By gisette
Aunt Molly's Ground Cherry in Growbox
Submitted on Sat, 2011/05/14 - 5:13pm
Last updated on Sun, 2011/07/31 - 4:32pm
Posted in
Planted out my 6-week old aunt molly's ground cherry, sharing growbox with a gretel eggplant and soon-to-sprout zucchini. Really curious about this one! I expected it to look / act like a tomato. Instead, isn't it perfectly matched with its little eggplant buddy? It has its first buds already, looking forward to seeing the flowers.
20110516: first bloom open, 2 days after planting out
Harvest:
growbox ground cherry : 86 to 7/17 (first 6+ weeks from transplant, 12 weeks from seed)
died suddenly 7/30.
Tue, 2011/05/17 - 10:14am
#2
Thanks, Beth. Where I bought the seeds, it said they get 4-5 feet tall and could use a tomato cage. We shall see! 
The ground cherry's first little bloom opened yesterday! I have a picture, will post eventually.
Tue, 2011/05/17 - 10:49am
#3
First bloom! That was quick...
Sun, 2011/05/22 - 9:04pm
#4
I wonder how long ground cherries take to go from pollination to fruit? This plant is very compact - might even be an AG Deluxe contender. And it's certainly way ahead of its eggplant buddy.
Sun, 2011/05/29 - 12:23pm
#5
Really loving this ground cherry so far! 
Much faster than tomatoes... or even the eggplant!
Sun, 2011/05/29 - 4:18pm
#6
Greetings gisette, I'm curious, what are ground cherries? Also is that AeroGrows patio planter box you are using? If so how do you like it?
Mon, 2011/05/30 - 11:15am
#7
Hi, Tddglobal,
Ground cherries are a tomatillo relative - a husked tomato, ish. But they're supposed to be sweet, and taste kinda like pineapple. Haven't eaten one yet. 
So the little lantern grows until there's a 1-inch or so golden fruit inside - husk-covered fruit falls off plant - then it's ripe.
I've been using growboxes for three years, and love them. I don't love them equally for every kind of crop... Do not plant beans in them. Cucumbers... maybe with a change of nutrients. As-is, none of my cukes have survived long or produced well. Zucchini seem happy, though. Spinach and chard thrive. Mostly, growboxes do a phenomenal job growing tomatoes!
With tomatoes, though, assuming they're outside more than three months, be sure to buy an extra fertilizer patch to refresh their nutes after 3 months. It's not obvious - in fact, it looks like the tomatoes are dying of late blight - but in fact, they need more nutes after 3 months.
I've always bought direct from agardenpatch.com . But yes, Aerogrow now sells the same product, so far as I can tell.
Beth uses Earthboxes - similar idea, older product, different design.
Mon, 2011/05/30 - 12:29pm
#8
Hi Gisette,
They look awesome! Recall I grew one in a pot a couple of years ago and couldn't keep it watered - too thirsty. This looks like the perfect solution! I didn't think about using a self watering container (earthbox or growbox) for them! Or the aerogarden! I wonder how they take to pruning?
Beth
Mon, 2011/05/30 - 2:21pm
#9
Good to know, thanks, Beth! Yeah, I remember you grew them.
How'd you like the taste? Was yours Aunt Molly's? I seem to recall you grew a cape gooseberry, and thought it was way too big for an Aerogarden? I have no idea how close the two varieties are. Solanacea seem a pretty plastic family of plants, tho.
Sun, 2011/06/05 - 5:40pm
#10
Ground cherry growing great! But - getting too big for an Aerogarden, and it's still young. It doesn't seem to need meristem pruning to continue putting out new growth from old nodes. Branches way more than binary, sometimes goes back and adds another flower to a node that's already bearing fruit. Enthusiastic little plant! Really looking forward to tasting one.
Hi Gisette,
I'm looking forward to watching your ground cherry grow! It will be interesting to see how big the plant gets in the growbox!
Beth