I think this is a seedling, am I right? If so do I just dig a hole and put it in the ground?
Not yet. They are frost sensitive. Delay until all risk of frost has passed.
You will not go far wrong if you treat them in a similar way to tomatoes.
Quote from: Beersmith on April 29, 2020, 15:56:25
Not yet. They are frost sensitive. Delay until all risk of frost has passed.
You will not go far wrong if you treat them in a similar way to tomatoes.
Thanks for that, that should be soon in London shouldn't it?
Should I repot it? It is some time since I tried to grow tomatoes.
Quote from: davholla on April 29, 2020, 16:01:26
Quote from: Beersmith on April 29, 2020, 15:56:25
Not yet. They are frost sensitive. Delay until all risk of frost has passed.
You will not go far wrong if you treat them in a similar way to tomatoes.
Thanks for that, that should be soon in London shouldn't it?
Should I repot it? It is some time since I tried to grow tomatoes.
Go for the 2nd Bank Holiday in May. Any frost after this is not the 'last frost of winter', its the first!
This link might help;
http://www.thegardenersalmanac.co.uk/Content/C/Cape%20Gooseberry/Cape%20Gooseberry.htm (http://www.thegardenersalmanac.co.uk/Content/C/Cape%20Gooseberry/Cape%20Gooseberry.htm)
I found they thrived better when feeding was neglected as over feeding seemed to produce an abundance of leaves at the expense of flowers meaning 'fewer fruit'
I also found that they seemed to fruit better when grown in pots/buckets rather than open beds! (Bonsai if you like)
I have grown these outside for the last few years putting them out very small plants similar to yours. They grow ok albeit slowly but not setting ripe fruit until late September/early October. Far too late for a worthwhile crop.
This year I'm trying a different method. They were sown last November being brought on initially under grow lights so by the time they were put out last week under cover it was as much larger plants. Consequently the expectation is for much earlier cropping.
Being perennials and undercover I also hope to be able to overwinter them with straw and covers so they survive another year. That is the plan anyway.
Did I read you need more than one plant for fruit or is that tomatillos? :happy7:
Quote from: ed dibbles on April 29, 2020, 17:25:15
I have grown these outside for the last few years putting them out very small plants similar to yours. They grow ok albeit slowly but not setting ripe fruit until late September/early October. Far too late for a worthwhile crop.
This year I'm trying a different method. They were sown last November being brought on initially under grow lights so by the time they were put out last week under cover it was as much larger plants. Consequently the expectation is for much earlier cropping.
Being perennials and undercover I also hope to be able to overwinter them with straw and covers so they survive another year. That is the plan anyway.
Did I read you need more than one plant for fruit or is that tomatillos? :happy7:
I think you need only need one - I have seen one of its own with fruit.
You only need one. Will survive in a mild winter in the greenhouse.
I potted mine up, cut it down and it spent winter indoors on the windowsill. A few weeks ago it started growing like mad and is now in the greenhouse to harden off and in a few days I will plant into the greenhouse soil. Reason it is still in the pot is so I can take it indoors if needs be. But the long term weather forecast is now going well into May and it is not looking like there will be an arctic blast. Not so easy to protect them once they are planted. Good luck. :wave:
Quote from: galina on April 29, 2020, 18:35:31
You only need one. Will survive in a mild winter in the greenhouse.
I potted mine up, cut it down and it spent winter indoors on the windowsill. A few weeks ago it started growing like mad and is now in the greenhouse to harden off and in a few days I will plant into the greenhouse soil. Reason it is still in the pot is so I can take it indoors if needs be. But the long term weather forecast is now going well into May and it is not looking like there will be an arctic blast. Not so easy to protect them once they are planted. Good luck. :wave:
That is a good idea.
How much did you cut it down to?
Less than a foot high, but it is probably better to create a second screen inside the greenhouse, like a fleece cage inside and mulch well too, in order to harvest all the fruit in autumn.
I unfortunately lost quite a bit of fruit from my first year plant, but hopefully as it is so big already this year, there will be lots of earlier fruit this year. :wave:
I'm assuming you don't regard Tomatillos as "cape gooseberries". NB. No, I can't be sure your seedling isn't a Tomatillo.
I've said this before (See "Update on perennial Physalis (and pepinos)" on: November 25, 2018, 10:27:09), but there are two other main types of Physalis (and 70-90 species - naming is a nightmare). As far as I know they all originated in the Americas.
The short ones seldom exceed 45cm outside and always taste of pineapple - a light refreshing taste. They are 100% annual in this country but they start cropping early - I normally sow them in April and they can crop as early as tomatoes sown a month earlier. I've had little success sowing much earlier than April and I find that the volunteers from the polytunnel are just as quick as April-sown ones (you can't say that of tomato volunteers). The berries inside the 'lanterns' are a clear yellow ripening to pale gold (mice seem to like them green too).
The species is normally called Physalis pruinosa but there's lots of crosses with minor species and even more sloppy namers out there - including many 'professionals'. They are often called ground cherries and they do fall off the plant as soon as they are pale yellow ripe and often while the lantern is still a bit green, but the tall species are called this too - they do drop - just a lot later as a darker berry in a totally dry lantern.
The taller species have been quite perennial for me - I've tried two distinct species and they both overwinter well in a cold greenhouse/tunnel in a mild N. London winter (mostly above 0C and no worse than -5C) provided their roots are at least 30cm above soil water all winter. On a slight slope I planted at the tunnel's high end and I found digging a 50cm deep trench running downhill from 50cm away helped a lot - on clay...
They have various flavours (none of them pineapple in my experience) - ideally the name "cape gooseberries" should only be used for the 1 or 2 species that taste like the ones sold in shops (they also turn up on cakes - sort of thing they often use cherries for).
These commercial species have a very intense taste and aroma - different people will identify different fruit tastes but none of them would deny they are quite intense (maybe now covid19 could change that). I like them but one is good maybe two - at 3 or 4 I'm risking a "petrol headache" so I haven't grown them for decades. The berries inside the 'lanterns' are usually a red-orange. I should have tried them in mixed fruit juice as lollies. The main species is normally called P.peruviana.
There are many other tall species and many hybrids and crosses (deliberate or accidental in the wild).
I bought "Aunt Molly's" seeds in 2016 because they were described as annual and I wanted to refresh my P.pruinosa stock - the berries seemed to be getting smaller.
Molly's definitely not P.pruinosa - much taller and wider - at least 1m tall in 1 season. Much hairier too - more like velvet - I suspect they are mostly P.mollissima (and Molly may just be a pun). The berries have a strong clean sweet lemon flavour and often a hint of coconut (2 and 3 year old plants seem to have less of the latter).
Mine were still ripening dozens on the plant through the whole winter (most others had dried out) and I ate the last of them a week ago while the remaining green stems (the lower 30-40cm) were already flowering for the next batch.
Cheers.
PS. I now rate Molly's as highly as P.pruinosa, but I still avoid "Cape Gooseberries".
Excellent post Vinlander.
Well worth repeating.
Yes Vinlander I find the term Cape Gooseberry covers a multitude of plants and is very confusing. I'm very interested in your perennial variety-where did you get the seed?
I have grown "Cape Gooseberry" for many years in the greenhouse (the pineapple tasting variety) but they never did well on the allotment here in Brum.
I agree it could be a tomatillo -similar family. I grow them every year as well and plant them out on the lotty. The seedlings often emerge fortuitously on the allotment from last years rotted fruits when the soil warms up a bit.
Quote from: George the Pigman on May 04, 2020, 20:56:40
Yes Vinlander I find the term Cape Gooseberry covers a multitude of plants and is very confusing.
I haven't found a single name that isn't used incorrectly - I just found 10 different howlers in a single search page for 'Physalis'.
That doesn't mean I can correct them it just means they describe one of the 3 types I have grown but go on to give it one of the many common names that cover everything and nothing, then add the wrong binomial.
The place I bought Aunt Molly's said they were annual - what they sent me definitely isn't an annual - I grow the most annual version and it's nothing like them.
The place that turned up in last week's search sold 3 Physalis varieties on the same page including one called "pineapple" but that source doesn't turn up at all now(??). T'web is strangling itself.
I may have got them from 'Plants of Distinction'- I have used them before - but if so their page has changed to a good description of what I got - except it could still be wrong...
Try "aunt molly's seed UK" and hope you get a better result than I did.
Cheers.
Slight aside, just want to mention that there is currently a citizen science physalis improvement project going on. I applied for seeds, but they don't send outside of USA. Maybe some of the attending blog and conclusions may be of interest. https://btiscience.org/our-research/bti-physalis-project-2/
A very interesting article galina.I have always found the cape gooseberry fruit dropping off the plant as a bit of a problem particularly of there's water in the trays I grow them in.
As regards Tomatillos stronger stems that hold the fruit up better and stop it falling on to the ground would be great as I find the slugs love them.
In "Guest Post: What Makes Tomatillos Sticky?" ( https://btiscience.org/25911-2/) Dr. Craig Schenck says... "Fruit size can vary but is typically about the size of a tennis ball".
What? I might believe table tennis ball, but I've never grown one bigger than a cherry. Maybe his most normal version of tennis is in a garage with a table tennis ball (not a bad idea actually - also I would have had fun playing real tennis in the back yard if I'd thought of it when I lived in a back-to-back terrace - great fun taking returns off the bog roof).
Cheers