"Victoria Clare" wrote in message
.217...
For a couple of years now I have been growing physalis edulis and physalis
pubescens in my cold greenhouse.

Each year I have had the same problem: they take a long long time to get
started at the beginning of the season. I don't think it's down to the
temperature, as the first year I kept the young plants on a warm sunny
windowsill for a long while, but they just stood still.

The second year I thought I might do better by over-wintering the mature
plants and thus getting an earlier start,but it took ages for big shoots
to
start emerging from the mature roots in spring.

So again this year I have the same thing as last year: they started
fruiting properly around the beginning of September, and are still
flowering and fruiting like mad, but they aren't getting enough sun now to
get the berries properly sweet and ripe.

As these plants come from Peru, I think my problem may be that our summer
is too short for them.

Are there any tricks you use to maximise the amount of light your plants
get? I'm reluctant to rig up lights in the greenhouse, but I did wonder
if
perhaps covering the soil in something reflective might help - any other
bright ideas? Do tomatoes (which I hate!) suffer from anything similar, or
are modern varieties bred to cope with our shorter summers?

--
Victoria Clare
gardening high up in South East Cornwall
http://www.clareassoc.co.uk/
--
You may also find that the general coolness of the cornish summer isnt
helping (it can be on average 10f cooler than the SE) we have trouble with
climbers like campsis for that reason.

--
Charlie, gardening in Cornwall.
http://www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of National Plant Collection of Clematis viticella (cvs)