Question
A friend gave a loofah squash plant this spring and it has several large squashes on it.I've never raised one of these before and my question is when and how to harvest it to get the loofah sponge out of it.
Thanks,
Jo

Answer
Hi,

In the fall the luffas will begin to loose weight. This is a sign that they are beginning to mature on the vine. You might want to prop them up off the ground to protect the fruits and to keep them from rotting if they touch the ground. We always trellis squashes that vine.  That way they are up off the ground.

Harvest them when the skin has turned hard, and yellow or brown. Leave on the vine for as long as possible. After the first frost you have to remove them from the vine to keep them from rotting.

If they have time, let the squash vines completely die off, until you can "snap" the dry stem right at the base of the fruit.  This will be maximum maturity. Gourds left to dry on the vine are ready to harvest when the shell is brown and hard, and you can hear the dry seeds shake inside.

Break off the bud end and shake all the seeds out and save them to replant in the spring if they were not cross pollinated by another gourd variety.

Scrape out the sponges and submerge them in water a couple minutes to soften them, and if desired, they can be bleached with hydrogen peroxide, and then rinsed again in clean water to remove the peroxide.  The sponges can then be trimmed, and dried.  You can also dye them different colors with Rit or natural dyes.

They are also called washrag gourds, or dishrag gourds. They are a member of the cucurbitacae family, closely related to the cucumber. The blossums, as well as young squash, are edible and good in soups and stews.