Luffa is a sponge, given by nature. How to make a natural loofah yourself?

Each summer resident wants to grow useful plants on his plot. One of such treasures will be lyuffa - a sponge from it turns out very pleasant and useful. The process of growing can not leave indifferent neither adults, nor children. Indeed, right before your eyes from a small seed will appear a strong bath accessory.

What is lyuffa?

Luffa belongs to the family of pumpkin, her home is Asia. Its appearance looks like a vine and can reach a length of up to 5 meters, thanks to such qualities, this plant is often used as a hedge.

Forms a weak root system, which is on the surface.

Fruits can reach a size of 70 centimeters. Depending on the degree of maturity, there are several ways to use them:

1. Young fruits are widely used in cooking, they are cooked the same way as zucchini. They have many useful qualities and are appreciated by lovers of delicious and healthy food.
2. Of mature specimens, a beautiful loofah of luffa is obtained. This unusual application is related to the structure of the vegetable. When the fruit fully ripens, it becomes durable, fibrous and mesh.

Beneficial features

A huge amount of edible oil and protein contain seeds of bast. Luffa is a part of many cosmetics.

Also distinguish vegetable and technical varieties of such a plant. They differ in the quality of the oil obtained and in the field of its use. Technical grades are used for making a washcloth, and oil obtained from seeds is a part of various face masks and other cosmetic products. Nutritional grades are used in cooking.

Useful properties are not only the fruits and seeds of the plant, but also the green part of them. For example, the juice from the stems of luffa in Japan is widely used to create lipstick or is used as a lotion for cleansing the skin.

Before the Second World War lyuffa (bast) was used for industrial production. Due to its light and porous texture, it was a part of various filters and diesel parts.

Also, due to good sound insulation and high strength, the fruit of the plant was used as an inner layer in the manufacture of steel helmets and automotive equipment of the US Army.

Types of luff

One of the most specific representatives of the pumpkin family is lyuffa. How to make a bast from a plant, many gardeners want to know, who are just beginning to grow it on their plots. First you need to choose the right grade.

• Luffa sharply bristled - this subspecies of a plant is much easier to grow, because it is less demanding for soil and care, and it is less likely to be exposed to various diseases. Flowers blossom at night, so they are pollinated with night insects or manually. Fruits should be consumed before full maturity, when their size is 30-40 centimeters, otherwise the taste of the product will change and will be bitter. In its form, the luff of this variety resembles a cone or mace, the surface is ribbed, the skin is poorly separated from the pulp.

Fruits are consumed in the same way as cucumbers. But while they are part of the curry and added to soups. The leaves, shoots and flowers of the plant are also edible, after having blown them for several minutes and mixed with oil, you can get an unusual and tasty garnish.

• Cylindrical lyuffa - this is the kind of subspecies that is suitable for making a washcloth. By its length, the fruit can reach 70 centimeters, a little pointed in the direction of the peduncle. They differ with a thin skin, which is easy to separate, and a delicate white flesh. By the way of cooking, it does not differ from sharp-cut luff.

Growing seedlings

Many gardeners are wondering about how to plant and grow luff (bast). The answer lies in the biological characteristics of this plant. It has a fairly long period of vegetation, so it is a process to start with sprouting seedlings.

1. Since the seeds of luff are very hard and covered with a thick shell, they must be prepared for planting. To do this, about a week before the work they must be placed in a very warm place, with an air temperature of at least 40 degrees.
2. Then they must be soaked in aloe juice for 20-30 minutes.
3. Start growing seedlings need in early April, so that the fruits have time to ripen before the onset of winter cold.
4. The soil must be nutritious and loose to avoid the appearance of bacterial diseases, it should be disinfected.
5. After 5-6 days after sowing, the first shoots should appear.
6. To lyuffa (bast) got as much nutrients as possible, during the growing of seedlings it should be poured 2 times with a mullein diluted in water, in the proportion of one to ten.

How to choose a place for lyuffa?

Before planting lyufu, you need to choose the right place in which the plant will feel most comfortable:

• Luffa (bast) does not tolerate strong winds.
• Loves the sunshine.
• The plant can be planted both in the greenhouse and in the open ground.
• Before you start planting, you need to take care of the support, it should be strong and strong, because the plant grows very fast and gaining weight. An example can serve as a trellis, stretched twine or a metal, mesh fence.

Transplant to open ground

After the issue with the place is solved, it is necessary to plant the plants themselves. If the luff is placed in a greenhouse, then the second half of May will be the optimal time, and if the open soil is chosen as the permanent place of growth, all work should be postponed until the beginning of June.

Before planting, you need to prepare holes, the depth and width of which will be 30 centimeters. The distance between plants should be at least one meter.

To lyuffa (bast) as best as possible got accustomed to a new place, the soil must be fertilized:

• At the bottom you need to pour half a bucket of humus and add there 2 tablespoons of potassium sulfate.
• Or you can use half a glass of ashes per plant.

Deeper luff is needed up to the cotyledonous leaves, then the roots are gently dripped, it is very important not to damage them during planting.

Care of the plant

Many people are interested in such a plant as lyuffa. How to make a loofah? To make a bath accessory, first you need to grow quality fruits.

Leaves luffy absorb a huge amount of moisture, so you need to carefully ensure that the soil does not dry out, and the plant had constant access to the necessary nutrients. Water for irrigation must necessarily be warm, otherwise lyuffa can die. Also, experienced gardeners recommend once every two weeks to spray the liana itself or use a sprinkler.

As soon as the first mature ovaries are formed, 3-5 of the strongest of them should be selected, the rest must be plucked. To nutrients come to the fetus, the lateral branches are better to remove, the same applies to the excessive green mass.

Luffa, like any other plant, requires a lot of oxygen, so the soil needs to be loosened three times a season, given the surface root system, this procedure should be done very carefully.

Pollination - initially only female flowers are formed, males begin to appear only after 10-12 days. Taking into account the peculiarity of the plant, it is almost impossible to pollinate it with the help of insects, the most reliable method will be the use of a manual method. About whether it turned out to work or not, it will be possible to find out in a few days, the pollinated ovaries significantly increase in size.

Adding food

Fertilize the plant can be using the following substances:

• Ammonium nitrate is used during planting, second and third loosening.
• Mullein solution must be mixed with water in a proportion of 1 to 10. Extra fertilization is performed during the formation of ovaries.
• Complex fertilizer - you can use 1 tablespoon of nitrofosque, diluted in a bucket of water. This procedure is carried out in the middle of the growing season.
• Extraction of superphosphate - 1 tablespoon of the substance is diluted in a bucket of water. This top dressing promotes the maturation of the bones and the best maturation of the fetus.

When to collect lyufu on a loofah?

To use fruits in cooking, they need to be collected while they are young. But as for the manufacture of bath accessories, the time of removal will depend only on the desire of the person himself.

To get a soft loofah, you should collect green fruits, but for richer specimens a mature, brown lyuffa is suitable. Obligatory condition will be harvesting before the frost, otherwise it will not be usable.

How to make a loofah of luffy?

Luff - a washcloth, which begins with a long drying fruit, it usually lasts several weeks. To prepare the plant for the process, you need to trim the ends and get rid of the seeds. Then the future sponges are suspended in a dry place, not letting them come in contact with each other, otherwise mechanical damages or damp spots may form, and the fruit is likely to rot.

The next stage will be soaking in steep boiling water. This procedure is necessary in order to soften the fetal skin, and it was easier to remove it.

Once the bast is almost ready, it is necessary to clean its fibers from the pulp and seeds with a stiff brush.

To prepare a sponge for use, it must be washed in soapy water and dried naturally, hung out in a sunny area or laid on a window.

How to sew loofah from luffy?

In order for the bath accessory to be convenient to use, it is cut to the desired size and the handles are tied. You can also decorate the loofah in the form of a scraper. For this, the luff is lent oval, one side is completely lined with a cloth, to which a loop is attached beforehand.

If the bast is not stretched in hot water and does not shrink in the cold, then the whole technology has been performed correctly.

How to use a washcloth from lyuffa?

Before using such a sponge, it needs to be softened a little, after holding 2-3 minutes in hot water.

Luffa is a washcloth, reviews of which always remain at the highest level. But in order not to harm your body, but to bring a favorable effect, you can not overdo it (not more than twice a week). Otherwise, irritation may occur on the body or skin damage may occur.

After each use of such a sponge, you must always use moisturizers or oils.

Luffa has the property of removing dead skin cells, but after a month of using the pores sponges become clogged and bacteria begin to multiply in them.

After each use, the loofah should be thoroughly washed and dried.

The use of luffa in medicine

Very many countries of Asia and the East widely use lyuffa in folk medicine. Decoction of the roots and green parts of the plant is an excellent means for stopping internal bleeding, and it is also used to treat nasal sinuses.

Many cosmeticians recommend using lyuffa together with household soap. In the holes that are formed after cleansing the fruit of the seeds and pulp, pour melted soap and use the resulting sponge in the form of a scrub. Such a cosmetic product will perfectly clean the skin and stimulate blood circulation in small vessels.

One of the most useful for the skin fruit gives a plant called lyuffa. Washcloth, the photo of which can be seen above, is an environmentally friendly product. With enough effort, it can be grown on your garden plot. In addition, the vines on which fruits are formed differ in their unusual appearance, so they are often used in landscape design.