Author Topic: Physalis  (Read 2032 times)

ACE

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Physalis
« on: October 16, 2017, 11:36:16 »
Just come back from touring around for a couple of weeks to find a couple of  million ripe cape gooseberries, well half a bucket full. I cannot afford that amount of chocolate to dip them in so what with all the pear windfalls we are in for some interesting chutney.

Pescador

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Re: Physalis
« Reply #1 on: October 16, 2017, 14:45:58 »
Now that could be very interesting!
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Vinlander

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Re: Physalis
« Reply #2 on: October 17, 2017, 13:26:58 »
Hi Ace, what kind of Physalis are they? I've found both kinds I grow can be called cape gooseberries, but they are very different.

The version that appears in the shops has deep orange berries but is only annual by the skin of its teeth and then only with the help of a greenhouse - it starts producing full size 'lanterns' in September but they stay green a long time and so do the berries inside. So far I've had no more than 3 ripe fruit from any of my polytunnel plants (- only the plants that are almost 1 metre by 1metre. I don't expect a lot more now). If I wanted them I'd just take seeds from the shop fruit - a lot cheaper...

The only reason I've let them waste this much precious space is because of mistaken identity - when I bought the seeds they were described like the other Physalis - normally called the ground cherry. This error's a big disappointment to me, but I will be overwintering them at home (especially the smaller ones plus any that were in ring culture) and previous experience tells me that they are much better as biennials than annuals.

The only good thing is that they aren't as over-aromatic as the shop ones (which can give me a petrol headache) so I will continue to pick them as soon as the fruit go entirely yellow.

The proper ground cherry (P. pruinosa) is properly annual and rarely exceeds half a metre, but it produces masses of ripe fruit from August - even early volunteers outside can produce dozens of yellow-to-amber berries in September and will keep going to the first frosts. They don't need a polytunnel though they love it and the yield matches the size of the plant.

The lanterns are almost bursting when they are ripe but the fruit is smaller than cape gooseberries. The flavour is lighter, so they are a very good cherry tomato substitute in a blight year (though they can be a bit seedier - mainly because the seeds aren't as slippery as toms') - but I still need to replace my seed stocks - hopefully the next packet I buy will be the right plant and selected for larger fruit and smaller seeds.

I'm betting you've got the latter.

Cheers.

With a microholding you always get too much or bugger-all. (I'm fed up calling it an allotment garden - it just encourages the tidy-police).

The simple/complex split is more & more important: Simple fertilisers Poor, complex ones Good. Simple (old) poisons predictable, others (new) the opposite.

ACE

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Re: Physalis
« Reply #3 on: October 17, 2017, 14:39:01 »
I don't know what variety they are. They were on the plot when I took it over and I just replant the self seeders every year in a different spot. They are about a metre high and are loaded with orange fruit from july until we get a frost, I have picked them for xmas some years.  When the lanterns go yellow we pick them. Very aromatic

antipodes

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Re: Physalis
« Reply #4 on: October 17, 2017, 16:16:17 »
I grew them one year, I think I had that late producing one, grrrr but I really like them. I find that the fruit does last quite a while once picked, and you can leave them on till they are really ripe so maybe you can scoff more of them without resorting to chutney!!! I made jam with them, I think mixed with something else, but it was a bit of a weird flavour and all the tiny seeds are irritating.
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squeezyjohn

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Re: Physalis
« Reply #5 on: October 17, 2017, 21:44:57 »
I've had the same batch in the greenhouse for years and provided I use bubble wrap insulation these plants overwinter and continue to make fruits in to January ... I've had some plants last 5 years, but they self-seed with any dropped lanterns very easily too ... this is all for the classic cape gooseberries like you get in the shops ... the plants are tall and reach the top of the greenhouse with a little support and the fruit is very tart as well as sweet.

This year I'm also putting some of the ground cherry type in the greenhouse soil to overwinter which I much prefer the taste of them - outdoors they've done OK for me in the past, but only give a few fruits at the end of the season ... they're far sweeter and more fruity.  When I've grown them outdoors they've only ever made small ground-hugging plants - I'm hoping they'll get bigger in the greenhouse!

ACE

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Re: Physalis
« Reply #6 on: October 18, 2017, 07:07:12 »
I suspect our milder climate suites them outdoors here. Most plots on our site grow them as the self seeders get everywhere, birds, mice, voles  I suspect. Or they have mutated by cross pollination to be a hardy crop. I shall be digging in loads of small plants that have germinated late this summer as they are getting to be a nuisance.

Vinlander

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Re: Physalis
« Reply #7 on: October 18, 2017, 10:08:41 »
I've just researched the mistaken identity a bit more - mine are "Aunt Molly's" - supposed to be an old Polish form. Maybe it will be better at overwintering than normal CGs - we'll see.

They are considered to be different from the cape gooseberry, though the only difference I can see is a more sprawling habit and a paler fruit (apparently a bit more tart and a little bit less sweet - which is good). They have the same shape leaves and the same shaped big lanterns with lots of space around the ripe berries. I haven't seen any lanterns fall off yet, in fact they are hard to pull off - even the ones that are yellow with berries that are amber all over.

I wouldn't call it a ground cherry - but several sites do.

P. pruinosa has very full lanterns when ripe - they look like me wearing an old suit (and memories of "Ullo John go'a nu mo'a") - and it doesn't hold on to them when the berry is yellow all over. See http://pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Physalis+pruinosa . It's not really worth picking them, it's better to wait for them to drop off. The plants branch to the ground but there's always a central 'tree' and they don't actually sprawl much. Apparently a synonym is P. pubescens grisea - but I can't see why -  it's far less velvety than "Aunt Molly's" - I can't remember how hairy the proper CG is (P. peruviana).

They are genuinely annual and very early, I thoroughly recommend them but I've found they prefer to be sown in March - I've tried treating them to a Jan/Feb start like toms and peppers but they don't need it and don't seem to like it.

Well worth growing and trouble free - a good insurance policy against blight (and a lot tastier than 'Ferline' etc).

Cheers.

With a microholding you always get too much or bugger-all. (I'm fed up calling it an allotment garden - it just encourages the tidy-police).

The simple/complex split is more & more important: Simple fertilisers Poor, complex ones Good. Simple (old) poisons predictable, others (new) the opposite.

squeezyjohn

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Re: Physalis
« Reply #8 on: October 18, 2017, 10:16:08 »
Anyhow ... having lots of ripe physalis is not a bad thing.  They are perfectly nice as a fruit snack without being dipped in chocolate and if you leave them in the cases they can last a good couple of months either on or off the plant.  I love being able to nip out for some home grown fruit from the greenhouse in January when they overwinter.

 

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