Tomatillo Plant

[blackkitty]

I've never grown these before and thought that it has a very unusual flower.

[lyndap]

Love the pic.What is a tomatillo?

[blackkitty]

Its a mexican fruit/vegetable. I first saw them on River cottage when HFW was using them to make chutney. I got the seeds from the organic catalogue. This variety is voilet and grows in green leaf lanterns, a bit like cape gooseberries. I don't have a clue what they'll taste like.

[poultrychat]

I grew some from seed that I got from victoriana nursery, easy to grow and I kept them in the greenhouse but never managed to get them to fruit so I gave up

[KGB]

These are very easy to grow outside from a pot sown seed. The voilet ones are ripe when they are very dark colour. The taste is difficult to describe, slightly tomato plus something else, each individual I have given them to tastes something different. Used to make the original Mexican Salsa dressing.

[FoxHillGardener]

blackkitty

Is that picture of your own one?! One of my colleagues gave me a plant a couple of weeks ago but it's still only about 8inches high so far! I shall get it planted out right away and we can compare notes

[blackkitty]

Yes it's one of my own. I grew five plants and kept the three biggest in pots, they're about 3 feet high now. I planted out the two that looked a bit spindly. (thinking they were the most expendable if the frost got them) They took a while but now are growing and flowering as well. I am finding it difficult to figure out wich flowers have set fruit or not though

[FoxHillGardener]

I've just spotted my first flower bud. Hooray!

[leona]

i bought some seed of ebay last week and i emailed the seller to ask about growing them so i could write it down for next year and they said they are so quick growing that i could sow them now so ive done it today.i do have a greenhouse so hopefully that will help them catch up. just sown 6 different things all of which needed sowing by mid june latest so lets see what happens

[Alice]

I think you have a long growing season down there Leona, so I'm sure your seeds will be fine even if the are a little late.

[blackkitty]

My plants really took off, after an initial slow stage, when the weather got warmer. They produce flowers where ever the stem divides into two, starting quite small so I image that they'll do fine if you plant them now, you might just get a smaller crop this year. They aren't self fertile so you need to plant them reasonably close together. Good luck and keep us posted as to how they go.

[blackkitty]

I'm getting loads of fruit setting on my tomatillo plants. Strangely though it looks like two different types, the seeds all came out of the same packet however.

[FoxHillGardener]

They aren't self fertile so you need to plant them reasonably close together. Good luck and keep us posted as to how they go.

Not self-fertile? Bugger. I've only got one plant

Shall have to just appreciate it for its aesthetic qualities then

[blackkitty]

I would have ago with a paintbrush and hope for some fruit at least. You never know.

[FoxHillGardener]

I think my tomatillo is settting fruit. The flowers aren't dropping off and the lanterns are starting to swell, though they're nowhere near as big as the ones in your photos blackkitty - and they're from over a month ago.

Maybe mine aren't working after all But wouldn't the flowers have dropped off if that were the case?