seeds, I would be happy to share.