Planting guide

When to plant luffa

Climbing gourd: eat it young like zucchini, or let it mature into natural sponges. In Melbourne it goes in Sep–Mar.

Start as: Seed, sown in place
Ready in: 16–21 wks
Spacing: 90 cm
Depth: 2 cm
Sun: Full sun (6+ hours)
Water: Regular
Effort: Some care
Frost-tender: Yes, plant after the last frost

When it goes in

● means luffa can go in that month, ○ means wait. Worked out from each town's climate zone and season, the way planting guides do it. Pick your town for the full list for that month.

Australian towns and cities
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Sydney	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Melbourne	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Brisbane	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Perth	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Adelaide	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Gold Coast	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Newcastle	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Sunshine Coast	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Canberra	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Central Coast	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Geelong	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Wollongong	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Hobart	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Townsville	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Cairns	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Toowoomba	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Darwin	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Ballarat	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Mandurah	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Bendigo	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Launceston	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Mackay	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Rockhampton	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Coffs Harbour	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Blue Mountains	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Bunbury	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Bundaberg	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Alice Springs	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Mildura	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Port Macquarie	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●

Around the world
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Auckland	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Wellington	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Christchurch	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
London	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Manchester	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Edinburgh	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Dublin	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
New York City	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Los Angeles	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○
Chicago	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Seattle	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Austin	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○
Toronto	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Vancouver	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Cape Town	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Johannesburg	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Singapore	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Mumbai	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Paris	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Berlin	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○

How to plant luffa

Soak seed overnight; sow 2 cm deep once warm.
Grow up a strong trellis.
Pick young fruit to eat.
Leave some to mature on the vine for sponges.

Luffa varieties

Classic varieties are the reliable, widely grown ones. Adventurous ones are heirlooms, odd colours and rarities.

Smooth Extra Long Classicheat-tolerant · 16–21 wksFruits to cook young or dry as sponges
Angled Luffa Bonanza Classicheat-tolerant · 16–21 wksRidged type used as a vegetable
Long Green Adventurousheat-tolerant · 16–21 wksLong angled luffa

Where to buy seeds

Search on Seeds of Plenty Search on Happy Valley Seeds Search on The Diggers Club Search on Amazon

Shop links may earn us a commission. It never changes what we recommend.

Shops shown are for Australia. The chooser picks shops for your country.

Good companions

Bean, Okra, Marigold

Luffa by month

Jan · Feb · Mar · Apr · May · Jun · Jul · Aug · Sep · Oct · Nov · Dec

More to plant

Pumpkin · Watermelon · Rockmelon · Squash · Honeydew melon

Not sure luffa is right for your space? Answer a few taps and see everything that can go in this week.

Find what else you can plant now