Ground cherries are the plant that you didn’t know you needed to grow. These are my all-time favourite plant to grow because they are easy to grow, vigorous and the fruit is so delicious! In this article I’ll show you how to grow these delicious fruits from seed, how to care for them, harvest them and to save seeds.
Ground cherries go by a wide variety of names including physalis, cape gooseberry, husk cherries, golden berries and, of course, ground cherries. They are part of the Nightshade family (tomatoes, eggplants and peppers) and very closely resemble the tomatillo. However, unlike tomatillos, ground cherry’s are self pollinating which means you don’t need to grow more than one plant.
Their flavour is fruity with a hint of tomato and produce a TON of fruit. Some varieties have a fruity flavour similar to tropical fruits like pineapple, although it’s difficult to pinpoint their exact flavour.
The most common variety is Aunt Molly’s which is my personal favourite. This variety has the best flavour, sitting more on the side of tropical fruit over the tomato flavour. Other varieties include Pineapple and Goldie. I’ve grown Pineapple before and was super excited for it because I’m allergic to pineapple, but was disappointed with the flavour of that variety, and found myself back to growing Aunt Molly’s.
Sun Ground cherries prefer full sun
Soil Ground cherries aren’t picky and will grow in almost any soil
Water Water ground cherries regularly as they grow and make sure they don’t dry out when they start to produce fruit
Spacing If grown in a raised bed or in the ground, one plant can grow 24″ tall by 24″ wide. If grown in pots, choose a larger pot for the biggest harvests.
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Start the seeds indoors, 10 weeks before your last frost. Since ground cherry seeds are very small, it means they grow as super small seedlings when they first emerge out of the soil. Place the seeds on the soil and very lightly cover them. They’re a heat-loving plant so growing them with a heat mat and dome will help them germinate quicker.
The seeds are slow to germinate so using heat will help speed up germination. With heat, the seeds should germinate in 7 days, and without heat it can take up to 21 days. The seedlings are really small and grow slowly. Don’t upgrade your seedlings until there are 2 sets of true leaves and you are able to handle the plants based on their size.
Once they’ve been upgraded into new soil and pots they will start to grow quickly. If you’re new to growing from seed, I have a comprehensive guide on how to grow from seed that you can check out here! If you also want to learn more about the best equipment for growing from seed, you can check out my article here!
Ground cherry seedlings are fairly easy to care for. Be mindful that they can get aphids on them indoors if the soil is contaminated and it will stunt their growth. The seedlings will grow quickly and will need one more upgrade before being planted out. If you first upgraded them to a 2″ pot, you can upgrade them to a 3-4″ pot before plant out date. If there are any flower buds on your seedlings while growing indoors, pinch them off.
Plant ground cherries outside after the last frost date has passed. It’s best to wait until night time temperatures are consistently at or above 10°C. When planting them, stake them at the same time. It’s super important for them to be staked since the plants grow large and heavy once fruit starts growing.
Similar to tomatoes and peppers, prune the leaves and stems off the bottom of the plant (see the suckers at the base of soil in the photo above) when you plant them out in the garden.
Ground cherries can grow extra large so it’s important to continue to stake them. If there’s a large wind or rain storm they can easily tip over from the weight of the plant so proper pruning and support is necessary.
They grow a lot of branches and suckers so if you want to keep the plant to a certain size it’s important to prune them regularly. If you find the plant has gotten too large you can remove branches or top a branch in order to save space. They will happily continue to grow.
The name ground cherry explains how they’re harvested. When the fruit falls to the ground it’s ready to be harvested! The husks will become drier and more yellow/beige as they mature and the fruit inside changes from green to yellow. The riper the fruit, the more tropical and fruity it tastes. The less ripe it is, the more it tastes like a tomato.
The rest of the plant is toxic, and the green fruit have solanine in them which can cause stomach cramps or nausea. Sometimes the fruit will fall off the plant while it’s still partially green, and it’s okay to eat them, but in small quantities. Otherwise, avoid eating the fruit when it’s green.
The fruit can stay in the husk for weeks without going bad and often ripen even further over that time. If your fruit are falling off the plant and aren’t as ripe as you’d like, leave them on the counter for a couple of weeks to ripen further.
Personally, I eat all my ground cherries fresh before they ever make it into my kitchen. They’re one of my favourite garden snacks to eat while I’m out in the yard. They also make a great jam as well to keep that summer flavour going all winter long.
The most common pests with ground cherries are animals like mice or squirrels. They love to eat the fruit as much as we do and can get to your fruit before you do. To solve this you can keep the base of the garden clear so you can see when they’re in your garden to shoo them away, or you can give the plant a light shake to knock all the ripe fruit off. Then you can collect the fruit before the squirrels ever get a chance to.
The three-lined potato beetle is the biggest insect pest on ground cherries. As long as you learn the signs of what it looks like when they first start attacking your plants, they are super easy to manage.
Saving seeds is super easy, but isn’t necessary. It’s almost impossible to harvest every fruit that falls to the ground so the plant readily self sows. Also, since the animals are also a big fan of the fruit you will find it popping up in other areas of your garden and you can just transplant them to a preferred spot.
However, if you do wish to save seeds it’s super simple as they require no fancy equipment or skills. Pick a ripe fruit. Then all you have to do is remove the seeds from the fruit, rinse them and let them dry on a plate. Avoid using paper towel because it will stick to the towel. Turn them over once to allow both sides to dry and then store them in a cool, dark place. And that’s it!
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