A robust and generous shrub, capable of reaching 180 cm and filling the garden with golden lanterns in autumn.
About the variety. Physalis produces small, round fruits of an intense yellow-orange colour, each enclosed in its decorative husk. Sensitive to frost, it prefers sheltered, sunny spots.
Indicative windows; adjust them to your local climate.
Growing guide
How to grow physalis?
A step-by-step growing guide, from sowing to harvest.
Sowing
Sow in trays eight to ten weeks before planting out, half a centimetre deep, at 20 °C to 25 °C. Germination is uneven and can take two to three weeks, so do not give up early. Prick out into individual pots and plant outside after the last frosts. It is perennial in a mild climate and can overwinter under shelter on the Portuguese coast. This variety reaches 180 centimetres or more in height, so choose a sheltered spot and put the stake in at planting time: fitting a support to a grown plant breaks roots and branches.
Soil
It adapts to poor, free draining soils with a pH between 5.5 and 7.0. Soil that is too rich in nitrogen gives an enormous bush with few fruits, which is the commonest mistake with this species. In heavy soil, plant on a ridge or in a raised bed, because the roots do not tolerate standing water.
Climate
It needs full sun and a long warm season, between 20 °C and 28 °C, to ripen its fruit. Where summers are short, sow very early and grow under cover or against a warm wall, or the fruit never ripens. On the Atlantic coast, with cool nights and morning fog, pick the sunniest spot sheltered from wind and space the plants well so air moves through. Inland in Iberia heat is the limiting factor: in weeks above 35 °C the plant stops setting fruit and light shade over midday pays off. In northern France and in Germany a greenhouse, a tunnel or a south facing wall pays off, planting out only after mid May. Without frost the plant survives the winter and crops earlier and more in the second year; with frost treat it as an annual.
Fertilisation
Its needs are moderate. One to two kilos of mature compost per square metre worked in before sowing covers most of the cycle. If the leaves pale, one watering with a balanced liquid organic feed halfway through is enough. Never use fresh manure, which burns roots and encourages disease.
Watering
Water moderately. It stands dry spells well once established, but strong irregularity during fruit fill causes fruit drop. Never waterlog it: the roots rot easily.
Weed control
Hand weed in the first weeks, while the plant is small and loses every contest for light and water. Once it is established, mulch with five to seven centimetres of straw, dried grass or leaves: it holds weeds back, keeps moisture in and stops rain splashing soil onto the lower leaves, which is how most diseases begin. Always hoe shallowly so you do not cut the roots running just under the surface.
Pest control
Few pests bother it. Watch for aphids on the soft shoots and whitefly under cover, and treat with potassium soap. Slugs and snails go for young plants: use an ash barrier or ferric phosphate. Fallen fruit attracts slugs and wasps: gather it every day and keep the straw dry around the plant. Cutworms sever young plants at soil level: a cardboard collar around the stem solves it.
Diseases
It is tough and suffers few diseases. The main risk is root rot in heavy waterlogged soil, and powdery mildew in enclosed conditions. Plant in a raised bed where the soil is heavy and make sure air moves through. Do not repeat physalis, tomato or pepper in the same spot for three years, to avoid soil fungi. Remove the lower leaves that touch the soil so air moves through and less soil splashes up.
Harvest
The fruit harvests itself: when ripe, the husk turns straw coloured and the berry falls to the ground. Gather from the ground daily, because that is where the best sweetness is. Picked with the husk intact it keeps two to three months somewhere cool and dry. If frost threatens before the end, pull up the whole plant and hang it somewhere dry: the fruit finishes ripening inside the husk. The reference colour is orange yellow, and that is what tells you it is ready.
