No need to pinch the fruit off. I always grow my plants in small containers and they always fruit well for me and do great! Just be careful that the plant doesn't get twice as wide as the pot. When it gets that big, transplant it to a bigger pot...

This year we had a bunch of jiffy pellets donated to our school garden club. I don't usually use jiffy pellets. But I can't waste anything. So we are using them all. I have to say that I did an experiment with the ground cherries where I started some in the jiffy pellets and some I put in a 4" pot with sterile seed starting mix. I had much better growth and germination rate with the seeds I started in the pots. To me, the difference was so significant that I will not even bother trying to use jiffy pellets with ground cherry seed anymore. Thought I would pass this along.

Okay, mine are finally starting to take off and look like the ones you guys have been showing off. I'm headed out right now to take them out of the greenhouse for their first couple of hours of real sun!

(Plus about twenty five containers of other plants! I'm going to be late for work if I don't speed up!:panic:)

[QUOTE=tgplp;267676]Hey guys! How are everyones ground cherries growin'? Pics anyone?



Taryn :D[/QUOTE]

End of the season is close so not long before it will have to be pulled,was a very cool summer so it didn't do as well as i would have liked,still managed to pick a hand most days.

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Oh my Goodness! How big is that thing? And what variety?

If it is an Aunt Molly's, I'm going to have to rethink where I'm going to put them. I thought they were only supposed to be a couple of feet tall.

It is quite amazing, though!

That looks like Physalis peruviana (Inca Berry) that grows taller. Ground Cherry (Physalis pruinosa) always stays low, almost sprawling...

yes its does look like its Physalis peruvian.
How i grow them is just before the frosts start in autumn i'll look for a couple of self sown seedlings in the garden and pot them up then put in my tunnelhouse for the winter,late winter early spring i'll re pot them into large pots and once the heavy frosts have past they go outside to be hardened off,that time of year (October) lighter frosts can still happen so if one is due the pot can be lifted back inside for the night.By this stage the two plants are about meters tall and are tied to bamboo stakes,finale planting out takes place in November

First ripe fruits from Aunt Molly's Ground Cherry today! I gave all three of them to customers.

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The healthiest Inca Berry plant is also starting to put on flower buds:

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I've got dozens of healthy seedlings but can't seem to squeeze in the time to get them transplanted. I'm hoping to get lots of production off of these, perhaps enough for drying and preserves.

wow Dale, those ground cherries look great! Alas, I ran out of time this year and got so busy with the tomato seedlings I forgot to plant the ground cherries. Too bad, I really wanted to try them!

Wow! Looks great! I put my ground cherries outside, and they were damaged by cold for the past few weeks. (I don't have any space for them inside!) I was so suprised yesterday to find a ripe ground cherry that fell off of the wilted plants! I gave it to my mom and she said it was delicious. Can't wait for more. I'd post pictures, but the plants are pretty ugly right now. :oops:

Taryn

I had a question for the ground cherry fans out there. Do these continue to set fruit through the summer, like an indeterminate tomato? Or do they set fruit and then stop flowering, like a determinate?

My four have set quite a few, but they have stopped producing flowers. I'm hoping that they will pick back up. A few have fallen off in the last few days and now I'm hooked!

It's even going to be hard waiting for them to really get sweet. But I think it would be worth it to wait a week or two to get that super sweet pineappley flavor. Some were perfect as soon as they fell off, but a couple that I've tried probably would have tasted a little better if I had waited.

Hoping these are indeterminate! I want more!

Yep, they keep producing until frost hits them :)
Sometimes they just need a little push to start flowering again. Try fertilizing them with liquid feed very low on nitrogen and high in P and K...

Yaaaay, Iva! That's what I wanted to hear!:yes:

I picked a pint today - a few of them in prime condition - were they ever tasty! (I have a serious sweet tooth and these help keep me away from the less nutritious candy). A customer also described them as having a pineapple-like flavor.

I also noticed few flowers today. We had record high temps last week. They might be like tomatoes that way - intense heat inhibits fruit set. Last summer was relatively cool and the four plants I had produced until frost. This year, 130+ Aunt Molly's plants!

Waiting for those first Inca berries to ripen...

By the way, someone let me try some dried "golden berries" a few weeks ago (VERY tasty, by the way). Predictably, I pocketed one, reconstituted with water, fermented for 3 days, then did a germination test. So far, 4 of 20 have emerged and they are looking just as expected - like Inca berry seedlings.

First ripe Inca Berries yesterday, 175 days from seed. Plants are about 4' tall but not doing real well. I'm guessing it's because of the intense heat - 95° plus most days for the past 3 weeks.

The plants have dropped several immature fruits over the past couple of weeks. These are the first fruits mature enough to eat. They are not yet premium size, flavor or color, however.

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