cape gooseberry

[Nicos]

Ok...so now I know I should have kept my chilli plants from the greenhouse....so what about the cape gooseberry ? Was cleaning out the greenhouse and pruning the peach and hesitated at the thought of throwing the cape gooseberry out as it was just starting to flower in September!! - needless to say no fruit. Could it be a bienniel or perennial??? help please!

[Lesley Jay]

Cape Gooseberry is a half hardy annual. I only grew them once years ago and thought they were a waste of time. Huge plants and only a small quantity of fruit that I didn't find particulary tasty.

[Shortie]

Nicos, I've heard they're pretty toxic except for the ripe fruit, is that true, or is it only specific varieties that are like that? I have a little boy, two cats and now three chickens, all of whom I worry may find them too tempting before ripe etc...?

[Cab]

I grow it in my garden. Big harvests, tasty, easy to grow, but it dies off with the frosts. Needs a sheltered position and a fertile soil, and it seems really happy. If you prefer a more savoury flavour, try tomatillo instead.

[Lesley Jay]

Shortie - All parts of the Cape Gooseberry ( Physalis Peruviana) plant except the fruits are poisonous.

[Shortie]

Thanks Leslie Jay.. Maybe I'll stick to shop Cap Gooseberries for now then.. chickens are total scrougers, and don't want to think of the consequences...!

Tomatillo sounds nice. Considered them before, but maybe I will give them a go.....

[rauni]

Its not an annual is it? I know frost kills it, but if you can keep it alive, I thought you were more likely to get a good harvest second time, due to earlier start. I got a good crop in my tiny greenhouse, but it would have been a lot better with a longer season. There were lots of green ones in the end.
Bob Flowerdew says its a perrennial, fruiting earlier in the second year, so more prolifically and sweeter. Also works from cuttings taken in late summer according to him. I've pruned mine, and I'm hoping it survives in the (currently very) cold greenhouse.

[Lesley Jay]

Rauni the first book I read said it was a half hardy annual now I have looked in another and that says perrennial. So which is it? Lets see if your cape gooseberry survives and then we will know.

[Nicos]

Thanks to you all. The plants are still in the growbags in the greenhouse, so I hope they have survived not being watered and the cold weather(somehow doubt it) but will look for signs of life over the next few weeks. I wonder what else we could overwinter instead of throwing out?

[rauni]

Bob Flowerdew says its a perrennial which is usually promoted as an annual. Could account for the confusion. I fear the really hard frost killed mine off. If so, I'll get another one and really make sure I keep it warm enough next winter. Still got my fingers crossed tho. You have to be an optimist...

[Nicos]

rauni - has your cape gooseberry shown any signs of surviving the winter?

[rauni]

Its looking a bit like an ex plant actually. I really think it got a proper frost. There was one day in the middle of a very cold snap, when it looked like the damage was done. I should have been more careful, but it was my first winter down at sea level after being in the hills, and I assumed, as it was so much warmer, that the frost wouldn't be hard enough to freeze inside the greenhouse. Oh well, we live and learn. I'm convinced it would have survived if it wasn't for that day. The inside of the greenhouse was thick with rime frost.

[rauni]

OK, so the Cape Gooseberry seems dead, but my French Tarragon has sprouted afresh beautifully. You win some, you lose some.

[Squirrel]

Cape Goosberries are something that I grew overseas in South Africa with great success - yes I know it is warmer there!

They are a perrenial and the fruit is often used to make a really lovely jam. They grow to be quite a large bush which I just used to leave and not bother to even prune! Have just planted some seed in the hope that I can maybe get a little taste of home!

[xspye]

I grew cape gooseberrys last year and over wintered them in a greenhouse, unfortunatly only 2 of the plants survived but they look really healthy so i am hoping for a good quanity of fruit this year. I think i may have over pruned them a little though as they are only about 25cm tall now! but i hope they will get bigger