Aunt Molly Ground Cherry ((Physalis pruinosa) Harvesting http://www.durgan.org/URL/?TLTVG 1 September 2009 Aunt Molly Ground Cherry ((Physalis pruinosa) Harvesting This fruit drops off the plant under the lush vegetation. Vegetation is propped up with a stake and the fruit is picked off the ground. The fruit has been slow ripening due to cold weather. There is always numerous unripe fruit, when frost ends the season. http://www.durgan.org/URL/?HHVTD Summary 2009: Physalis pruinosa
Your harvest is impressive. I have grown ground cherries a number of years but always had more modest harvests. Have you any tips? I direct sow and amend the soil with a little compost, some mushroom manure, and a little green sand. Any advice would be appreciated.
A climate with warmer summers than Vancouver will produce a much larger crop. I have grown them here and in the East. I have never gotten a lot of fruit here. They have been grown in the food garden here at UBCBG as well. They seem to start producing their fruit too late in the season in cool Vancouver. You can try locating the plants in a sheltered spot, using black mulch and maybe growing under a plastic sheet to give them extra heat.
The Aunt Molly Ground Cherry has only been grown for three years. The first year the harvest was phenomenal. Last year the harvest was very poor. This year I am still disappointed comparing to the first year. The fruit is smaller, and often falls off the plant still green inside. The Summer has been cool, wet, with less sun than usual. My plants are started indoors, since I notice that the self seeders do not ripen prior to frost. There are three plants of Physalis peruviana ( Cape Gooseberry) in the garden.This plant is slower growing, and if the season holds there should be an abundant harvest. I am not optimistic.
