Experience with Physalis peruviana (goldenberry/poha berry)?

i dont think so or if they were they didnt say so on the label. tasted and looked exactly like the store bought ones pictured above, that i tried 2 years ago. sadly they didnt stock them again.

I’d be happy to share some of these seeds or seedlings with you! Let me know and I’ll start extras or mail you dried seeds, whatever you prefer.

So you got good yields from this big bush type? Strangely I got a very limited yield the last time. They both got about 5’ but I also didn’t plant them until June. So maybe that was the issue because normally here in the Willamette Valley heat in summer isn’t the issue. One is wintering over nicely in my greenhouse this year, so come late April I’ll be putting it in the ground. Should be quite large by then too. Very excited because I really like this variety. Much tastier than the small ones in my opinion.

It looks like people growling P. peruviana are in relatively cool climates. Has anyone been successful in high summer heat & humidity? average summer temperature here is 90F/32C, with high humidity (“monsoon climate”). Maybe discourarging flowering?

The box I bought was grown in Colombia, so that’s probably not a cool climate unless it’s at significant elevation.

they grow great on a south facing wall protected from wind. had them in 20gal. fab. pots. fed them with greenway tomato fertilizer. even after a frost zapped some of the branches in oct, the others closest to the wall continued to ripen fruit until the beg. of nov. with mine you can see when they are ripe right through the husks.

id sayi got probably 3 gallons from each plant but they ripen over a long period which is ok for me as i enjoy grazing on them . id like to try and save some to make jam but they are addictive and my will power gives in. :wink:

I use the golden berries to make chutney that is quite yummy. Next year I’m going to experiment by combining the golden berries with the feijoa to make jam. I made my first feijoa jam this year and it was super easy on account of the high pectin content of the feijoa fruit. It almost a membrillo it coagulates so much. Very yummy! And I could only imagine with chunks of golden berry.

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I read the same decades ago that physalis specie hybrids were unknown, found it disappointing. Maybe a “Burbank” type intuitive genius could accomplish some.

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We can only hope. I may try and cross a Pruinosa and Peruviana someday when I have a bit more space, but I really haven’t looked into their genetics, chromosome number etc. if we could get a plant that has the productivity of a pruinosa and the taste of a peruviana, that would be a winner.

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A wild species grows here (eastern KS), it’s delicious when it grew well. Might be perennial, can’t remember what species it is.

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Sound vaguely familiar, might be what I have growing wild here in my yard.(eastern Kansas in USA)

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Thats interesting, does it taste more fruity like peruvianas or does it have tomato overtones like pruinosa? I’m currently trialling Physalis alkekengi from deaflora which supposedly tastes fruity like peruvianas. Theyre hardy to zone 3 or 4 depending on the source. The only problem is, they didn’t list that they need to be cold stratified and by the time I learned that, most seeds had gone bad. One germinated…I hope its self fertile.

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I’ve never had poha berry to try and last time I had an annual pruinosa was in the 60’s so I don’t remember. But these here taste sweet, savory, somewhat tomato’ey. Complex, if I had enough would have tried making a pie. A Filipino friend couldn’t believe how good they tasted, yet unknown. She grew up snacking on alkekengi growing on the roadside in Philippines. Wanted to try Queen of Malinalco? ovate shaped tomatillo but they were always sold out

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My pruinosas taste even more “fruity” than the peruviana, but just less tart. Pruinosa is like low acid pineapple, and only really notice the tomato taste when they aren’t fully ripened, while these grocery store peruviana are like a tart (underripe?) mango with hints of something else.

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Hmm, when you say its when they aren’t fully ripe, what is your indicator of ripeness? I always made sure they were entirely yellow/orange and that the husk was completely brown and dried.

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That’s all! But it’s also likely that different strains have different flavor profiles. This is the one I’m growing (Cossack Pineapple), though I’m a few generations since the seed packet, I haven’t noticed much change from one year to the next.

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This is comparison of Columbia goldenberry (left) and Schoenbrunn Gold (right) from Boyce Thompson Institute link thanks to @lordkiwi
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I think in PNW Schoenbrunn would need to be grown in ghouse.

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I tried seeds from those last year. The plants grew very well but never produced a bloom. That may have been drought and/or user error, though. I started them about the same time as my tomatoes, but it sounds like earlier may be better. Then we had a brutal drought and I probably didn’t water them enough.

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