Tomatillos?

[cupcake]

I had a thought of growing these when I got Thomasina Miers Mexican cookbook, and then they turned up on Nigel Slaters programme last night. Has anyone grown them please. Are they similar to tomatoes as regards growing?

[northepaul]

I grew two huge bushes - but didnt get a single tomatillo, In my case, just a waste of time.
With regards the ease, they grow very well though.

[Florian]

I had a thought of growing these when I got Thomasina Miers Mexican cookbook, and then they turned up on Nigel Slaters programme last night. Has anyone grown them please. Are they similar to tomatoes as regards growing?

I am thinking of having a go myself - adore Mexican food and they looked so beautiful on Nigel's show last night

[Vixxihibiscus]

Pinging this as I bought a packet of seed? Am I rightt in thinking they're best grown biennially? I think I read that somewhere???

[zazen999]

They need a long season, and a good metre cubed per plant.

[northmaid]

I grew some this year in the greenhouse. Grew them just like tomatoes, they do grow tall and need support. Got loads of fruit but as Zaz says, they need a long growing season so I had trouble ripening, they don't seem to ripen off the plant as tomatoes do. Still managed to get a reasonable amount of ripe fruit and will definitely grow some again next year.

[Mell]

I grow the ever year, more delicate than tome, so i grow them inside in a pot, outside once it is good & back inside once it getscooler

[chris]

cupcake - I've loads of Verde tomatillos - green ones if you'd liek to try some seeds before splashing out on a full pack?

IIRC - you need a minimum of two bushes to set fruit. If you would like some, send me an SAE! (PM for address).

[Rabidbun]

I've found them well worth growing, though the long season as others have said caught me out the first time I tried.

I managed a good crop this year with two outside in one of my metre squared raised beds (with other crops, though it's a double height bed) and three more outside in huge pots (foot across by foot and a half down or thereabouts, though the crop was very slightly smaller). The weather being what it was this year did shock them a bit but they recovered in two or three weeks with no issues.

They do need extensive staking (unless it was just mine that went triffid! ) and a decent amount of water to swell the fruit but I've personally found them a lot less fussy to grow than tomatoes and have tended to just let them sprawl, tying up a few stems at a time when they get too big.

For the type I grew, the unripe ones were still edible (roasted and then froze most of mine), just more bitter.

[cupcake]

Sounds like a crop for the propagator then! Thanks for all your replies.

[Alison]

They're a doddle, especially the green ones. You can eat them as soon as they're big enough and they don't need to ripen as such. I grew 5 last year outside (as ever) in a lottie bed (think they took up about 4' by 5'ish and produced tonnes even in a rubbish summer. Use them mainly for Mexican but also put some in chutney. I've not found they need a long season, tend to sow on the window ledge in April, plant out end of May and am harvesting in mid August. Very pretty too.

[Snadger]

I grew two huge bushes - but didnt get a single tomatillo, In my case, just a waste of time.
With regards the ease, they grow very well though.

Likewise Paul! I also had two huge pot grown plants with a couple of hundred fruits on each, but still didn't get an edible one. They were all like peas!