Cape Gooseberries (Physalis peruviana) comes originally from South America as you might guess from its botanical name but it grows extremely well in Ventnor. It is related to the tomato, potato, and other members of the nightshade family and closely related to the tomatillo but not to the gooseberry or Chinese gooseberry.
Also known as ‘Incan Berries’, the latest ‘superfood’, they contain vitamins A, C, B1, B2, B6, B12 and are high in phosphorous. They also contain 16% protein which is very high for a fruit.
The fruit is a small round berry, about the size of a marble, full of small seeds. It is bright yellow when ripe, and very sweet, making it ideal for adding to fruit salads, pies and jam making. Each berry is covered in a papery pod, if this is left on they will keep for 30 -45 days at room temperature, possibly longer.
All parts of the plant, except the fruit, are poisonous. It is in flower from July to October, and the seeds ripen from August to November.
It requires well drained soil of any type and will grow in poor soil too. Grow in partially shade or full sun. If the soil is too rich you will get loads of leaves and not so much fruit, so go easy on the feeding and manure.
It is not very cold hardy in this country but can be grown as a herbaceous perennial in milder areas or at the base of a sunny wall, in other words it will look as though it has died in the winter but will regrow in the spring. In colder areas you will have to plant new seeds every year indoors or a greenhouse in April/May.
It is a bushy plant that will reach 1 – 1½ metres tall. It is a good idea to pinch out the top growing shoot to encourage lots of side stems that will all bear fruit when it gets to about 30cms tall. It has beautiful flowers and does make an attractive addition to the garden.
I am having a go at growing two of these for the first time this year, I am going to put one in the ground and one in a pot so I can see how well they grow in containers.
Fruit photo: Flapdragon
Flower photo: Fir0002
Plant photo: Kurt Stueber
Ah, is that what those are called! They’re a staple of dessert-decoration in a certain type of restaurant, aren’t they? I always confidently tell my dining companions they’re kumquats… 😳
Toxicity
Unripe fruits are poisonous. The plant is believed to have caused illness and death in cattle in Australia.
Thank you for the info. I have eaten loads of unripe ones with signs of illness. Most of us who grow them do not have gardens large enough for cattle.
The little kumquats are like baby oranges. Lovely & tangy. My Cape Goosberries grow in my heated greenhouse, and i am learning more & more about these little orange delights! Mine seem to flower October to January and the three plants i have have given me about 1 kilo of fruit to date. Grow them in a heated conservatory, they would be a real talking point for your neighboure BUT beware, they grow to around 2 metres, so prune them every few weeks during the growing period to keep them managable. Good luck,
Kind regards
The Dragon Lady
Yep, apparently they are used in restaurants as table decorations.
As long as your friends have had a bottle of wine or two I sure they won’t care what they are and they won’t remember.
I think kumquats are the ones that are more like mini oranges and they are a lot bigger than cape gooseberries.
Cape gooseberries are really good, very sweet, Ken one of our Ventnor Permaculture members has been growing them for a few years and gave us all a clump of small seedlings. I have given a couple of plants to my father and my next door neighbour, so we are all growing them for the first time.
Thanks for the writeup, Angie. I’ve been growing these for years in Ventnor, and picking them right through the winter. How many other fruit can you do that with?
In my experience, they often last for months if left in their husks.
Come and see them tomorrow, and I may have some spare plants on offer.
I am trying two other Physalis species this year, so watch this space!
Ken
are they harmfull to pets ie cats or sausage dog .I live in southampton. Have 6 plants grown from seeds .
You are not going to believe this Ken, they are apparently the latest ‘Superfood’. Known as ‘Incan Berries’ in superfood circles, the dried berries are for £8.95 for 250gms. You can now be fashionable and rich.
cool
i am growing some for the first time this year also
i have 7 of them and they are all doing well
i have seen them growing in NZ aswell wildly
i have all mine in pots
i’m wondering if i should bring them inside for the winter?????
Hi Bec
If you are growing them in the South of England they tend to die back in the winter and look as though they are dead but sprout up again in the spring but much quicker and bushier than growing them from seed.
If you are in the North of England or anywhere as cold or colder you will probably have to start off new plants from seed every year.
I do not know if you can keep them going over the winter indoors or in a greenhouse.
No idea what winter temperatures are like where you are so can’t advise.
If anyone has any experience of doing this please let us know.
Angie
I live near Christchurch, in New Zealand. Until recently I lived on the west Coast of the South Island, in New Zealand. In this area, Cape Gooseberries do indeed grow wild. The annual rainfall is around 115″. Winter temps 2-15C. Summer temps 15-25C. A few very light frosts occur each winter.
I am surprised that nobody seems to grow Cape Gooseberries commercially in New Zealand.
Hi Alan
Me too! You would think someone would be jumping on the bandwagon and producing them on a large scale. Here dried berries cost around £8 for 250g and a tray of fresh ones £2 for about 15 – 18 berries. The dried berries are selling for $15 – $20 for 1 lb in the States. There is definitely money to be made growing them. Here they seem to be overtaking goji berries in popularity.
They certainly appear to be easy to grow here, they are not popular with the slugs and snails in my garden either. My plants are in flower now I am hoping that we might get some sun soon to ripen them along with my blueberries, tomatoes and tomatillo. We are having a rather wet spell at the moment here.
Angie
I have grown Cape Gooseberry this year for this first time and they have been tremendously successful. However today I have been in the garden emptying all of my pots in readiness for the winter and unfortunately cut down the CG to base level not realising they would have lasted so much longer. Do you think if I left the remainder in the pot they will return again next year??? (I have a friend in Ireland (Cork) who has also grown them successfully but in the ground and not in pots. Hers did return this year!) Also mine are apparently a salad variety but I am a bit dubious about eating the fruits (they are green and not orange when they “drop” – variety Johnsons “Little Lanterns” if that helps!)
How long did they take to germinate, please?
Hi Jan
Glad to hear they have done well for you.
Yes, they ‘should’ come up again next year but it might be an idea to save some seed just in case.
Sorry I am not familiar with that variety. Personally I would not attempt to eat them unripe, you can ripen them by taking them indoors or leaving them outside where they won’t get too soggy.
I have grown them this year for the first time and mine are in pots so I won’t know until next spring if they will come up again. None of mine have ripened yet as I have a choice of leaving them where they are in semi-shade and sheltered or moving them into full sun and exposing them to gale force winds which tend to hurl them around the garden.
Angie
Thanks Angie and, as you quite rightly say, I have indeed saved some of the pods in order to dry out the seeds in readiness for next year. My own garden is in the sun from 05:00 thru’ 20:00 during the summer months but, like you, we also suffer from high winds as we face the sea (we live in Hastings, East Sussex and I came across your website purely by chance). Oh well you can’t have it all ways I suppose. I’ll certainly try and remember to let you know next spring / summer whether or not I have been successful! (Although I am in my early sixties this is the first year that I have been able to concentrate on any form of real gardening and this despite the fact that I actually retired in 2002 so wish me luck with my endeavours).
Kind regards
Jan
Hi,
I just got a bunch of seeds for this plant, and I’m trying to grow some. I live in the US. Tennessee, right on the border of zones 6 and 7. I was wondering if you had any advice for growing these from seed?
Thanks,
Nicole
Hi
I was given mine last year as young plants but I am going to try sowing some seed this week. There is a growing guide here that you might find useful: http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Physalis+peruviana
Hope you do well with them.
Angie
I have known these all my life (72 yrs) and have had no trouble growing them in both winter and summer rainfall areas. I live in South Africa, and have always been under the false impression that ‘cape’ referred to our Western Cape Province, thinking they originated here. Thanks to the internet I have now become wiser.
Whenever they became straggly or died down through neglect, there would always be seedlings coming up the next season. Unfortunately my last plant did not survive a period of drought when we were away for longer, and I have had no seedling coming up. I have searched for seeds in the nurseries but none of them seem to stock them here in the Western Cape. They make the most delicious jam and cheesecakes, so I shall persevere in my search!
I know how you feel we had a very long harsh cold spell and all have mine died. Hope you find some more seeds.
Angie
Hi Waltraut,
Have you been able to locate seeds? I also live in South Africa, Western Cape, and have recently purchased Cape Gooseberry seeds from my local Benbel store.
Hope you get this (rather late that never)
Try Organic Seeds Lynnwoodridge(Pretoria)
Tel 076 364 9935
web http://www.organicseeds.co.za
hi Waltraut
I live in Johannesburg South Africa and have the bushes coming up like weeds all over my garden. They seem to seed themselves or r dropped by birds.They can be found both in pots and in the ground just happily coming up. They r much better as fruit in spring and early summer. (Maybe too much rain spoils them)I also prerfer them picked and eaten asap. Any berry has allthe seeds one needs so no need to buy any. Hav fun!!!!
Hi Waltraut
I have also found the seeds in Stodels (Cape Town, South Africa). Only, they seem to take a very long time to germinate, even in summer. But finally I have a few growing.
They seem to be the favourite host for a smallish, light yellow with black stripes, beetle. It looks a lot like the Transvaalse boontjiekewer (bean beetle) – at least that’s the name I know it by. It has the most disgusting, brown, slimy larvae, feels like mini-slugs when you squish them, and clusters of yellow eggs on the underside of the leaves. I do not know this insect, but it is eating up my Cape Gooseberries faster than I can kill them! Does anybody have any advise, please? I have not yet used any insecticide on them, as I prefer to do pest control manually or by companion planting, but these beetles are going to drive me to poison!
i live in auckland and planted a cape gooseberry, weel i thougth it would never grow and to my amazement in 2-3 months it has taken off and is covered in fruit.I cant wait to try and to see if they are as sweet as people say they are, if so i will plant more as i am going to bottle them/preserve in glass jars.heres hoping and to the previous comment if this works i am going to get them going commercially i hope
I live in Auckland, New Zealand and just bought a plant last weekend at a farmer’s market. They seem to be dying out a little and I’m worried they’ll die – it’s been quite hot here and the berries get full sun so I’ve been watering them everyday, unfortunately the leaves keep getting more and more yellow. I wonder if they need less water – any advice??
Sorry have no experience of growing in NZ. Try giving slightly less water or water every other day, let the pot drain after watering, don’t let it sit in water.
Angie
hi,
i grew up in Cape Town, South Africa. We had a few small bushes growing wild in our yard. As kids, we absolutely loved picking them and eating the bright orange ripe fruit. Now about 40 years later, living in California, I was really excited to see some Cape Gooseberries growing on a giant bush at a friend’s place. He simply cut off about 3 stems from the big bush, and i planted them in medium sized pots. This is their second year, rather a small little bush because on my little deck we only get a few hours of sunshine. So you can grow these from cuttings!
ive been growing this plant since the start of summer not knowing what it was just found out and im very thrilled i live in manchester what shall i do over the winter bring it in or grow from seed ( how? ) had and got flowers now got some lanterns and thats it so far
Sorry have no experience of growing it in northern regions. Even down here in the mild south I lost all my plants during the cold winter last year. Some plants appeared at the end of the summer but not where they were before so there must have been seeds in the compost so I have put a thick mulch around them. You can try overwintering them indoors or in a greenhouse (please let us know if it works), although they are very easy to grow from seed.
I live in Nova Scotia, Canada and would love to try growing these! We have pretty cold winters with lots of snow so they obviously wouldn’t survive that. But we have 3-4 months of frost free summer weather – does anyone know if that’s long enough to mature the fruit?
I would try sowing the seeds early in the year and grow them on on a windowsill so the plants are quite big before they go outside, if you leave them in large pots you may be able to ripen them off indoors at the end of your growing season.
I also live in NS and have Cape Gooseberry bushes I started from seed in March, indoors. The plants have tons of fruit, but only a few ripening. Since we’ve had our 1st frost the leaves are wilted but the fruit is still green. Not sure what to do…
I live in west Wales & have no experience of NS, but my guess is you need to grow them [or at the very least establish them] under glass or in a polytunnel. That’s what they prefer here & our climate is relatively mild [by UK standards].
I live on the south shore of Nova Scotia and grew these from seed this year, from 8 plants ive collected several kilograms of fruit and they are still going strong(oct 6th) just love them🐔
I live in Winnipeg, Canada and have grown one for the first time ever. I planted it as a 6 inch starter in late May. That’s less than 4 months ago and the plant is well over a meter tall and full of fruit. We’ve eaten a few, but will let the rest ripen fully on the plant. I had used a tomato cage for support but I can’t even see that cage now. Very exotic and delicious. I had only tasted them previously in a few higher end restaurants.
Thanks for the detail on Cape Gooseberries, I was really looking for info on growing from seed, as I figured I should be able to use seed from a berry. well I suppose I will just give it a try.
Yes one berry is all you need! Enjoy
they are so easy to grow i started seeds under heat a month ago just in a standard seed compost it looks like everything has germinated ive now got severall hundred plants only wanted a few looks like ille be giving a few away
Angie,
Any update on the plants you had in the pot versus the ones transplanted to the ground, did this change the fruit production? Also, any sucess on keeping them over winter indoors in the pots?
Anne
Hi Anne
There did not seem to be much difference but I only grew them for the one season, the harsh winter weather we had killed them all. I am going to have another go next year and will try overwintering some plants in my plastic greenhouse, I shall wrap the pots with several layers of bubble wrap and perhaps try some straw on the top, as if they do survive in the ground they take ages to get going again.
Angie
Someone was asking about keeping cape gooseberries in the greenhouse over winter. I have been growing and over-wintering c.g. for some years now in my greenhouse – I live in the north west highlands of Scotland – Unfortunately with the -16C of last winter I lost my four plants. I have found that I am really only successful if I can save the plants over winter as we don’t have a long enough summer to give them time to fruit if I grow from seed. I came on this forum looking for an answer to the plants becoming far too big – when I try to nip out the tips all that happens is two more grow in it’s place. I notice someone said they really need poor soil, so I’ll not be so kind to them this year. If anyone else has suggestions as to how to keep them small and bushy I would be much obliged. I do get masses of fruit but the plants are truly enormous taking over the g.h.
Hi Jess
I lost all my plants last year even down here in the south, having them in pots and raised beds the long cold snap we had finished them. I am going to try again next year and will also try to keep them in my tiny greenhouse. I did grow some in poor soil but they were still about 4ft tall! It may be worth trying just cutting them off at the height you need them to be when it is time to put them away for the winter as I think the foliage would probably die back anyway even in a greenhouse.
Angie
Hi Angie,
I have a couple of plants you can have if you like. I have more than ever at St. Lawrence, so I really don’t need the ones I have at home.
Did you know you can grow them from cuttings as well?
Ken
Hello all,
What a delight to find this discussion. Thanks for the info and for starting, Angie.
I live in Gourock, Scotland (west of Scotland on the Clyde). I don’t have a garden but am turning my top landing into one. We are lucky enough to be the only flat on the landing, and it is an atrium.
I’m figuring out what will grow here, as it’s very bright all day but little (if any) direct sunlight makes it down to the plants. The guy at the garden centre gave me a weedy tomato plant he was about to chuck out, as I was doubtful it would thrive without direct sun or heat. It’s a Sungold cherry variety, and while many of the blooms broke off at the neck before turning to fruit, several others ‘made it’ and now I even have a couple that have turned gold!
A friend (who is a keen gardener) came to visit a couple of weeks ago, and she brought a cape gooseberry. So, I’m going to try it. It’s a wee little plant with only a couple of leaves, but we’ll see how it does. I don’t know whether it’ll get too cold over the winter, but am hoping not. Then it’ll be a matter of whether it likes the brightness without the direct sun. So far, things that tolerate part shade have done well.
Anyone have any thoughts about the tomato blooms that broke off at the neck? I’m thinking this may be a similar problem with the cape gooseberry, since they are related to the tomato plant.
I’ve planted cape goosberries indoors from seeds this spring. We live in the south of England. I have had an amazing amount of cpe gooseberries since the end of July. I will let you know if they survive over winter. (I have 4 plants in the conservatory). I also have two toddlers and a kitten so I will have to keep my fingers crossed that they survive through them too.
I love that they are super foods because my 2 year old loves them like sweeties. How poisonous is the rest of the plant though, if they eat the leaf surrounding the fruit by mistake is this going to be dangerous?
Nicky
be careful with pets and children because these plants are poisonous!!!
its only the fruit that is not poisonous!
Thank you for the info. Never had any experience of children eating them, I always taught mine not to eat anything from the garden unless I approved it, when younger they were always supervised. Most parents tend to do the same. Luckily my dogs have never shown any interest in them, nor have the spraying tom cats that invade my garden.
Yesterday I was given a few fruits and no one knew the name of them. Now I know. But how can I grow plants from these here in Thailand where the average temperature is 34c?
Hi Ron
My normal stance with anything is to give it a go, it is always worth a try. I know it is native to South Africa and also grows in South and Central America as well as Europe. I would think they would need plenty of water and poor soil.
Angie
I grew cape gooseberries in my garden last year for the first time.I have had dozens of fruit but they have all dried up inside the leaves before the leaves have died of to a cripsy brown In desperation I took some flowers off and put them in a sunny window The leaves did start to brown but the fruit remained green and then dried. HELP! Northumberland
Hi Gillian
The few I had dried before they ripened properly too. I think it was just a bad year for them. Ken just left his to ripen on the plants. Think the soil mine were growing in was too rich for them. Don’t know what to suggest. Anyone else got any suggestions?
Angie
Thought I would let everyone know that my two plants have made it so far overwintering in my cold greenhouse. I cut them down to about 3-4 inches after fruiting was finished – they are in 10″ pots – and as soon as the weather threatened frost I wrapped them in bubble wrap, put some scrunched up newspapers on top and left them like that. I notice today that they have started to send up new shoots at the base so have given them a small amount of water and replaced the newspaper, but will uncover them whenever the weather is mild. I think it is very similar to overwintering pelergoniums or fuschias – at least that;s how I have done those in the past. Hope this info is helpful.
Hi Jess
Thanks for letting us know how you got on with the overwintering, very useful. If they are sending up shoots now and you can protect them until all the frosts up there have gone you will have a very early lot of berries.
At the end of July I finally had a couple of seedings come through (in a bed where they were no supposed to be of course) I was so pleased I left them there in the middle of my carrots!
The two plants (still outside) are now about 5ft tall with all their leaves still green. They have been flattened by 60 – 70mph winds a couple of times but the foliage has not died back at all as I think we have only had 2 or 3 very mild frosts down here. Unless we get some really cold weather down here soon we are going to be overrun with pests this summer.
Please let us know how much earlier than normal you get berries as a lot of us struggle to get them ripened.
Angie
Hi Angie
I’ll do that. A few years ago I had cut off all the stems and
dumped the pots in the corner of the greenhouse intending to take them to the compost heap. I forgot all about them and to my amazement come spring they were sprouting away good style from the base. I had a huge crop that year because the plants were off to such an early start. Success from ignorance! I am much too far north to grow them outside, so just like all my tomatoes they are grown in the greenhouse.
Jess
In a warm conservatory I have been picking and eating one a day through the winter.plant 4feet tall. Potted on and now a new flush of lanterns coming but not ready toeat. Now have seedlings to 6inches and intend to plant out in a coldframe soon. Thinking it is hardier than tomatoes? Any evidence on this?
Jonathan south devon
Hi! I started my seeds in an Aero garden. I have three plants that are about 10″ tall and flowering like crazy. I have them in pots now, inside. I live in North Carolina. Should I plant these in the ground or leave them in the pots? Should I leave them inside or take them outside? Would appreciate any help. Thanks.
[…] bu these were actually husk cherries, one of my favorite fruits, and which also go by the name Cape Goosberries. Fun fact! I love learning about fruit and vegetable […]
Hi all,
I’ve succeeded to plant goosebery from seed that I buy the fruit from super market, now start to flowering and seems very close come to be fruit. I stay in Jakarta – Indonesia. What I do not understand is about “poisonous” for unripe fruit. Is that mean we can not eat fresh fruit so need to dried or need something to do to unpoisonous this fruit. is than plan is also poisonous if we handle it by hand? sorry for this stupid question
Thanks
Anis
In South Africa Port Alfred th Most WINDY PLACE IN THE WORLD CAN I GROW GOOSEBERIEIRS HERE/?
Don’t know about Port Alfred, but we now live in the windy side of Somerset West. My gooseberries are about 30cm from the perimeter wall, so they’re protected from the wind on one side only, and they’re doing just fine. So far the beetles make sure that the branches never get heavy (eating up half the plant), but I’m thinking that they’ll definitely need support if I can get rid of the goggas, to make sure to wind doesn’t whip the branches around.
I’d say give it a try! we don’t have to worry about frost, or too low temperatures, and get sufficient rain for the berries, so the only potential drawback is the wind.
Hello. I came across this site because I’m trying to find out whether it’s a good idea to pinch out the growing tips & any sideshoots where the leaf stalks join the stem [as you do tomatoes], and to partially de-leaf the plants to aid ripening of the fruit. I’d be grateful for anyone’s thoughts.
I’ve grown CGs for the last few years in a small, very overcrowded greenhouse in West Wales & am always impressed by the amount of delicious fruit they produce & how well the fruits last, both on the plants & once picked. Easy to still be eating them at xmas. I confirm that they’re very easy to grow from last year’s seed. They also seem to be virtually pest & disease free. I think they thrive well on neglect, because this year I’ve been less neglectful [fed them dutifully with tomato food, watered them more regularly] & have been rewarded with vast amounts of foliage but fewer flowers setting to produce fruit. Not sure whether this is because of there being low temperatures & little sun relative to normal seasons or because I’ve pampered the plants, or a combination of both. Again, would appreciate other people’s views.
This year all my plants bar one were started from seed. The ‘bar one’ plant survived the winter in the unheated greenhouse & is now the biggest plant but is not noticably advanced in its productivity. I’m not clear that over-wintering them necessarily gives them an advantage but intend to experiment again this winter. I start my mine off in a heated propagator early in the spring, then grow on in the greenhouse. This year I’m experimenting with several plants outside for the first time. I planted them in the sunny bits of the garden [well, bits that would be sunny if the sun deigned to shine], some sheltered, some not, in late June. They’re flowering & there are some fruits forming, but so far fewer than those under glass.
Back to my main questions please does anybody know whether it’s a good idea to pinch out growing tips & side shoots & partially de-leaf?
Many thanks,
Kila
I have read elsewhere on the net that they don’t like to be watered while fruiting.. which makes me think that de-leaf might be a good idea to hasten ripening. But that’s a slightly educated guess at best.
They are family of tomatoes, after all.
ny cooking recipes please?
arthur
I hada good laugh about the cows
froma basement in Pimlico
I threw some old mouldy CG’s in the corner of my green house late last year,and when they started growing this year I knew they wasn’t weeds but didn’t have a clue what they were.long story short I am sat eating a few now and we have took hundereds off and there are hundereds left in early december prolific fruiter and no trouble.
I have just been given some seeds and know nothing about growing these delicious little fruits. Thanks for all the info… best so far in all my research. South Australia has a climate to South Africa so I hope I have success like many of you.
My neighbor grows them here in Reno Nevada and gave me a few seedlings which I had to bring in for the winter, she has lots of berries and mine survived somewhat and will put them out when all danger of frost is gone, not till end of March. it gets down in the teens here plus lots of snow so time will tell how mine will do.
how long does it take from seed to fruit? I live in Lima Peru.
I am growing my inca berry in Melbourne, australia. Until recently it was growing very well and just recently the leaves are starting to turn yellow. We have had a hot run of a week or two above 30 degrees Celsius. Does anyone know if this could be the cause? I have been keeping up the watering on hot days. It is currently still flowering and producing fruit, and really want to keep it healthy as the fruit should be ripening soon. Has anyone else had this problem, and if so how did you fix it. Thanks in advance.
Melissa, I live in Perth and have had my plant for a couple of months now. The leaves on the plant are also turning yellow and falling off. We have had a month of 30 degrees and above as well. I was looking for the answer to your question as well? Did you find anything out?
I have been growing them in Southern Ontario Canada (5b) for serveral years. Last year was very poor so in the fall I dug up one plant and brought it inside the sunroom. It is now well over a meter tall, very leggy, but is bering fruit. I also started several from seed for this years garden. Next fall I will cut the plant back when I bring it in.
Hi i have been reading your blog i might add some helpful advice thanks.
Also have you ever tried planting potatoes in tyres as they grow up you add more tyres and soil and also strawberries if you make a 3 tier in a square you can let them spread as far and wide take less room !! I also recycle newpaper on the rabbits and guinea pigs and then goes into the compost for the garden . Apparentley if you plant carrots next to radish it helps them by the heat they give off. I also seem to be loosing cape goosberries as well but they reshoot from seeds which have fallen . New zealand ( north island)
Has anyone had Cape Gooseberries survive the winter including snow (zone 8A) by just mulching them? Will some plants come up in the spring if I just cut them to the ground in late fall? Mine are doing great in N. California and I have some seedlings I’d like to transplant at our cabin in the Sierra Mtn. foothills.
Hi, I posted in Aug 2012 asking if it’s a good idea to pinch out a Cape Gooseberry’s growing tips & sideshoots as you would a tomato plant. It’s now 3 yrs later & I’d still really like to know….. anyone know?
I’ve now been growing them for about 15 yrs, first in Manchester & nowadays in West Wales, so may be able to pass on a few tips. People have asked about germination; couldn’t be easier. I normally save the seed of just one fruit, start them off in late winter / early spring in a propagator, then grow them on in the greenhouse. Last summer I tried growing a couple of plants outside against a south facing wall. They grew vigourously & fruited well but the season wasn’t long enough for most of the fruits to ripen fully. Some of the fruits that did ripen fell to the ground & spent the entire winter there & this has resulted in my veg plot being totally inundated with self-seedied physalis plants this season. I must have composted literally hundreds of them. That’s how readily they germinate! It also suggests that they are hardier than we give them credit for.
I usually overwinter at least one plant in the greenhouse [just hack it down & keep it very dry].
On several occasions [including this season] I’ve forgotten that they DON’T want nearly as much food as a tomato. Too much food = lush foliage & far fewer fruits.
I can confirm what other people have said about the fruits keeping well either on the plant or off. If you reduce watering greenhouse plants at the end of the summer, the plants start looking scruffier by the day but the fruits hang on, unripe ones continue to ripen, & you’ll still be eating them at xmas.
Now, please, can anyone advise me whether pinching them out improves productivity? Am aiming for more compact plants with more fruits.