I grew out seeds of the “Goldenberries” from the store.
The plants get a lot larger than I was expecting. 
Take quite a while to get producing.
4 Likes
Yeah, the species Goldenberry comes from is like a small tree. They get very large and take longer to start fruiting than the garden Groundcherries. It is also typically grown as a perennial in its native range.
1 Like
my goldenberries are sizing up right now. they are about 5ft. get to be close to 6ft. here. double the size of my groundcherries. very tasty. if fed well the fruit gets the size of a quarter. they are alot easier to pick than the groundcherries.
2 Likes
These are Lucie’s Big Goldenberry (peruviana) from Farmacie Isolde. No rain for 2 months, temperature range 65-75F, plants 5’. No evidence of worm/moth attacking fruit. Last year, when grown under a tunnel with higher temps, almost all fruit were devoured before ripe. I wintered over plants to get a head start in cool PNW.
So good- tastes like an orange creamsicle!
7 Likes
I tried growing the Giant Goldenberry a couple times. I wish I liked the flavor more. I cant remember if I got a harvest of my own (maybe just a few) or just tried them from the store… I know for sure I was growing them before I ever saw them in the store, so I must have had a few homegrown. The ones from the store didn’t have much flavor, but that is somewhat expected, to me.
I think I will try growing them again and see if I like them better a dehydrated. I love a lot of fruit dried.
i saw those. i will have to order some to try for next spring.
Farmacie Isolde also carries Schoenbrunn Goldenberry (peruviana), about 1/3 larger fruit than Lucie’s Big Goldenberry, with same great creamsicle taste but later fruiting. When grown from seed, they will not ripen here in time. I also wintered over a Schoenbrunn. Not ripe yet.
2 Likes
I dug up some of my native Physalis to move to a new spot. They are, not surprisingly, mostly infested with the mystery fruit worms. Pulling open the calyx of one fruit, I made some possible important observations:
There was no visible entry hole, so the worm must grow inside the developing fruit, or else the ovipositing hole is very small. Also, I observed an insect inside a calyx that is a good possible candidate for the adult form of the pest in question. It has what appears to be an ovipositor on its abdomen, and resembles the fruit worm somewhat morphologically.
4 Likes
Offhand, Id say the bug in question is a wasp. I would expect a moth or perhaps a fly, so perhaps unrelated. It is amazing how many different bugs can be found inside Physalis calyxs. If everyone keeps an eye peeled, maybe we’ll crack this case!
1 Like
I’ve been regular checking mine. Almost no insect damage this year though.
There was something about the phrasing that caused me to wonder whether there is a chance that the insect is boring into the stem of the plant and then down and through the (sepal?) early enough in the growth cycle of the fruit that the hole in the fruit closes up and heals by the time it is ripe.
“If everyone keeps an eye peeled, maybe we’ll crack this case!”
The three conditions I changed after last year’s total failure with physalis fruit were:
1)site plants in open instead of under cover (maybe too much heat undercover)
2) cover ground with weed cloth (maybe some pest emerging from soil) and
3) hang yellow sticky cards on cages (maybe some flying insect attack)
If those didn’t change outcome, I was going to spray Surround or Bt (haven’t done that).
Yellow sticky cards look like this- hard to draw any conclusions from their appearance!
!
3 Likes
Adam, how did you get on with the bitter free Alkekegni strain? Did you manage to try the fruits?
Apologies if you already said somewhere in this thread, but I never saw any review from you.
I have some select seed strains of giant and super sweet Alkekengi (if that can be believed). Curious how they really taste compared to Physalis
1 Like
Hi @Buckjohnson -
@Adamsmasherz sent me a couple of plants (thanks again) and I was able to try the fruits. I’ve tasted alkekengi before, just a nibble and spit since I wasn’t sure about them. Id say offhand these are similar. They don’t taste bad, not great either, I thought. They’re quite small fruit, and mostly skin and seed with a bit of juice. The flavor is fairly sour. They don’t taste of alkaloids, to my palate, but I wouldn’t describe them as “sweet”. To me, they’re almost reminiscent of seaberry (Hippophae) fruits.
3 Likes
Unfortunately, as @hobilus mentioned, they’re a bit of a dud. Interestingly, there was some variation from plant to plant—ranging from bitter to sour to somewhat fruity or sweet. Even the best plants produced small berries with only mild flavor. In my opinion, they’re not worth growing given my limited space. That said, if someone ever wanted to try breeding them for larger berries and a sweeter taste, I bet they’d make a vigorous and seemingly disease-free fruit plant.
2 Likes
Thank you both for sharing. Shame the fruit doesn’t quite live up to the hype. From your pics, it definitely looks heavy on seeds and light on flesh. Although goji berries can be a bit like that and I don’t find the seeds objectionable.
I’ve been tempted to try some select seeds of the litchi tomato (Solanum sisymbriifolium), which is said to be much sweeter than the standard type (again, if that can be believed). I’ve never tasted litchi tomato myself, but it seems like it may have more promise than Alkekengi.
Out of curiosity, where did you source your seeds originally? Was it from Deaflora? Their catalog photos show much larger and juicier looking fruits. Though they’ve probably cherry picked the plumpest ones for the pictures.
2 Likes
Most physalis are pretty heavy on seed but, as you said, they aren’t bad to eat. Its like a tomato seed. My native groundcherries (P. walteri and P. angustfolia) have been surprisingly tastey, both apricoty and creamy like a meaty tomato.
Goldenberries (P. peruviana) are getting more popular here, they are in the grocery store nearly year round and they are selling plants at Lowes.
I’ve been have sucker bugs all over my Sunberries (P. minima). Orange and black bugs, stink bug shaped but not as big. They sucked the life out of a couple of the plants and the rest wouldn’t fully develop berries. My tomatillo likewise would only make gooey or aborted fruit. Started some new seeds and varieties, so hopefully they will do better now.
2 Likes
Probably box elder beetles
My first try with Lucie’s Goldenberry (P. Peruvian) was a disaster. Every berry was eaten just as it was ripening. I never saw the offender.
This year I switched from polycarbonate cover to black weed cloth mulch. I also hung yellow sticky cards hanging on every cage. No insect problems whatsoever! Don’t know whether these changes made the difference or just hit a different phase of an insect’s life cycle.
6 Likes
I have some quite old litchi seeds that also had been misplaced in an area not good for seed storage… I did try to germinate some this year with no luck. This next spring I will try all of what is left and see if anything grows.
1 Like