I bought these and they have some fruits, how can I tell when they are ripe ?
Chinese lantern is normally the name given to the inedible decorative types of Physallis, where you get a bright red lantern hanging from the plant, but you may be growing tomatillo or cape gooseberry.
Tomatilloes are ripe when the surface of the fuit inside the husk is sticky, and often you will found they drop to the ground too. Sometimes there are purplish patches on them, and often the husk is dry.
Cape gooseberry is ripe when the fruits are orange coloured, they taste sweet, and the husks are dry. Often these fall to the ground when ripe too.
You really have to check them as often as you can if you have slugs, I find that they will eat any of these if left more than a day on the ground
I hope they are the edible type - I was told they were.
How can I tell is it by looking at the colours of the husks ? Mine are red and yellow.
I will find out soon I guess.
In my experience, the coloured husk types aren't edible - maybe someone else can clarify. I grow tomatillo and cape gooseberry, both have a green husk to start, which dries to a pale beige straw colour.
Here are my Physalis (Cape gooseberry? I dunno they call them Peruvian cherries here!!!)
(http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q319/antipodes_photo/physalis_aug07.jpg)
These are not yet ripe, you see.
When they first grow they are purplish then green then yellowish then when the husks are pretty dry they fall off. They are ripe when the fruit is orange (You can open the husk a wee bit to peek). I find that unless they drop off or just come off in your hand when you handle the husk then they are not ripe.
They are a bit of an acquired taste but I like them. Hopefully next year I will get enough to make experimental jam yum yum yum.