Pineapple cherry

The ground cherry is frost-tender and is grown as an annual here in Central Europe: sow on the windowsill from February/March and put the young plants outside only after the Ice Saints (mid-May). If you leave ripe fruits lying, it often self-seeds; alternatively, you can pot up a plant before the first frost and overwinter it bright and cool.

The ground cherry (Physalis pruinosa) is propagated almost exclusively by sowing in Central European home gardens. This is the simplest and most reliable method. Sow the roundish, light brown seeds from mid-February to the end of March on moist, low-nutrient seed compost. The seeds are light germinators: cover them only with a whisper of compost or leave them completely open. At 20 to 25 °C on the windowsill or in the greenhouse they germinate after 7 to 14 days. As soon as two true pairs of leaves are visible, prick out the seedlings into individual pots. From mid-May, after the Ice Saints, you can put the young plants outside. Remember: the ground cherry often self-seeds in the garden. Look for self-sown seedlings next spring before you sow completely anew.

Cuttings are possible and especially practical if you want to clone a particularly productive plant. The most reliable time is in the middle of the season: cut soft, not yet woody shoot pieces from the middle section of the stems (not from the base and not the shoot tip), remove the lower leaves and put the cuttings in an airy, free-draining substrate or in water. Keep them warm and evenly moist, and they root quickly. You can also save a plant over winter: cut it back hard in autumn before the first frost and overwinter it bright at 10 to 15 °C. Be aware, though, that overwintering does not automatically lead to an earlier or richer harvest, and the plants are prone to diseases in winter. In most cases the annual cultivation from fresh sowing is the easier choice.