Luffa gourds - still no female flowers

[OhioGuy]

This is the first time I've grown luffa gourds in at least 20 years. My
first try back in the late 80's resulted in not a single luffa fruit.

Well, it appears that exactly the same thing is happening again. I
planted the seeds on the 1st of June, so the plants are now at about the 90
day point. They are strong and vigorous, on a lattice, and get plenty of
light. The vines are about 12 to 15 feet long, and 6 or 7 plants survived
from about 20 that I planted.

They have LOADS of male flowers, but the few immature female fruits that I
have seen are very few. Although a few have grown in size a bit, they all
end up turning yellow, shriveling up, and either just staying there, or
falling off without flowering. It is almost as if the plants have decided
"we are only going to make male flowers".

The seed packet said 100 days to maturity, so I would have thought I'd
have some female fruits by now. From what I've read, the flowers are about
all male at first, with a mix of male and female at mid season, and mostly
female flowers towards the end.

Anyone have any ideas why this might be happening? I am at a different
location than I was when this happened over 20 years ago.

[enigma]

"OhioGuy" <no...@none.net> wrote in
news:N5alm.146545$Qg6....@newsfe14.iad:

> Anyone have any ideas why this might be happening? I am at a
> different
> location than I was when this happened over 20 years ago.

luffas demand heat. i can't grow them in NH, it doesn't get warm
enough. i suspect that may be your problem, but if you are getting a
few female flowers, try hand pollinating. the immature fruit turning
yellow & dropping sounds like lack of pollination
lee

[Cheryl Isaak]

On 8/26/09 9:42 AM, in article Xns9C7362CED87...@199.125.85.9,
"enigma" <eni...@evil.net> wrote:

I grew pumpkins and cukes this year and got 0 pumpkins and 1 cuke and
nothing to maturity.

c

[enigma]

Cheryl Isaak <chery...@comcast.net> wrote in
news:C6BAEDFF.9FBCE%chery...@comcast.net:

> I grew pumpkins and cukes this year and got 0 pumpkins and 1
> cuke and nothing to maturity.

Boo has a pumpkin vine that has just started flowering. it's
possible, but unlikely, he'll get a pumpkin for halloween if a female
flower shows up in the next week.
my bushel gourds didn't even come up until 3 weeks ago, even though
i planted them in June. i was surprised to see them, actually. i
figured the seeds just rotted with the rain & cold.
lee

[Cheryl Isaak]

On 8/26/09 2:19 PM, in article Xns9C7391AE9D2...@199.125.85.9,
"enigma" <eni...@evil.net> wrote:

It's been a funky year here. Even my favorite farm stand seems "bare"
compared to other years.

C

[OhioGuy]

>few female flowers, try hand pollinating. the immature >fruit turning
>yellow & dropping sounds like lack of >pollination

I'm not sure that is the problem - I see loads of bumble bees, wasps and
ants in every flower.

The trouble is - there are no female flowers. I see the miniature version
on the plant now and then, but they never seem to get big enough to actually
flower. They get yellow, wither, and fall off. (including the fruit part)

[OhioGuy]

Update: I applied bone meal, and also started snipping off the tips of
growing vines as someone suggested. I'm happy to report that there are now
nearly a dozen fruits on the plant, and one is about 8" long, and growing
more than half an inch a day!