QUESTION: I'm trying to grow luffa gourds for the sponges, but the flowers keep falling off without making fruit. -- W. H.

Luffa flower buds, flowers, and small green fruits can be picked (use a sharp knife or hand pruner if the stem doesn’t snap easily) and eaten. They resemble summer squash in flavor.

According to Janice Cox, author of “Beautiful Luffa,” growing these vegetable plants, which are cousins to squashes, pumpkins and cucumbers, is easy.

There’s no better feeling than getting into the shower at the end of a long day and starting your skincare routine. Scrubbing loofahs, though, aren’t exactly what you think they are.

Pinch off the first flowers which are male. The female flowers will develop next and will form the fruit. Before harvesting luffa, make sure the fruit is fully ripened on the vine.

Q: I am writing a newsletter article about luffa vine. The fruit of the vine has lots of seeds and I want to be sure it’s not invasive.

Bishop Luffa School’s intermediate girls’ athletics team competed in the ESAA Track and Field Cup A Final at Medway Park.

So she officially opened true Luffa Farm to the public in 2001. [RELATED: 10 Summer Squash Varieties: Some You Know, Some You Don’t] The life of a luffa starts with a large, bright yellow flower ...

Paris-based Palestinian designer Samer Selbak has created a collection of lighting made from the luffa plant dyed with vegetables.

Learn how to grow tea trees and luffa plants! (26m 46s) Add interest to landscape beds by using herbs (2m 44s) Discover how luffa plants are grown to make natural sponges! (7m 34s) ...

— Jack Keptner A: Loofa /luffa is a member of the gourd family, most often Luffa aegyptiaca, but others, such as L. cylindric, are also grown.