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.

"OhioGuy" wrote in
:

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.

can you build a 'greenhouse' over your vines? luffas need hot
weather & i doubt Ohio has enough summer left to ripen the sponges.
lee

No, I think any sort of "hot house" or greenhouse is out of the question.
I planted the luffa gourds around the lattice that surrounds 2/3 of our
small back porch. (roughly 6' by 6') The only way I would be able to
enclose it would probably involve making it so we can't walk in the back
door at all.

Thankfully, the bone meal I applied, coupled with lots of pinching of the
terminal buds, seems to have made a remarkable difference. Now there are
about 18 hefty looking female fruits that look like they will all flower and
start maturing. If the one large fruit I have is the rule and not the
exception, then these things can grow half an inch a day! If that's the
case, I'm guessing most of these will mature. We are close to being smack
dab in the middle of a city of 1 million people, and it is always about 5
degrees warmer here than out in the country nearby. We also tend to get
about 10 to 14 days more of a growing season. (delayed frost - probably due
to all the warmth from the houses, etc.)

On 8/29/2009 11:35 AM, OhioGuy wrote:
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.



Bone meal on the ground will do no good. The primary nutrient is
phosphorus, which does not dissolve and leach through the soil.

Bone meal should have been dug into the bottom of the planting hole
where roots could find it. Since the plant is already in the ground,
the best way to provide phosphorus would be to poke holes 1-2 feet deep
in a circle around the plant, about 1-2 feet from the base. (I use a
piece of 1/4-inch steel rebar.) Mix the bone meal with an equal amount
of sand and fill the holes with the mixture. (For shrubs and trees,
omit the sand.)

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean
Sunset Zone: 21 -- interior Santa Monica Mountains with some ocean
influence (USDA 10a, very close to Sunset Zone 19)
Gardening diary at http://www.rossde.com/garden/diary

On 9/10/2009 12:55 PM, Balvenieman wrote:
"OhioGuy" wrote:

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?
What are you talking about? What is a "female" fruit? What makes
you believe fruits have gender? What are you drinking? It may be time
for a change.

Partially correct.

Many plants have complete flowers with both male and female parts
(pollen and protoseeds). Some plants, including the curcurbits (squash,
gourds, melons, cucumbers) have separate male and female flowers on the
same plant. And some plants are either male or female (they're
dioecious); these include ash and ginkgo trees and asparagus.

Although fruit forms only on either complete or female flowers, it is
usually non-sexed. On a female dioecious plant with only one seed in
each fruit, however, the fruit might be male or female depending on
whether the seed will produce a male or female plant. Since the fruit
reflects the parent on which it grew, the sex of the fruit can be
determined only with careful DNA analysis.

Luffa gourds are NOT dioecious.

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean
Sunset Zone: 21 -- interior Santa Monica Mountains with some ocean
influence (USDA 10a, very close to Sunset Zone 19)
Gardening diary at http://www.rossde.com/garden/diary

Balvenieman wrote in
:

What are you talking about? What is a "female" fruit? What
makes
you believe fruits have gender? What are you drinking? It may be
time for a change.

he means female flowers, of course... the ones that produce the
fruit. in many plants the flowers are either male or female (any of
the gourds & cucurbits. male flowers start blooming long before
female flowers are produced)
in some, the males are separate plants from the females, so you
don't get fruit unless you have both (hollies & kiwis, for example).
i think you need to knock off the Sam Adams a bit before you make
snarky replies.
lee