This is not due to the weight of the crop, which is puny, but to the nature of the branches themselves. They are lightweight and hollow, and now they are beginning to dry out and crack apart at the crown:
The little "Chinese Lantern"-shaped fruits are dropping off the plants now, which I take to mean that they are ripe. They are still very small and inside the papery husks they are still very green, though tinged now with at least a hint of yellow / gold:
I tried eating one. It wasn't unpleasant - perhaps a bit cucumbery in texture, with a hint of tomato in the flavour - but I wouldn't yet say this is a delicious fruit. I have gathered up a few of the best specimens and brought them indoors to see if they will ripen properly.
The ones in the photo above were the best ones, but most of the fruits that have dropped so far are completely insignificant.
I hope that the fruits still left on the bushes will get a bit bigger and sweeter. Has anyone reading this had any experience with these things, from which I can learn?
We grow these "ground cherries" every year because my wife enjoys eating the little fruits. They are ripe when yellow/orange in color, usually by this time they have fallen off the plant. The plants do tend to get mold or a dry rot later in the season when the nights get colder or if they do not recieve enough air flow...all of ours have the same dried stem issues as the one in your picture does.
ReplyDeleteIf you can manage enough for a harvest they will ripen up a bit more off the vine and make a good adittion to salads and are also supposed to make nice preserves...although we have not tried this prefering to eat them fresh. There is another variety called Giant Cape Goosebery (Physalis peruviana L) that has larger fruits with a better flavor but seem to require a little longer growing season so we have never had really good luck getting them to produce as much as the regular ground cherries.
Also, if you like them enough to save seed a little trick is to put a few in the blender with some water and give it a whirl. The seeds will settle to the bottom of your container and can more easily be removed for drying this way.
Haven't heard of growing these (this) before and can't say would be exactly inspired to do so - but Mr H's comments are also interesting and fill out the picture.
ReplyDeleteThis is my first year growing them. I received some free seeds and decided to put a couple of plants in pots on the deck. I have enjoyed the flavor of some that we have tasted at the farmer's market in the past.
ReplyDeleteThe fruit on my plants however, does not seem to be ripening as they should. Although many have fallen off the plants and are dry, they are not ripe. We shall see if they ripen to the flavor that I remember. I am not having the same problem with the stems that you are having.
I too have grown a few plants this year for the first time so didn't know what to expect. I had to give one of the plants a bit of a haircut as the stems were becoming longer and heavier. Same deal with the puny fruits, most are still green and a few are starting to drop off not ripened
ReplyDeleteI've never heard of physalis - what on earth is it? Are they similar to a gooseberry?
ReplyDeleteOh I just read the comment above, they are a gooseberry. I have a cape gooseberry that seems to be doing well after only a few months in the ground. Some flowers, but no fruit yet.
I hope yours shape up.
I have grown tomotillos for a number of years which are similar to the above i think. I grow them to make salsa verde which cant be bought in the UK very easily. Usually the plants grow massive and almost uncontrolled with massess and massess of fruit. This year is the first year i have planed them into the ground and they have looked anaemic and produced the worst smallest crop i have ever seen so not sure whats going on with mine either this year. The have been fed and and generally hard to kill but still disappointing and i will miss out on many mexican dishes i had planned this year :(
ReplyDeleteHi Mark, I grow Physalis - although I call them Cape Gooseberries - I think I'm growing a different variety though with bigger leaves. I get reasonable amounts of fruit and as others point out they are ripe when they fall off the plant. Each year I get some die back of branches like in your photo but my plants compensate with new growth elsewhere. I prune them quite hard after fruiting as my plants get very straggly. I really like the flavour as I like sour fruits. When I have had them in restaurants (admitedly not that often) they are often dipped in a thin toffee coating or castor sugar as people often find them a bit sour.
ReplyDeleteStrange that they are called gooseberries when they are nothing like them isn't it? We grew them one year ages ago but didn't really like them very much so haven't grown them again.
ReplyDeleteI grew Cape Gooseberry last year in a pot, it fruited prolifically - the fruit taste a bit like a passionfruit tomato - the older the sweeter- my plant was about 1m tall and got hammered by beetles (three lined potato beetle I think). The plant has survived a cold winter and is now resprouting - looks like something you could do cuttings from. I didn't save the seed as thought it would keep going but they aren't meant to be long lived so will grow some more. I liked them and they were very pretty. Yours look much smaller and paler, ours were best when orange, dried husks, and fallen into the pot.
ReplyDeletewe grew ours in a much bigger pot than yours, maybe its a bit root bound?
ReplyDeleteMaybe I should try have a go on planting this now that spring has arrived. The problem is to find space.
ReplyDeleteI think those are "ground cherries". I've never grown them but I believe they grow like tomatillos.
ReplyDelete