Hey, I put bone meal around the plants a few days ago (phosphorus), and
also trimmed off the ends of the vines. I read that both can stimulate
female fruit production, and guess what? I finally have a female fruit that
is large - nearly 2" long - and ready to flower! Yay!

This is so cool. I hope I can get at least a half dozen mature 'sponges'.
If so, then I'm going to use them as Christmas gifts for people.