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Tomatillo (Physalis ixocarpa) verdict: worth considering
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 |
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 |
Tomatillo (Physalis ixocarpa) verdict: worth considering
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