Ground Cherries

I don't know if this will work for you or not, but it got rid of some nasty bugs on our squash multiple times.

We went to Trader Joe's and got a couple bottles of 100% pure vitamin c crystals.  We mixed it with water and Dr. Bronner's peppermint soap and sprayed the infested plants and the ones adjacent to them.

The key is to get underneath the leaves, because if you just get the top, the thug bugs will stay on the other side.

We sprayed this stuff on in the late afternoon after the direct sunlight had left that part of the garden, and then we washed it off the following morning before the sun could heat up.

Every bug was dead or gone by the third application.

As a bonus, after we discovered that Nashville water uses Chloramine and not chlorine, and our shower filter did not remove Chloramine, we began taking baths after putting 1/2 tsp. of the C crystals in the tub and waiting 5 minutes for the ascorbic acid to bind with the chloramine and make for a less toxic soak.

Good luck.  I have never had ground cherries.  What do they taste like?

CapeCoddess wrote:Mine did that my first time.  No worries, other than the space they are taking up. It doesn't seem to make any difference in transplanted performance
They are tuff old birds.

Thanks, CC. Good to know.

TNGeezer wrote:Good luck.  I have never had ground cherries.  What do they taste like?

Most often they are simply described as tasting sweet and tropical (unless unripe -- in which case they aren't very good, and may be slightly toxic.) The unknown variety I have, and the variety known as Cossack Pineapple taste sweet, with a balanced, slight sourness, and a hint of pineapples and strawberries. They do not taste like cherries. Master gardener and author William Woys Weaver describes the New Hanover variety as tasting like a yellow tomato. He goes on to say that the cultivars Aunt Molly's and Goldie taste "distinctly of tangerines."

Ha!  

I have Aunt Molly's and an unknown, but to me they both taste vaguely like pineapple.  My kids think they are kinda sweet tomato taste ish.

They are fresh, kinda tomatoes based, but sweeter, fruity.  We love them!  I am doubling my Square footage of them!  ANd bringing them closer, they are a low growing plant, harvesting is ground level.back hurting.....mine are coming up to me.  Containers.

Well done describing the taste there, ladies.  I was wondering who was going to take on that challenge.  

To me they have a flavor all their own and I couldn't even begin to describe it except to say sweet rather than savory.

Scorpio Rising wrote:Ha!  

I have Aunt Molly's and an unknown, but to me they both taste vaguely like pineapple.  My kids think they are kinda sweet tomato taste ish.

They are fresh, kinda tomatoes based, but sweeter, fruity.  We love them!  I am doubling my Square footage of them!  ANd bringing them closer, they are a low growing plant, harvesting is ground level.back hurting.....mine are coming up to me.  Containers.

Oooo, they sound so good, I can't wait to try them.

That sounds very enticing.  Maybe, it is something to consider next year, since it is too late for this year's garden, as there is no room left.

The taste described kind of reminds me of Lychee Nuts.

I will always grow them, convert!  They really like it warm to germinate, and be patient.  I planted 6 cells and 3 came up.  They are a very productive plant though.

OK! I took the bait, kept reading Your post on ground cherries, now I have three plants doing good spreading out abit, but my question is how do you know when there ripe?

newbeone wrote:OK! I took the bait, kept reading Your post on ground cherries, now I have three plants doing good spreading out abit, but my question is how do you know when there ripe?

I wait until the husk falls off the plant, and the berry inside the husk is yellow to yellow-orange (depends somewhat on variety). The husk at that point is often slightly yellowish or can go all the way to a pale dried-leaf-brown (rarely with pinkish tints.) The ripe berries also look a little more translucent to me. Green and hard is unripe, not sweet, and may be slightly toxic (a small taste won't kill you --just don't go eating a handful of green ones).

TNGeezer wrote:That sounds very enticing.  Maybe, it is something to consider next year, since it is too late for this year's garden, as there is no room left.

The taste described kind of reminds me of Lychee Nuts.

TNG, I saved a lot of ground cherry seeds last year and would be happy to share. They're the "Aunt Molly's" cultivar.

First ground cherries fell off, today. I peeked inside and they're still green, so I'll leave them on the counter until they turn yellow. Any idea how long that will take?

Oh, so jealous!  

A couple days...keep an eye on the color

Scorpio Rising wrote:Oh, so jealous!  

A couple days...keep an eye on the color

Thanks, Scorpio. I found another one on the ground this morning, so I added it to the pile. I can't wait to try them.

Found golden berries (Physalis peruviana, related to ground cherries) at the grocery store. The flavor was a little like a not-quite-ripe (tree) cherry, with hints of tomatillo. More sour than sweet, and I wasn't picking up that tropical flavor ground cherries have. I'm happy to say I'm glad I'm growing ground cherries, since I now know I definitely prefer them!

countrynaturals wrote:

Scorpio Rising wrote:Oh, so jealous!  

A couple days...keep an eye on the color

Thanks, Scorpio. I found another one on the ground this morning, so I added it to the pile. I can't wait to try them.

Still waiting. Will they get sweeter the longer I wait? Will they eventually dry up and be like raisins?

I left 3 still in the husks on the counter over the winter and when I opened them up last month they were not shriveled but still green so I tossed them. Mind you my house is very cold in the winter so they may have thought they were in the refrigerator.

CapeCoddess wrote:I left 3 still in the husks on the counter over the winter and when I opened them up last month they were not shriveled but still green so I tossed them. Mind you my house is very cold in the winter so they may have thought they were in the refrigerator.

That doesn't sound good. I don't need to have my heart broken by ground cherries that won't get ripe.  My secret hope is that we'll love them as much as blueberries, which we can't grow here because of the heat.

countrynaturals wrote:

CapeCoddess wrote:I left 3 still in the husks on the counter over the winter and when I opened them up last month they were not shriveled but still green so I tossed them. Mind you my house is very cold in the winter so they may have thought they were in the refrigerator.

That doesn't sound good. I don't need to have my heart broken by ground cherries that won't get ripe.  My secret hope is that we'll love them as much as blueberries, which we can't grow here because of the heat.

I got duds that never ripened, mostly early and late in the season, with a much smaller percentage the rest of the time.

countrynaturals wrote:

countrynaturals wrote:

Scorpio Rising wrote:Oh, so jealous!  

A couple days...keep an eye on the color

Thanks, Scorpio. I found another one on the ground this morning, so I added it to the pile. I can't wait to try them.

Still waiting. Will they get sweeter the longer I wait? Will they eventually dry up and be like raisins?

Keep your eyes open, and on the plant itself...I agree.  Some are just duds....but the middle season stuff is wonderful!

Scorpio Rising wrote:

countrynaturals wrote:

countrynaturals wrote:

Scorpio Rising wrote:Oh, so jealous!  

A couple days...keep an eye on the color

Thanks, Scorpio. I found another one on the ground this morning, so I added it to the pile. I can't wait to try them.

Still waiting. Will they get sweeter the longer I wait? Will they eventually dry up and be like raisins?

Keep your eyes open, and on the plant itself...I agree.  Some are just duds....but the middle season stuff is wonderful!

I'm losing patience. Today I'm going to spread them out in a hot, sunny spot and see if that helps.

I have found the best flavored ones come from the papery-straw colored husks that naturally fall to the ground.  If you clean those up every day I think you'll find those are consistently at their flavor peak.  I don't think they ripen into anything better if you store them long term.  I have kept it on the counter for maybe a week or so.  Over time I find it doesn't improve it just shrivels up.  You can husk the cherries and stores well in the freezer, ta-daa, they are nice in smoothies.

I planted three squares they grew well they took over nine squares, they produced well the local wild life must of enjoyed them I got a few ripe ones and a lot of green ones when the plants started dying I guess it was heat that killed them mostly 90+. Just not worth the space they take if anyone would like the seed for Aunt Molly's Ground Cherries I have let me know where t send them.

llama momma wrote:I have found the best flavored ones come from the papery-straw colored husks that naturally fall to the ground.  If you clean those up every day I think you'll find those are consistently at their flavor peak.  I don't think they ripen into anything better if you store them long term.  I have kept it on the counter for maybe a week or so.  Over time I find it doesn't improve it just shrivels up.  You can husk the cherries and stores well in the freezer, ta-daa, they are nice in smoothies.

I never picked any -- just let them fall off. After leaving them out in the sun/heat all day, I found one that had turned yellow. It wasn't a very good test, since it was tiny and Hubby and I had to share, but it was enough to tell we're going to like them. I'm going to plant some more seeds tomorrow and see if I can get another crop in this year. I will be sure to put a couple in nice containers to bring in this fall if they're still producing when the nights turn cold again.

This poor plant was a survivor of the spider mite infestation, so I don't think it ever fully recovered. That might explain why most of them aren't ripening as they should. Anyway, this experiment goes in the win column.

Soooo...I while watering my SFG today I noticed MANY ground cherries laying around on the ground. Never had such a huge amount at once before. I felt so lucky. Went to pick them up....
and they are ALL empty!