Ground Cherries

[Meowmie]

I don't have space for fruit trees so I have to resort to berries, melons, and such. A few years I started growing ground cherries. I love them and the animals and birds leave them alone. They grow inside a paper husk.

Harvesting is easy, you just wait for the husks to fall to the ground an pick them up. Leave the husks on until you are ready to eat them. They stay fresh much longer that way. My plants self seeded but the season wasn't long enough so I have to start them indoors each year, about the same time as I start the tomato plants.

Anyone else grow this berry?

 

[Pat]

I have never heard of ground cherries. I looked some more information, all of your post was in the information I read. Starting your plants indoors about 6 weeks before you start to plant other plants is a good start. I should be looking at tomato seeds right now so that I can have some plants ready for spring.

Ground cherries produce up to 300 fruits per plant and bear nonstop until frost. Four to six plants are sufficient for the average-sized family.

What do they taste like?

 

[Meowmie]

Yes, 4 to 6 should be good. The taste is hard to describe and can vary from berry to berry. I want to say kind of what you would expect out of a 'berry' and it is, except it's kind of savory, too. Maybe like it has just a hint of arugula just a hint though. It is good for eating plain, made into pies, etc. whatever you can do with a blueberry, you can do with a ground cherry I'm sure.

 

[claudine]

This is so interesting! I haven't heard of Ground Cherries before, I've never seen them nor eaten them. I found some pictures of this plant, I'll paste them here for those who aren't familiar with it either. Here are the fruits:

And here is a picture of the whole plant:

I'm wondering if I'd find Ground Cherries tasty

 

[gata montes]

" Ground Cherries " are also known as " Cape Gooseberries " and " Inca Berries " and I would say to anyone who is considering growing them - that they have a look at the thread on this Forum called " Inca Berries " - especially as these plants belong to the Nightshade family and all parts of these plants are toxic - apart from the fruit which is only non toxic when the fruits are ripe.
Although there are many varieties of these plants that bear fruit - there is only one that has edible fruit - " Physalis Peruviana or Edulis - which is the one to choose if you planning to grow them for eating purposes rather than for ornamental purposes - especially as if you don't - it may well be the one and only time that you ever get to try a " Ground Cherry ", " Cape Gooseberry " or " Inca Berry "

 

[headfullofbees]

Physalis.
It's easier to get rid of herpes.

 

[claudine]

Now, I'm confused. Isn't Physalis a different plant? Or maybe it's a different variety of the same plant?
I've always thought that Physalis looks like this and isn't edible:

 

[gata montes]

claudine - Physalis is the name of the plant family but not the species or variety - and will do my best to ease your confusion

All plants have a botanical name by which they are known - as well as a common name or names - the latter of which being of great relief to those - who can't pronounce the Latin or Greek names lol but seriously as the botanical name of a plant remains the same worldwide - and the common names of plants differ from country to country - the botanical names are always used to identify plant species - and as in this case

Physalis is the botanical name of the plant family - of which there are many varieties and or species - so in addition to the name Physalis an extra word or words are added - in order to identify which species or variety it is - like here for identification purposes - the words Peruviana or Edulis are added on to Physalis - in order to make sure that this particular plant from the Physalis family - commonly known as " Inca Berry " or " Ground Cherry " is known all over the world as Physalis Peruviana or Edulis - which is why if looking for the edible variety of this plant - you need to check that you are getting the correct variety

Hope you are now less confused and that i have described it clearly enough - if not - no problem - will do my best to make it clearer

Nearly forgot the plant in your picture is grown for its ornamental value and is - like you said - not edible - and often known as " Chinese Lanterns " although if my memory serves me correctly - you call it by another - much nicer name in Poland

 

[Meowmie]

Chinese lanterns (which I also have in my yard) are much larger and turn a very bright orange in the fall.
They are purely for decoration.

Get your seeds from a garden center that are specifically meant for the edible fruit, and let the berries, in their cute coverings, fall to the ground on their own before you harvest then and you will be fine.

Potatoes are also poisonous if you eat the leaves or too much of the part of potatoes that were exposed to the sun, and have turned green, yet people still eat potatoes.

Thank you to the ones that posted the warnings. Since I have always grown this from seeds meant for fruit to eat, I was unaware of the dangers of perhaps finding this in the wild and eating them. My son once mentioned that we should try the Chinese lantern since they were clearly the same family and I told him NO WAY, not without researching it fully!

Are there poisonous varieties that are the same size as the ground cherry that is edible?

There is another common name for this fruit other and the ones that have been listed here, but I have only seen them sold as seed for fruit to be eaten under the name "ground cherries"

The fruit pictured above looks like the ones I eat, not the much larger and very orange Chinese lanterns. Ground cherries have a light brown/tan covering and do not turn orange, and are also less than 1" in length, including the lantern covering.

My Chinese lanterns are usually 2" to 3" in length, and other than both having a lantern and similar leaves, look totally different and wouldn't be confused, but I'm waiting to hear if there are others in this family that more closely resemble the ground cherry.

 

[claudine]

Gata Montes - yes, now it's clear, thank you I felt so confused, because I knew only Polish name for "Chinese Lanterns" (which is 'michunka'). According to google, it should be translated as 'Physalis', so I thought that it's a 'Physalis' plant, not a 'Physalis' family
Lol, I think I need a better dictionary

 

[gata montes]

claudine - My pleasure - and pleased to hear that I was able to ease your confusion Thats the name I was trying to think of - " michunka " - I remember you mentioning it once before and thinking that it was a really lovely name for these plants


Meowmie - Although I appreciate that you are very familiar with the edible variety of Physalis and have clearly been growing it for some time.
As Physalis Peruviana is not a commonly grown fruit in many parts of the world and as most Physalis are universally grown for their ornamental value - rather than for their fruit - plus the fact that many of these plants look very similar - felt it better for people to be safe rather than sorry - which is why I posted the toxicity warning - particularly as there are many people who have never even heard of Ground Cherries, Cape Gooseberries or Inca Berries - let alone grown them.

 

[Meowmie]

Oh I greatly appreciate your input Gata!. I had no idea there were toxic varieties, or that picking them before they are ripe is toxic even with the ones sold through seed companies for eating. I have always stuck with the seed packets sold specifically for food, and followed the instructions for harvesting them after they are on the ground. I just never knew how important it was to wait for them to fall!

As you have probably noticed I haven't gotten into the scientific names for plants, and with memory problems I have now I don't think it would be productive for me. I go by the common names and am growing things I have always used for food.

Ground cherries were introduced to me by my brother in laws family who have been growing them forever. I've been growing them for between 5 and 10 years and just love them.

It was not easy for me to find the seeds but it gets easier each year. Last year Home Depot even had plants for sale right next to the tomatoes. I think they are becoming more popular so the information you have provided is VERY important. I'm shocked they do not mention on the plant tags or seed envelopes WHY you have to wait for them to fall!

One of my favorite things about this berry is that the birds and other wildlife leave them alone. unless the Japanese beetles eat away the lantern part, they don't know there is something good inside.

 

[firelily99]

I had never heard of ground cherries before, or whatever else they are called around the world. I'm glad that I flipped onto the site, I really got a lot out of all of the threads that were posted. Thanks to all who shared.

 

[Colene]

I don't have space for fruit trees so I have to resort to berries, melons, and such. A few years I started growing ground cherries. I love them and the animals and birds leave them alone. They grow inside a paper husk.

Harvesting is easy, you just wait for the husks to fall to the ground an pick them up. Leave the husks on until you are ready to eat them. They stay fresh much longer that way. My plants self seeded but the season wasn't long enough so I have to start them indoors each year, about the same time as I start the tomato plants.

Anyone else grow this berry?

That is so cool! I have never heard of ground cherries, but I'm going to see if they would grow where I live. That sounds like a fun new berry to try. Do they taste like regular cherries?

 

[Meowmie]

No, they don't taste like cherries. It is so hard to describe the flavor. It's sweet, yet a bit savory, too.

If you are going to try these please read all the posts in this thread.. Make sure you buy seeds specifically for eating, and do NOT pick the fruit off the plant, wait until they fall to the ground on their own.