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Ground cherry
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Posted by bex10023 New York City (rebecca@integrationfitness.com) on Wed, Apr 26, 06 at 13:22
I'm considering ordering a ground cherry from Seed Saver's Exchange. Have any of you grown it or tasted it? Any information would be appreciated. Thanks,
-bex |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Ground cherry
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| Oh yes! I will now grow them forever now. ;) Last year I tried them for the first time (grew Aunt Molly). Loved them. This year I'm growing Cossack Pineapple. We had two plants last year. It wasn't enough! :) |
RE: Ground cherry
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| Thanks, reign! I'll get two! |
RE: Ground cherry
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| Reign- Let us know how the Cossack Pineapple turns out! I got some seeds for it but I didn't get them in time to plant for this year. I definitely plan on trying it next spring, though. Although, I think they have a fairly short DTM so maybe I'll try them this fall. |
RE: Ground cherry
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| What do they taste like? As I recall, the SSE catalog describes Molly as having a "clean" taste, which sounds weird to me. Clean of what? Are there aftertastes or off flavors that ground cherries usually have? kristin |
RE: Ground cherry
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| Reign--thanks for the information this spring. I have 2 growing. They are beautiful, but I do need to make sure I don't confuse them with the tomatillos right next to them(!). Also, SSE said that they sprawl about 3ft. Maybe it was the loads of rain we got this spring in Upstate NY, but mine are almost 6 ft wide, and had to be staked as they trampled everything. Also, the squirrels seem to like them. Not a problem as they are loaded with fruit! While I don't really know what to do with them (am thinking of making perserves or chutney) I can't imagine not having them in my garden. My one question is how do I tell when they are ready to be harvested? Are they similar to tomatillos in that the fruit will fill out the husk? When I ate a few off the plant a few weeks ago they were small in the husk and quite tart. (sadly, I've been away from the garden since) Is this the norm? Many thanks,
-bex |
RE: Ground cherry
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| They are ready to harvest when they fall from the plant. The husk browns and the fruit falls to the grown. The fruit will be yellow - golden yellow. They keep a long time if you leave them in their husk. |
RE: Ground cherry
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| I grew Cossack Pineapple in my previous garden; it also spread quite a bit. The fruit would fall on the ground when ripe, so all I had to do was lift the branches & pick them up. This had to be done constantly, however, because mice would "harvest" them if left alone. The flavor is quite pleasant, especially if allowed to ripen within the husk for several weeks after harvest. But consumption of large amounts of the raw fruit is unhealthy, and is not recommended. |
RE: Ground cherry
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Zeedman, could you say why raw ground cherries are unhealthy? I guess you might have to eat a lot more than the few Aunt Molly's I munch on while gardening.
Fran |
RE: Ground cherry
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| Fran, you are correct in your assumption. I can't recall the original source of the recommendation... :-( ...but I am still looking. I only remember that it cautioned against eating _large quantities_ of the ripe fruit raw. I have snacked on them myself, with no ill effects. The immature fruits contain potentially fatal amounts of solanine & related alkaloids; I can only assume that some small amount remains in the ripe fruit. Solanine is the same substance that makes potatoes toxic when they turn green. |
RE: Ground cherry
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| My mother always had ground cherries growing in her garden on the farm in Iowa. I love them. They never made it to the house, we would all sit by the plants and eat as many as we could. When I moved to Missouri years ago, I tried many times to get them to grow here, no luck. Until I ordered the Aunt Molly plants from Seed Savers. I ordered two more plants this year but probably didn't need to, I have many volunteers plants coming up all over my garden. It's wonderful! My mother never had to plant them either, every year she just let some of the volunteers grow. You should never eat a green ground cherry, they can make you very sick and some people just react badly to ground cherries. I've never meet anyone who has gotten sick from them but then again, I haven't met to many people who know what ground cherries are. They are like candy to me! |
RE: Ground cherry
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| When I started growing them my MIL warned against eating the unripe fruit. I've never been told there was a problem with how much raw ripe fruit we eat. We eat a lot. :) We treat them like candy too. Thanks to the volunteers, this year I may actually get to try cooking with some. |
RE: Ground cherry
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| I bought ground chery seed from jl hudson this year and simply had no luck with them at all! I replanted 3 times before I ran out. I direct sowed in the garden. Perhaps I should have started them in flats. Do they like lean soil? Mine is very rich and loamy. Any tips would be greatly appreciated. |
RE: Ground cherry
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| I started gardening in new plots last year; but in my previous garden, ground cherries volunteered every year. I tried to transplant some of them, but those that didn't die outright were significantly weakened. The root system is not as fibrous as tomatoes, mainly a large taproot, and it does not take well to transplanting in the garden. In your climate zone, I am surprised that direct-seeding failed. Perhaps you will have to start them in pots initially (I did) to "air prune" the taproot. There is a wild ground cherry that grows even here in Wisconsin, so they should volunteer in your garden once they seed. |
RE: Ground cherry
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| I love those wild ground cherries, aka "ground tomatillo", they grew wild in our gardens when I was a kid. The fruits are small, but they have a pineapple like taste to them, yum! I hope I can find some seeds, or a wild pland somewhere. |
RE: Ground cherry
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| Reviving this thead, because I and a friend are trying these for the first time this year. Can these be caged/staked withoug ill effect on productivity? It turns out I am getting 9 plants (5 I ordered from SSE and 4 from my friend. I ordered them from SSE as a backup in case hers failed, at her request. She now has 6 seedlings and is going to give me 4). Nine of these very productive plants!!!!! I think I will be canning these and drying them, and possibly cooking with them too :D |
RE: Ground cherry
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| I was looking at the seeds and I was interested in trying to grow a variety of ground cherry, pineapple and strawberry. Can anyone tell me if cross-pollination affets the fruit for taste? I would imagine they need to be planted in different parts of the yard for seed saving too. How many days to maturity? Thanks! |
RE: Ground cherry DTM
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| I read online the DTM is 70 days. |
RE: Ground cherry
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| Sorry if this is a repeat. I planted fifty seeds of Aunt Molly's, but am not sure what the seedlings look like, and there is no description on the package. The cherry seedlings are lost amongst tree and other seedlings. Do they have red stems with really dark green leaves? Does anyone have a picture? I scoured the internet and came up with nothing. Thanks for any help you can provide. |
RE: Ground cherry
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| Do ground cherries cross-pollinate with tomatoes? |
RE: Ground cherry
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| No, ground cherries are in a totally different genus from tomatoes. They also don't cross pollinate with tomatillos which they are more closely related to. |
RE: Ground cherry
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| This might not be very helpful, but mine just sprouted, and they are incredibly skinny, tall green stalks (taller and skinner than anything else I've ever started). I'll try to remember to upload a picture later. |
RE: Ground cherry
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RE: Ground cherry
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| I'm growing these for the first time this year and will be using containers. I ordered the pineapple from Southern Exposure and a "husk cherry" from Fedco. I recall the descriptions generally saying that they had a mild citrus flavor akin to pineapple when ripe and reading cautions about eating the unripe fruit as it was a "powerful emetic." They also said that they lend well to preserves and pies in addition to eating out of hand. I figure that my girls will love them. |
RE: Ground cherry
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| I'm Ground Cherry too, No luck yet with germination... Those seeds are really tiny, I bought a Heat mat and dome kit to try to to kick them off.. Btw dont eat them when there still green! Ground Cherry are toxic when their not ripe. Becuase they are part of the NightShade family. |
RE: Ground cherry
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Ground cherrys are excellent. Ripe when they fall on the ground. And they always remind me of bonsai trees. If you like berries you cant plant enough!!!!
In the remote chance you dont like them you can send them to me. |
RE: Ground cherry
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| Mine are finally starting to look almost respectable. How are everyone else's doing? 
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RE: Ground cherry
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RE: Ground cherry
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RE: Ground cherry
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| Looking good! Yeah thanks and if you look at my other post, I started these around April 8th,(the last time I posted in this thread). They really are not growing too fast. Hopefully they'll pick up in July. I may of put them out too early. |
RE: Ground cherry #2
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| oh by the way Jessica you started yours in March 25? Dang yours aren't growing to fast either. Maby they are a slow plant by nature. |
RE: Ground cherry
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| You can buy seeds from Diane's Seeds website. One package to a customer, however. |
RE: Ground cherry
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| I think they are a slow plant by nature. Mine is doing a bit better these days, though! :-P 
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RE: Ground cherry
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Yes I think they are slow plant.. its hard to believe that such a little sprout will turn into a huge sprawling plant!
Here is mine now, blooming with fruit.
I'm not sure when to pick them though. :)
(And I was worried I planted them too late, lol) 
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RE: Ground cherry
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| Yours looks just exactly like mine at this point....I recall reading that the fruit will drop from the plant when ripe, but this is my first time growing them so I may be wrong. |
RE: Ground cherry
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| They do turn brown and drop. Incidentally, I think they're disgusting, so if anyone wants some pineapple ground cherries to eat or save for seed, please send me an email. |
RE: Ground cherry
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| I have about 7 ground cherry plants growing in my garden. They are loaded with cherries - but when they fall to the ground the husks are empty. What am I doing wrong. Should I pick them before they fall. At this rate - I'm not going to get any cherries. Any ideas are welcome. Thanks, Judy |
RE: Ground cherry
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| I planted 5 ground cherries in a raised bed along with several tomatoes and some bachelor's buttons. Very crowded in there! They are doing well as far as I can tell, and if they are as delicious as most people say I want to plant more in a big new in-ground bed. So my question is: are these bushes by any chance perennials? Will they survive a Canadian winter? What should I do to promote a healthy patch of ground cherries? Thanks, Connie |
RE: Ground cherry
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| I planted a packet-full of Ed Hume ground cherry seeds, and I think all of them sprouted. I ended up with 30 or so plants and had to give a bunch away. Mine are huge now. I should have staked them all up in large tomato cages as they are sprawling all over the garden on top of other plants and growing into each other. They have hundreds of fruits and even more blossoms. Mine are about 3-5 feet tall and 8 feet wide. None have ripened yet, but some of them are about two inches in diameter, as big as small tomatoes. Everything I've read says they are supposed to be small. Anyone ever experience huge ground cherries? I don't know what kind they are, as the seed packet just says ground cherry. |
RE: Ground cherry
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| I don't think they're perennials, however they seem to be pretty much indestructible. I pulled mine out of the container two months ago and threw it on the deck. It's somehow staying alive with no water and just the soil clinging to the roots. |
RE: Ground cherry
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| i relize your post maybe old but i might still get an answer 2 years ago i bought some ground cherry plants and they did greatbut did not come back this year till mid summer,but when they didn;t come up when i thouht they should i bought new ones and they turned out to be the big tomatillos and i wanted the little ones and i don;t have any ideas where i got them or there names please any help would be great thanks the milkman |
RE: Ground cherry
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| You might try ordering Aunt Molly's or Pineapple ground cherry seeds-- those are both the little, sweet variety. |
RE: Ground cherry
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| Has anyone grown Aunt Molly's in Zone 9/10? I have not grown them before. I am wondering if I could start them this fall or if I should wait until spring. |
RE: Ground cherry
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| I ripped mine out of the pot two months ago, and they've been surviving on the dirt clinging to the roots. I'm guessing you could. |
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