Farms: Lufa aegyptiaca or cylindrica Lufa

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The cap, also known as sponge-vegetable, hub of the Paulistans and loofah, is a vigorous herbaceous climber native to South and Southeast Asia. Its ripe fruits, when completely dry, are widely used as a sponge. The immature fruits can be consumed in different ways, being prepared in the same ways as courgettes, or even consumed raw in salads when they are young. The leaves and tips of branches can also be consumed cooked or sautéed. Flowers can be prepared and consumed like the flowers of pumpkins. The seeds can be consumed toasted and salted.

There are cultivated bushing varieties with cylindrical fruits that vary from about 30 cm in length to more than 1.5 m (the underground tacos). The varieties grown with minor fruits are generally the most appreciated as food. Some cultivars can be very bitter, being unsuitable for consumption, but the most common cultivars usually have edible as well as immature fruits. The ripe fruits are fibrous and impalables. The fruits and other parts of the plant are also used for medicinal purposes.

In hydroponics, the sponge obtained from the cap fruit can be used as a support matrix for the plants that will be grown.

There are other species of the Luffa genus that provide sponge vegetables, but the Luffa aegyptiaca species has grown the most varieties that produce the best quality sponges and is the most cultivated species in the world for this purpose.

Weather

The cap or sponge-vegetable can be cultivated in tropical or subtropical regions. The ideal is a warm and humid climate, but it can be cultivated at temperatures above 16 ° C. Early crops can be grown in regions that have a cold winter, in the warmer months of the year at least 5 months of warm weather are needed to be able to reap some fruits. In regions of hot and humid climate, it can be cultivated all year round.

Brightness

This plant needs high luminosity, with direct sunlight at least a few hours a day.

Ground

The cap grows well in well-drained, fertile soil, rich in organic matter and with a pH between 6.0 and 7.5.

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Irrigation

Irrigate to keep the soil always moist, but without remaining soaked.

Plantation

The cap or sponge-vegetable propagates through seeds. Seed in the final place or in small glasses, glasses made of newspaper, in sachets suitable for seedlings or other containers, and transplant the mute bushing when they have 3 to 6 true leaves.

In the final place are open caves that can vary from 25 to 50 cm in diameter, paying the soil removed as needed and adding it back to the hole. The two to five seeds were sown per cave at 2 or 3 cm depth, removing the weakest seedlings when they are around 10 cm high, so that only one or two plants per cave remain.

The spacing varies with the cultivated variety and growing conditions, usually ranging from 2 x 2 m to 5 x 5 m.

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Cultural treatments

The bushing needs supports where it can grip and grow. These supports can be caramanchones, spreaders, fences, or walls and walls, provided they have something where the gavitas can catch. The supports must be robust to support the weight of the branches and fruits.

Remove invasive plants that are competing for nutrients and resources, especially in the first two months, when the bush grows relatively slowly.

The presence of pollinating insects, mainly bees, is necessary for the pollination of the flowers and the formation of the fruits. The plant usually has male flowers in clusters and solitary female flowers, which have an inferior ovary (a "buchinha") that will develop in the fruit if the flower is pollinated. If there are no pollinating insects in the area, manual pollination can be done with the help of a small brush of soft bristles. Alternatively, the male flowers themselves can be harvested and used to pollinate the female flowers.

Harvest

Harvesting usually begins four months after sowing, which may take more than six months to begin, depending on whether the fruits are harvested for consumption or for use as a loofah, the growing conditions and the cultivated variety.

For their consumption as food, the fruits must be harvested immature, even young, before the vascular bundles of the fruit begin to be more rigid. Almost mature fruits are very fibrous.