(1/1) Luffa aegyptiaca immature fruit ready for harvest as a vegetable (right) and mature and peeled mature fruit used as a vegetal sponge (left) By User:Tomas nevado (right photo), Jerry Crimson Mann (upper left photo), Rik Schuiling / TropCrop - Tropical Crops Services (bottom left photo), montage by User:RoRo. [CC BY-SA 3.0] (Photo Credits)
Luffa - Smooth
Luffa aegyptiacaGrown as an edible vegetable they can be cooked and eaten when the size of a zucchini. Matured and left to dry they are using in the bath as an exfoliating sponge. Pick fruit regularly to encourage regular cropping. To prepare the luffa break off the stem... Read More
Other Names: shcloth gourd, sponge gourd, Egyptian cucumber, Vietnamese Luffa, loofa, loofah
$14.90 ($7.90-$14.90 choose a size)
When will it be in Stock?
We previously had the most to buy in Nov. They are unlikely to be available in Aug and Sep. Remember to click above to get notified when it is available once more.
Specifications of Luffa - Smooth
Preferred Climate Tropical, Subtropical, Warm TemperateLearn About Climate Zones
Grown From SeedlingLearn About Propagation Methods
Quarantine Restrictions to these Areas WA
Suitability in Pots Yes
Time to Fruit/Flower/Harvest First Year
Sun or Shade Full (Sun:80%-100%)
Fruiting/Harvest Months January, February, March, April, May, December
Fertiliser All Purpose, Compost
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Cassava
$4.95 ($4.95-$19.75 choose a size)
The tuberous root is white and has a satisfying but bland taste. Harvest can start from earlier than 12 months. Tubers are best dug when small and used within a couple of days or stored in the ground on the plant.Cassava is a shrubby plant growing to about 1-3m, with thin stems and attractive large palm-shaped leaves. A perennial shrub cassava produces a high yield of tuberous roots in 6 months to 3 years after planting. The tubers are the main part that is eaten, but the leaves can be enjoyed as a vegetable dish. Cassava is an important daily source of starch for 300-600 million of the poorest people around the world. It is among the most productive uses of subsistence land, producing 40% more starch than rice, and 25% more than maize. Note that all cassava is poisonous!! In some bitter varieties, all parts of the plant are laced with a highly toxic poison (hydrocyanic or prussic acid). Sweet varieties have lower or marginal concentrations of the toxin. But the more toxic varieties produce bigger tubers! Plants from the tropics have evolved toxins as a defence against predators more so than those from temperate climates which is why they require cooking in order to eat them. Thorough cooking dispels or denatures the harmful toxins, and makes the remaining portion safe to eat. Powdered cassava is treated like a flour and made into cakes, unleavened bread, pasta, crackers. Sliced cassava is also made into crisps. Flat bread made from cassava meal can keep for a year without spoiling. Dried chips or pellets are used as animal feed. Young tender leaves are rich in Vitamin B and protein, but also has more of the toxins. They are eaten as a vegetable. Like the tubers, they have to be boiled for minimum 15-20 mins in an open topped vessel to remove their toxins.Best grown without the use of fertilisers as too much vegetative growth is promoted at the expense of tubers
Buy 4+ @$4.95ea usually:$5.90ea
Dwarf Coffee - Red Catuai
$19.75 ($4.90-$49.00 choose a size)
A dwarf coffee selection suitable for handpicking. Prolific cropper of quality roasting beans. Makes an ideal choice for growing in a pot in small yards and as an ornamental. An internationally important cultivar due to its compact size for efficient picking and crop protection. A mid season producer of quality beans. The lineage of this cultivar is Mundo Novo x Caturra and it was released in Brazil in the 70s. For good production plant in rich free draining soil in full sun to part shade location with regular watering. Coffee fruits can also be eaten and have a pleasant sweetish taste. Red Catuai is the main variety grown commercially in Nth Qld and does have some susceptibility to leaf rust and other common coffee plant pests.
