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When I first joined A4A I asked for advice on which types of plants to grow. I'm a new gardener and will be growing in containers (I do have a cold greenhouse).

I had several people recommend the cape gooseberry. Having never tried them before I dismissed the idea, however, my daughter came home from Brownies this week with a handful of them, and I'm now reliably informed that she loves them!!

So.......I suppose I had better have a go at growing them. Can anyone please tell me anything about them i.e. do I grow from seed? If so, where's the best place to get seed from? I presume I grow them in the greenhouse. Will one plant be sufficient, what sort of crop will be produced from one plant? How tall does the plant grow? OK, you get my drift, I don't know anything about these at all.

Hope you can help,
Jo.

Hi Jo.  I've grown 'Peruviana' and 'Edulis' in pots outside for the last 2 years.  They reach between 4 and 6 feet tall and I get about 30 fruits per plant.  This year I'm trying a small bush variety called 'Pruinosa' which is said to have a pineapple flavour.  I aways sow the seeds indoors in March and treat the plants as HHAs.  I find the germination rates excellent.  I can let you have some 'Pruniosa' seeds if you PM me.  They can of course be grown in a greenhouse too.  They need a lot of sun to ripen but otherwise I find them very easy to grow.

Hope this helps.

G x

They grew very well for me last year only trouble was half of them didn't ripen. They grew from seed easily and got quite bushy and big.

Jo, I can give you some edulis  if you PM me - I've also got some tomatillo seeds (same family) if you'd like to try them. Check the link below for further info:

http://www.suttons.co.uk/pd_189221_The_Tomatillo__Salsa_Plant.htm#

I had copious plants but again, ripening was a problem. Won't be bothering this year.

Thanks for your replies and very generous offer of seeds, PM's sent  ;D

Watch this space for how I get on with growing them!!!

Jo.

I find the stems break in heavy rain so staking would be advisable. They are more frost tolerant than tomatoes and I would recommend getting them started ASAP.

Thank you. I will get them started as soon as the seeds arrive  ;D

Jo.

I sowed Physalis Edulis last year and had three plants.  At the end of the season I brought them into my enclosed front porch where they are flowering well and have many unripe seed pods on them.  I intend putting them back in the unheated greenhouse when the weather improves.  The plants are between 4 and 5 feet high.  I can't say how much fruit I got from them last year because as soon as they were ripe I would pick them off and eat them.   ;D

The plants seem very straggly and I was wondering whether or not to prune them in the hope that they would bush out.  The only thing now is that they have fruit or flowers on almost every branch.  Any suggestions on aftercare would be much appreciated.

I tried growing Cape Gooseberry in the greenhouse in a large pot two years ago.   Got a handful which ripened in autumn but most did not and the first cold snap killed the unripe fruits and the plant died back.   The plant regrew from the base last summer and I had a promising collection of unripe fruit but yet again the fruit did not have enough time to ripen.  Takes up too much room - 8 ft high and 4 ft wide.  Stems the width of bamboo canes.   I've just pulled it out to make room for more reliable plants.   Shame really because I love cape gooseberries.

Grew for the first time last year - too many germinated so I planted half a dozen out against a sunny wall, kept another half dozen in pots and gave the rest away!  As above, plenty of fruits but very slow to ripen fully before summers end.  I did make jelly with them and it was very tasty - sort of sweet/sour marmalade taste.

Kept the potted ones on the chance they grow again  ??? but if not will leave it this year at least........

Just to say that I don't think it's a good idea to eat or use the unripe fruits of cape Gooseberry, as I believe they are high in the alkaloid solanine when green. This is the same substance found in green potatoes I think.

aaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgggggggggggggghhhhhhhh

I must admit I often couldn't wait for them to be fully ripe and have eaten them green.    :o

I'm still here though....................just about.   ::)

I didn't get any ripe fruit last year.  But the plant has survived in our extension over winter, so I'm hoping it will have a head start this year, but not holding my breath!

I managed 50/50 ripe and not last year. The ones that were large enough but not ripe I treated like unripe tommy's. On a window sill. They ripened ok.

just fishing out this thread. your experiences dont sound too promising. nevertheless, i will gorw some this year, however, maybe only three or so as a trial, rather than the 20 seedlings i have waiting....