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Cape Gooseberry
Botanical Information
| Botanical Information | |
|---|---|
| Order | Solanales |
| Family | Solanaceae |
| Genus | Physalis |
| Common Name | Cape Gooseberry |
| Species | P. peruviana |
Maturity days
- 100
Planting Months
| Planting months | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
| X | X | X | X | X | X | ||||||
Permaculture uses
| Permaculture uses | ||
|---|---|---|
| Usage 1 | Usage 2 | Usage 3 |
| Shade | Fruit | |
Growing condition comments
| Growing Condition | Comment |
|---|---|
| Drought Tolerant | |
| Humidity tolerant | |
| Planting area | Ground |
| Sunlight | Full_sun |
Photos
Short comments
Perennial in tropics, small woody shrub,
General comments
Space plants: 100 - 150 cm apart
Will happily grow in a flower border but tends to sprawl over other plants. A straggling bush up to one metre tall that bears yellow fruits inside a brown papery envelope. The cape gooseberry is a perennial and related to tomatillo, ground cherry and husk tomato, all in the genus Physalis.
Cape Gooseberry is very easy to grow and as the fruit are popular with birds the plants can be easily spread around the garden. If you have plenty of room then plants grow better with 1.5m of space. Spacing closer works but you may get less fruit. The berry is the size of a cherry tomato, is very aromatic and full of tiny seeds. They are delicious eaten fresh or can be made into jam. They can be added to salads, desserts and cooked dishes, they are delicious stewed with other fruit, especially apples. They also go well in savoury dishes with meat or seafood. Can be preserved dried as 'Inca Berries'
