Physalis peruviana
Cape gooseberry
Common names: Physalis, Andean berry
At a glance
- Light
- Full sun
- Hardiness
- Cold damage below 2 °C
- Harvest
- Aug–Oct
- Spacing
- 60 cm, rows 80 cm
- Water need
- Medium
Photo: Manojkumar Subramani · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source
This description was machine-translated.
Description
The Cape gooseberry bears bright yellow, sweet‑tart berries encased in a papery lantern‑shaped husk. Native to the highlands of South America, it grows into a spreading, semi‑shrubby bush and fruits from late summer until frost. The berries often ripen only after the husk has become parchment‑like, dried, and fallen to the ground.
Care instructions
Sow seeds from February to April indoors in a warm environment, then transplant after the last frost (mid‑May, week 20) to a sunny, wind‑protected spot with support. Water moderately and fertilize sparingly, excess nitrogen encourages foliage at the expense of fruit. Harvest berries when the husk is dry and straw‑colored; fallen fruit will continue to ripen in a warm place.
The care notes were machine-translated from German.
Garden year
SowingFeb–Apr
HarvestAug–Oct
Germination
- Soil temperature
- from 15 °C, ideally 24 °C
- Days to sprout
- 10 to 21 days
- Light
- Needs light to sprout
- Sowing depth
- Press in, don't cover
- How to start
- Start indoors, then plant out
Soil & site
Soil pH
Soil type
humus-rich, well-drained, loamy, sandy
The Cape gooseberry needs loose, humus-rich and free-draining soil. Waterlogging makes the roots rot. Loosen heavy loam soils with sand and mature compost. It likes slightly acidic to neutral conditions; avoid strongly alkaline soils above pH 7, though slightly chalky soil is no problem.
Feeding
Medium feeder
Months
Apr–Jun
When planting out in spring, work mature compost shallowly into the planting hole; a few horn shavings mixed in release their nitrogen slowly over the season. If you feed too strongly, especially with nitrogen, the plant produces lush foliage and sets hardly any fruit, so deliberately hold back. A second light helping of compost around the middle of the growing phase is quite enough as a top-up.
Overwintering
The Cape gooseberry is not hardy and is killed by frost around freezing point. In the bed, treat it as an annual and start again in spring. If you want to keep it for several years, grow it in a container: bring it indoors before the first frosts, cut the shoots back by about half and overwinter it bright and frost-free at around 10 to 15 °C, watering only sparingly, and put it back outside only after the Ice Saints.
Propagation
Methods
- From seed
- Cuttings
- Division
The easiest way to propagate the Cape gooseberry is by sowing. Start the seeds indoors from mid-February to the end of March. They are light germinators, so do not bury them but just press them onto the moist seed compost or at most sieve a very thin layer over them. At 20 to 25 °C they germinate within about 10 to 21 days. If you start early (from mid-February), you need plenty of light (a large south-facing window or a grow lamp) so that the seedlings do not become leggy. A clear cover keeps in moisture and warmth until germination. Plant out only after the Ice Saints, mid-May at the earliest. You can also obtain seeds directly from a ripe fruit: break open the flesh, release the seeds, rinse briefly and leave to dry. Sown plants come true to type, so grafting is not necessary.
For overwintering and for an earlier spring planting, cuttings are suitable: from summer to early autumn, cut side shoots about 10 to 15 cm long (preferably from the leaf axils) at a slant, remove the lower leaves except for 2 to 3 at the tip and insert them about one third deep into loose, low-nutrient seed compost. At around 18 to 20 °C and with evenly moist, but not wet, compost, they root in a bright spot within about 3 to 4 weeks. Then overwinter them bright and frost-free (cool); in spring they sprout strongly and give an earlier harvest than sown plants.
If you have brought a plant through the winter and the clump has grown too large, you can divide it in spring when repotting: carefully pull the root ball apart, split it into several rooted pieces, plant them individually and water in well. This way you get several strong plants, ready to crop straight away, from one overwintered plant.
Companion planting
Good neighbors
mint family (Lamiaceae)
particularly well establishedYou will find that basil next to tomato and pepper improves taste and keeps whiteflies and aphids away.
For example LavenderThymeBasilRosemarySageHyssop and 43 more species in the catalogue
Source: classic companion planting (DACH-Gartenpraxis)
borage family (Boraginaceae)
Borage attracts pollinators and is supposed to keep tomato pests away from the nightshade family.
For example BorageCommon comfreyLacy phaceliaForget-me-notLungwortSiberian bugloss and 2 more species in the catalogue
Source: organic greenhouse companion planting practice
Rather not
gourd family (Cucurbitaceae)
You should avoid planting potato and cucumber together because they share disease pathogens such as leaf and brown rot and stand in each other's way as strong feeders.
For example CucumberPumpkinCourgettePickling cucumberButternutHokkaido and 15 more species in the catalogue
Source: basic crop-rotation rule
Companion planting is partly traditional gardening lore. Where the reason is known, it is given.
Some of these explanations were machine-translated.
For your garden
Grow Cape gooseberry yourself
Gartenkern tells you when frost is coming, when to sow and when to harvest, for your location.
Free, no time limit
Notes from real gardens
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From the magazine
Physalis and Cape Gooseberry: Growing and Overwintering
The golden cape gooseberry is a perennial that we usually grow as an annual. Here is how to sow it right, ripen the fruit, and overwinter the rootstock for an earlier harvest in the second year.
Tomatillo: growing, harvesting and turning it into salsa verde
The tomatillo is not the sweet physalis but a tart green vegetable made for salsa verde. Here is how to start it, why you need two plants, and when the husk is ripe.