I was begging for prairie dock seeds and a nice man sent some to me along with ground cherry seeds. I haven't planted them yet, but he was from north of St. Louis. Unless I misunderstood, he grew them there.

That might be the same person that sent them to me Helen. I looked back at an old email. He was from a town northwest of St. Louis. I'll just email him and ask him if he plants them where they get some shade unless you've already asked. I'm kind of curious whether he starts them under lights or just sows them in place so I'll ask that too and let you know what he says.

I'm a little further south in zone 7b, central Arkansas and I'm going to try and grow them in big pots in my small greenhouse. I have very limited sunny garden areas and my small greenhouse takes up some of that space.

I do have a shade cloth and may need to use it but like you, I'm curious about this plant and fruit. I've never grown them nor have I ever seen a ground cherry plant so it will be a really new experiment for me, too.

I'm now attempting to start the seed indoors in a 2 liter soda bottle used as a mini greenhouse. I've read that they can take about two weeks to germinate and you should treat them like you would pepper plants. Apparently they are a heat loving plant.

You can find a lot of information about them on line by googling ground cherries.

If I can find this thread again, I'll try to come back and report on my progress if I have successful seed germination. My seeds are old, about 5 years, so they may not be viable.

Good luck.

Mary

Yes Mary - Please do report back. We'll all compare notes and see if we can figure out what works and what doesn't.
I think I'll try putting some in full sun and some in afternoon shade and see how they do but I'm getting ahead of myself. Got to get them to germinate first. : ) I'm going to winter sow a few pretty soon - maybe after the "wintery mix" is over that's predicted later this week. I don't expect them to tolerate late freezes well but I cheat and bring stuff in when it gets cold. I'll start some inside too.

I remember my Mother growing them, years ago. She even had some in her flowerbed.
She made a jam/jelly with them. As a kid, I thought they were terribly sweet-but dont remember her ever having trouble growing them.
I remember how I was cautioned not to confuse the ones on a
"sticker bush". They had fruit in a little paper husk too.

Just wanted to let everyone know I see the first little Aunt Molly's ground cherry seed beginning to push up out of the sowing medium. I do have the container inside, as all I've read said to treat them like peppers or tomatoes regarding germination. These seeds are about 5 years old so I'm very excited to see something germinating so soon. I wasn't expecting to see any activity for a couple of weeks.

Mary

Congrats Mary! I still haven't started mine. I'm afraid I'll kill them if I start them too soon.
Ceresone - Did your mother live in the Ozarks? I should ask my parents if they remember ever eating them. Some people may have been leary of them because of their resemblance to deady nightshade. The berries on that are much smaller though right?

Yes, Mom lived about 3 miles from where I live now.

Thanks Ceresone - I can't blame it on summer heat then if I fail at ground cherries.
I'd like to try making some jelly or jam if I get lots of fruit. Bean_Counter posted a recipe for Ground Cherry Pie in the Tomato Forum that sounds good too. I copied it below.

Amish Ground Cherry Pie
* 2-1/2 cups ground cherries
* 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
* 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
* 2 tablespoons water
* 1 (9 inch) pie shell
* 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
* 3 tablespoons white sugar
* 2 tablespoons butter
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
Wash ground cherries and place in unbaked pie shell. Mix brown sugar and 1 tablespoon flour and sprinkle over cherries. Sprinkle water over top. Mix together 3 tablespoons flour and 3 tablespoons sugar. Cut butter in until crumbly. Top cherry mixture with crumbs.
Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes, reduce temperature to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) and continue to bake for 25 minutes until crumbs are golden brown.

Here's a few more Ground Cherry recipes I discovered on line ...

Ground Cherry and Cucumber Salsa

ingredients metric measures
1/2 cup husked and diced ground cherries 70 gm
1 cup peeled, seeded, diced cucumbers 180 gm
1 carrot pepper, a few slices for garnish,
the rest diced fine 20 gm
1/4 cup chopped cilantro 15 gm

Mix it up. Any leftovers keep for a day or two in the fridge.

--------------------------------------------

Ground Cherry Pie
Ingredients
Pastry for a 2-crust 9-inch pie
 3 tablespoons quick-cooking tapioca
 1/2 cup granulated sugar
 1/2 cup brown sugar
 3/4 teaspoon almond extract
 1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
 Dash of salt
 2 1/2 cups husked ground cherries
 2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter

Directions
Line a 9-inch pie pan with pastry and set aside. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.In a medium bowl, combine the tapioca, sugars, almond extract, nutmeg, and salt. Sprinkle half the mixture in the bottom of the pastry shell and top with the cherries. Sprinkle the remaining sugar mixture over the cherries and dot with the butter. Top with a lattice-designed or other decorative top crust.
Bake for 10 minutes, then lower the heat to 350 degrees F.and bake for about 45 to 50 minutes longer, or until the crust is deep golden and the juices in the pie are bubbling up in the center. Cool before cutting.

----------------------------------------
Ground Cherry Pie II
Ingredients
 4 cups pitted ground cherries
 1/2 cup white sugar
 2 teaspoons tapioca
 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
 1 lemon, juiced
 2 tablespoons butter
 1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie

Directions
1. Gently mix together the ground cherries, sugar, tapioca, flour and lemon juice. Let stand for 15 minutes.
2. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Line a 9 inch pie pan with half of the pastry.
3. Pour the fruit mixture into the pastry-lined pan, and dot the top with the butter. Cover with top crust or lattice.
4. Bake at 450 degrees F (230 degrees C) for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) and bake for another 40 minutes, or until golden brown.

--------------------------------------------
Ground Cherry Pie III
Ingredients
 2 1/2 cups ground cherries
 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
 2 tablespoons water
 1 (9 inch) pie shell
 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
 3 tablespoons white sugar
 2 tablespoons butter

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
2. Wash ground cherries and place in unbaked pie shell.
3. Mix brown sugar and 1 tablespoon flour and sprinkle over cherries. Sprinkle water over top.
4. Mix together 3 tablespoons flour and 3 tablespoons sugar. Cut butter in until crumbly. Top cherry mixture with crumbs.
5. Bake at 425 degrees F (220 degrees C) for 15 minutes, reduce temperature to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) and continue to bake for 25 minutes.

---------------------------------------------------
Ground Cherry Pie Recipe IV
Serves 6 to 8
Ingredients
 4 cup ground cherries
 1/2 cup sugar
 2 tsp quick cooking tapioca
 Handful all-purpose flour
 Juice of 1 large lemon
 Pastry for a double-crust
 9-inch pie
 2 tbsp butter

Directions
1. Gently mix together ground cherries, sugar, tapioca, flour and lemon juice.
2. Let stand for 15 minutes while you line a 9-inch pie pan with half of the pastry.
3. Preheat the oven to 450 F Turn the fruit, mixture into the pastry-lined pan, and dot the top with the butter.
4. Cover with a well-pricked top crust or lattice work of dough.
5. Bake at 450F for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350F and bake for another 40 minutes, or until golden brown.

------------------------------------------------------

Ground Cherry Pie ... I believe this is the one just posted on the previous post:

2 ½ to 3 cups Ground Cherries Washed
2/3 cup Brown Sugar
1 heaping Tablespoon Flour
2 tablespoons Water
3 tablespoon Sugar
3 tablespoon Flour
2 ½ tablespoons Butter

Place ground cherries into an unbaked pie shell. Stir together the brown sugar and the 1 tablespoon of flour-put this evenly over the ground cherries and then sprinkle water-again evenly-over all.
Stir together the 3 tablespoons sugar and the 3 tablespoons flour. Cut in the butter until it is crumbly-Place on top of pie.
Bake in a preheated 425 degree oven for 15 minutes. Then turn down to 375 degrees and bake another 25 to 28 minutes.

__________________________________________________________

Ground Cherry Marmalade Taken from "The Farm Journal's Country Cookbook" 1972

3 cups Ground Cherries husked and washed
2 cups Pears cooked, drained, and diced finely
¾ cup Water
½ cup Crushed Pineapple (drained)
¼ cup Lemon Juice
7 cups Sugar
½ bottle Liquid Fruit Pectin

Combine ground cherries, pears, and water: cook slowly for approx. 25 minutes.
Add the pineapple, lemon juice, and sugar-bring quickly to a full rolling boil. Add pectin: boil rapidly for 3 min.
Remove from heat and alternately skim and stir marmalade for 3 minutes.
Pour into hot sterilized jars: seal. Makes 7 one half pint jars.
Well, this can get you going. Enjoy the new/old taste, and push some buttons in your memory.

I hope we are all successful in growing a few ground cherries and can give some of these recipes a try.

Mary

Mary - How nice of you to post all of those! I hope I get enough ground cherries to try out a couple recipes at least.
I figure, if we love them, I'll only get a handful. If we hate them, I'll have a bushel basket full and seedlings coming up everywhere next spring. ha

Christie it is the new adventure and trying something that is important. If your kids are involved that is even better. People who like plants and animals don't need to be rich to be entertained.

OK, ladies, I hope you've gotten your ground cherry seed started as I'm looking forward to reading about your experience with this little plant.

My ground cherry plants are growing like crazy. They're still in the house as I've been afraid it's been too cold at night for them, even in the greenhouse. I think I'll move them into the greenhouse next week when the night temps are expected to remain in the 40's. Once they're a bit cold hardened, I'll up pot them into a larger container. Right now they're growing in about 5 inches of potting soil in the bottom half of a 2 liter cola bottle.

I really didn't expect these early plants to do much and I'm surprised at how healthy they look. Just mainly wanted to see what the little plants looked like. I fully intend to plant more seed later on but can't destroy these little guys as they are trying so hard to impress me! :-)

Mary

Maybe you'll get some early fruit with those Mary. They Do look healthy. I have three seedlings, not nearly as big as yours though. I had four but one didn't look right and died. I want to plant some more too. I think I have seeds from two different varieties. The seedlings I have now were from ones labeled 'Aunt Molly's'.

Hi Christie,

These were grown from 'Aunt Molly's' seed. I purchased seed of the other variety to try, too, but they've not yet arrived.

Please come back and let us know how this plant does for you. I'm excited to learn about it.

Mary

Update on the ground cherries:

I do believe my ground cherry plants are already producing little bloom buds! I've moved them into the greenhouse, thinking they'd enjoy more natural light out there. Some of the nights are still cool. Our last frost date is the 22, so temps should gradually warm now.

I've also received the other variety of ground cherry seed, supposedly has a pineapple type flavor and I've got three seedlings up of this variety. Will be interesting to compare the two.

If bloom buds is what I'm seeing, when they bloom, I'll take a photo and post. I think this is going to be a fun plant to grow.

Mary

I have four little Aunt Molly plants. They are slow growing in my cool basement.

I had to start over with mine. : ( I think a combination of damping off and my own brown thumb killed my first ones so I've planted some more. This time I have some in the house and some outside. They should still have plenty of time to fruit. I'm just going to have to wait longer than both of you to try them.

once you plant them, you will have seeds for a long, long time. they can get gangly [?] and need a cage. they self seed easily. kinda like grandpa ott's morning glory.

william

I can't see my little plants ever needing a cage; they'll have to have a growth spurt. But William do they taste good? Are they worth the space?

helen- they remind me of cherry tomatoes in growth and labor. the ones i raised became a little woody on the branches and tend to split off the plant without support. i quit growing cherries because all you did was pick, pick etc.

the flavor was good but you have to pick a lot. there is a large variety but i don't remember the name. this was my experience. i have only raised them once.

i might be thinking of tomatillo's?????? as i age, my past experiences are hazy!

william

i was right about being wrong. i raised tomatillos. sorry
william

From what I read last night, the ground cherries also sprawl and need some sort of support. Some people really like them; one lady thought they were disgusting so we will have to try them for ourselves.

Here is a photo of what I think might be the first fruit flower bud on my little seedlings (look closely right in the center of the photo). Can this be? I've never grown this plant nor ever seen one (or for that matter, a fruit from a ground cherry) but I'm having fun watching these little seedlings grow. I'm thinking of planting my little plants in big pots, once it gets a bit warmer.

Mary

Yours looks healthy. They like heat so they should take off in summer. Many people say they reseed and to put a cloth under them to catch the fallen fruit instead of picking them.

Looks like a flower bud to me too Mary. Congrats!
I'll never catch up. : )

christie,

I think my ground cherry seedlings might be moving along so fast because I moved them out to my small greenhouse, where they get a lot of diffused natural light and warmth during the day. This is my first year having a little greenhouse so another new experience for me. I'm just surprised that it would try and set fruit so early as I only heat the greenhouse to about 40 degrees, making the nights cool out there. This must be a hardy little species. I'll be so excited to see a fruit and try the taste.

I also received the seed of the other variety and they're already up and showing the tiny first true leaves. These little things grow quickly! Your plants will catch right up once your days begin to warm. Remember, you are 1.5 zones colder than me.

Mary

I read somewhere they're perennial but don't know if all species are. It might be worth a try, if you leave any in containers, to put them back in your greenhouse over winter and see if they can make it through the winter.

Christie,

I will try that this winter with the potted ground cherries. In the meantime, there are about 11 blooms and the earliest bloom is becoming a little fruit!

The other variety of ground cherry seeds arrived and they're now growing fast, too, although quite a bit behind the earlier planted 'Aunt Molly's' variety.

Aunt Molly's seed was planted on 1-26-2010 and I've got a little green fruit hanging off one of the plants as of 3-30-2010. They do develop as fast as tomatoes. I didn't know it it needed a pollinator but being in the greenhouse, tried just gently tapping the plant, as with tomatoes to see if I could get it to set fruit. I don't know if that was necessary.

When the little fruit gets a bit larger, I'll take a photo and post it here. It is such an interesting little plant.

Mary

Sounds like your ground cherries are making a lot of progress Mary.

My second round of seedlings are less than 1/2 inch tall. I have more than a dozen Aunt Molly's and also planted about a dozen ground cherry seeds that I got from Shumway's Seeds but only seven of those germinated. They didn't say which species they were. I have all of them outside in dappled shade right now to harden off.

I started my 'Aunt Molly's" seeds a little over a week ago, and they have mostly sprouted, along with my hot pepper plants and huckleberries. The tallest are about an
inch tall, but they are so skinny - they look like charlie
brown plants. can any of you encourage me and tell me that is normal - I was so excited to plant these, but now they look downright sickly next to the pepper plants, which are just a little taller, but so much thicker through???

Are they getting plenty of light? Mine grew slowly, but they were not leggy.

I can't remember what my little Aunt Molly's looked like right after they sprouted but I expect your little plants will grow stronger with time. Even now, after three months, the stems on my plants look thick but not necessarily strong looking, if that makes any sense. I can tell you they will produce loads of little ground cherries once they get some age on them. My pot of plants has been kept in a cool greenhouse. I transplanted the germinated seeds to a 10/12 inch pot and they appear to be doing fine there. I have many little green ground cherries and lots of blooms. When I need to water it, I use a very weak dose of MG bloom booster in water.

Here's a photo taken just a little bit ago. I'm looking up at it where it's sitting on the top shelf in the greenhouse. In fact, I set it out in the early morning sun for the first time this morning. Need to harden it off to the sun as I'm afraid the greenhouse will soon become too warm to keep it there. Can you spot all of the little ground cherries and blooms?

Here's what it looks like from above:

This is going to be a fun plant to watch grow this summer! They appear to like heat so I'm sure your little plants will do well as your days grow warmer. Did you start them inside?

Mary

Yes, I started them inside. I was amazed at how quickly they sprouted - barely a week. They get artificial light about 16 hrs daily. I can't wait till all of my seedlings
can go outdoors. Your plants look beautiful - hopefully
mine do as well. A week or so ago I recieved a packet of
the Cossack Pineapple Ground Cherry variety, so I need to
find the time, ambition and room to get those started. The
weather turned into a cool snap, and the baby chicks are
big enough to go to the coop (which we just finished yesterday) so there is a lot going on on our little farm
(the things that grow the best here are the kids - all 5 of
them, but you should see them eat :D). Thanks for the
response!!!!

My ground cherry plants are still pretty small but I'm thinking about planting a couple of them out before the rain hits. Maybe that will make them grow.
Best of luck DMarie - You sound like a busy person. Bet your kids are enjoying the baby chicks.

I hope the rain hits; they keep forecasting and it doesn't come true. I need to plant mine before I go to a family reunion. I don't know where to place them but I need to decide quick.

I would like my two varieties of ground cherry to reseed
this year. does anyone know of a good reliable way to make
sure that happens? I thought of just putting a handful of the cherries in the ground late in the fall (I will, of
course, save some seed from each type, just to make sure,
and then, with my luck, I will have a solid 600 G.C.
plants :(). Any ideas??? Thanks

Dmarie - From everything I've read, they reseed on their own if you let some of the fruit drop and just lay there all winter. You don't need to cover them, though it might help if there's compost under your plants instead of weeds/grass. I think it's a good idea to save seeds just in case and you can get some started earlier that way too.
Tomatoes are a relative of ground cherries. I've let my cherry tomatoes drop and reseed. I got a solid green mat of little seedlings one year. There were hundreds. Most died after the strongest ones crowded them out, then I thinned them a little more.

I won't pester you guys anymore after this post but wanted to tell you I tasted my first ever ground cherry (from an Aunt Molly's plant) and it was very good. It did have a bit of a citris tingle and a bit of a pineapple taste but I'd have to say it is unique in the taste department. It was sweet tasting and I didn't notice an after taste. I think it has a taste kids would go for.

I also think this plant would be ideal for children to watch grow and then to harvest the cherries after they've fallen from the plant. Peeling the little paper like covering off of the cherry would be something young children would enjoy doing. The fruits are very small, so it would take a lot to make a pie. However, the plant sets a lot of little fruits so if you had the space to grow several plants, that would make a big difference. I remember reading that some growers felt they could harvest 300 or so from one plant and after watching this one grow and set fruit, I don't doubt it.

My little plant is growing in a pot. I don't know if growing it in ground would cause the fruits to be bigger. I have very limited sunlight hence the pot, so I could move it around. My original thought was to try and grow it in my small greenhouse, thinking it would enjoy the heat but I don't know how hot the house will get when the daytime temps climb. I do have a shade cloth over the house and it does get some limited shade until about noon. Of course, afternoons are the hot time of the day so I'm skeptical about being able to grow them in there during the summer. Might try just for the lesson learned.

I hope you all have great success with your Ground Cherries this summer.

Mary

I'm glad it tastes good to you. I hope I like them. Mine are outside in the ground and have not grown since I planted them outside. The tomatoes I planted outside grew fast. It has been cool at night and we have had some cool days. Maybe they will take off when the weather stays warm.

Mary - You're not pestering us! We all enjoy talking to other gardeners. That's why we're here.

I planted two in the ground to see how they would do and they were outgrowing the ones I still had in containers so I planted my other three biggest ones. I still have some others that are really tiny in a container. Wish I kept track of which potting soil I used because some of my seedlings have done very poorly this year. Someone mentioned they were having trouble with Miracle Grow potting soil and I have some of that. I'm not going to use it for seedlings anymore.

Mary I know you said you weren't going to post anymore but you gotta let us know if you make a pie. : )

I was so excited to see a few flowers on my ground cherries this morning when I was out watering. Looking closer though, I found some husks hiding under the leaves! They must have already flowered and I missed it. My three biggest plants already had a few husks. Two smaller plants have flowers only and another that's really small is not flowering yet. I found one of my small ones broken off at the base Thursday. I still have six left though so I should (unless something eats them) have plenty of ground cherries.