Luffa cylindrica (Loofah)Luffa cylindricaLoofah, Sponge Gourd

Best grown in a warm, humid greenhouse with a minimum temperature of 15C (60F). Plant at a spacing of 45cm (18"). Water well after planting until fully established. Water plants regularly, apply greenhouse shading as required and create a humid atmosphere by regularly spraying or damping down pathways.

Train the main shoots onto canes until they reach the top of their support and then pinch out the growing point. Pinch out side-shoots once fruit begins to develop, leaving two leaves after each fruit. As fruit matures it will dry out and the skin will turn brown. Harvest and remove the skin and seeds then wash and dry the fibrous core before use.

Seeds and garden supplies will normally be delivered within the time period stated against each product as detailed above. Plants, bulbs, corms, tubers, shrubs, trees, potatoes, etc. are delivered at the appropriate time for planting or potting on. Delivery times will be stated on the product page above, or in your order acknowledgement page and email.

Orders for packets of seed incur a delivery charge of £2.99.

Orders which include any other products will incur a delivery charge of £6.99.

Where an order includes both packets of seeds and other products, a maximum delivery charge of £7.99 will apply - regardless of the number of items ordered.

Large items may incur a higher delivery charge - this will be displayed in your shopping basket.

Please see our Delivery page for further details, and more information on different charges that may apply to certain destinations.

For more information on how we send your plants please visit our Helpful Guide on plant sizes.

Thompson & Morgan strives to ensure that all its plants are delivered to you in the perfect condition for planting. While the majority of our nursery plants cope well with slight delays in intransit, sadly, the time it takes to deliver to certain locations in the UK means that we can't guarantee this for some of our smaller plug products and tender bedding and vegetable lines, which do not respond well to the extra journey time. So regretfully while we offer the majority of our live plant offering nationwide, we are unable to ship plugs, begging plants and tender vegetable plants to the following areas: HS, IV41-IV49, IV51, IV55-56, KW15-KW17, PA34, PA41-48, PA60-PA78, PA80, PH40-PH44, TR21-TR24, ZE1-ZE3