Physalis strawberry - growing and caring for edible decorative

Tell us about strawberry physalis, cultivation and care, the photo of the fruits is especially interesting. I bought seeds from my grandmother at the market, but forgot to ask how to sow them. Can I go straight into the ground or do I need to grow seedlings first? Will Physalis survive in partial shade? I have no free space in the sun at all. Only the flowerbed, on which clematis grew, is gone, but it is under a small tree.

Many gardeners consider this culture decorative and plant it to decorate the yard with unusual fruits. However, the small yellow tomatoes inside the reddish lantern shell are not only beautiful but edible. Physalis strawberry - growing and caring (see the photo further in the article) for an interesting plant has some specifics. This is due to the long growing season, because the bush needs more than 3 months for the harvest to ripen. And if in the south there are no problems in time to get ripe fruits, then in cooler regions it is necessary to accelerate the growing season. How to do it?

You can eat only physalis berries, because the rest of the plant is poisonous.

Physalis strawberry - growing and care (photo)

Physalis belongs to the nightshade family and is an annual. It grows as a bush, forming slightly raised or creeping shoots up to 40 cm high. Fruiting in small orange berries with juicy pulp, hidden in a red-orange shell. Green physalis is not tasty and looks like nightshade. Ripe berries become sweet and smell strongly of strawberries, for which the plant got its name.

The culture is popularly known as strawberry tomato, dwarf gooseberry or frosty annual.

Planting methods: how and when

Physalis is most often propagated by seeds. However, they can be sown in open ground only in the south in April or before winter. Seeds tolerate frost well and sprout in spring.

In a short summer, you can only get a harvest with the help of seedlings. In this case, direct sowing is useless, except for decorative purposes. The bushes will bloom, but they will not have time to ripen.

Therefore, it is recommended to grow seedlings first:

• at the end of March, pick up the substrate for peppers and tomatoes in cups;
• disinfect seeds in a solution of potassium permanganate;
• plant a couple of seeds in each container;
• put in a warm place, covered with foil;
• when seedlings appear, remove the shelter and rearrange the seedlings to a cooler and brighter place.

In open ground, seedlings can be planted no earlier than May, when frosts pass.

Physalis care in the open field

Strawberry tomatoes, although they love the sun, have short daylight hours. Therefore, the bushes can be safely planted between trees in partial shade, keeping a distance of 25 cm between them. Physalis is not picky about soil and can grow in loams and sandstones, but fertile loose soil is better. It is advisable to add organic matter to the site before planting - then the bushes will develop more actively.

Watering strawberry physalis is necessary only as the earth dries out under the bushes. Like tomatoes, it develops putrefactive diseases from waterlogging. And top dressing will not hurt, but without fanaticism. The first time you need to fertilize seedlings at the age of 2 weeks nitrogen preparations for growth. When flowering begins, mineral complex fertilizer should be applied once.At the beginning of fruiting, when the ovary is formed, potassium-phosphorus feeding will be needed. And it will need to be repeated after 3 weeks. This is enough for the bush to give a good harvest.

Physalis forms fruit in the forks of branches, so it does not need to be pinned like tomatoes. But you can pinch the top so that the bush begins to branch more actively.

Once the fruit pods are dry, you need to start harvesting. By this time the fruits will turn orange. It is important to have time to remove them before the first frost so that they do not crumble.

Planting physalis