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Old 07-10-2003, 02:12 PM
Lyndon Thomas
 
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Default Tomatillo (Physalis ixocarpa) verdict: worth considering

Steve i have grown them for years in pots very easy to grow and always a
fair yeald of fruit.
This year i grew one in a border, it grew to about 5feet tall X 4foot spread
and smothered everything in its path, It produced Lbs & Lbs of fruit
though.
Its back in to tubs next year easier to manage.
Lyndon

"Steve Harris" wrote in message
...
I grew a couple of these plants and I expected weekend frost to kill
them (but it didn't) but since I'd started an obituary ...

Main points:

* Take up VERY little ground space (see below)
* More attractive than many kitchen garden plants
* A bit tricky to start
* Low maintenance
* Useful ingredient rather than a star at your table

Tomatillo has SOME similarities with Tomato such as origin, hardiness,
family, etc. However, a dinner guest is more likely to mistake it for a
tiny green pepper. The plant is better looking than tomato. See the web
for lots of stuff.

The plamts end up like miniature spreading trees covered with yellow
flowers, lime-green leaves and green "chinese lanterns". I'm tempted to
grow them in a flower border next year. They're nice, not stunning.

Near the ground is a straight green trunk a couple of inches thick and
little branched for about a foot. This should mean you could underplant
it with another crop. They cast much less shade than tomatoes and their
prefered soil has little nitrogen. Summer radish or lettuce?

Tomatillo is usually harvested green and cooked. The best time is when
the "lantern" starts yellowing and splits to reveal the fruit. If you
let the fruit mature to yellow, it's sweeter, doesn't need cooking but
has amlost certainly split. Hoewever, in the UK, it's more likely you'll
do a green harvest when frost threatens. The fruit is said to keep for
weeks if not months.

Some seed catalogues mention a cultivar name but Chiltern don't bother
and that's where I got mine. It seems to be a green rather than a purple
variety.

You MUST plant more than one if you want fruit.

Germination was eratic:

- In pots in dull but heated room 21/02/03 - failed
- In pots ina cool, light room 11/04/03 - success
- Direct in soil, 19/04/03 - failed.

I'm going to try lifting the roots and keeping them somewhere cool over
the winter in the hopes of a head start next year.

Steve Harris - Cheltenham - Real address steve AT netservs DOT com