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Cossack’s Pineapple Ground Cherry
68 days to harvest
Physalis pruinosa
A taste of the tropics, these irresistibly sweet, marble-sized fruits will delight you with abundance! At Fruition, we’re often savoring each Cossack’s Pineapple Ground Cherry by the 4th of July and they just don’t stop ’til frost. Popping each golden fruit out of her golden husk is always a joy! We’ve heard of folx making ground cherries pies, jam, chutney and all kinds of wonders; we generally just pop them straight in our mouths, as often as possible.
Organic Cossackās Pineapple Ground Cherry
Planting Method: Transplant Only
When to sow: ~6 weeks before final frost
Seed Depth: 1/8 inch
Days to Germination: 5 at 90Ā°F; they may take up to 24 days to germinate! (A heat mat will make all the difference.)
Sowing and seedling care: Sow indoors 2 seeds/cell thinned to the strongest 1. Transplant to 3-4ā container once 2-3 true leaves emerge. Harden off (reduce water & temp 3-7 days).
When to transplant: 1 week after last frost. Support like determinate tomatoes.
Transplant Spacing: 2.5 feetĀ Ā Ā Ā Sun Needs: Full
Days to Harvest: 68
Height: 3-4 feet
Harvest: Harvest from the ground when fruit is plump & golden husks fall. Store 2-4 weeks at 45F. If you have marauding chipmunks in your garden, for better or for worse, they’ll be delighted you’re growing ground cherries, too! Since the most flavorful ground cherries are those so ripe they fall to the ground, we visit our ground cherries almost daily and gently shake the branches to scoop up the freshly fallen, perfectly ripe fruit before the chipmunks find them.
Videos
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Millicent Kasten –
These ripen more quickly than Aunt Molly variety so the season for snacking is longer. They are sweet and tasty. The fruits are smaller than the Aunt Molly variety. I will plant both this year.
Heather (verified owner) –
Glad you love them as much as we do š -The Fruition Team
johnkntran (verified owner) –
Absolutely delicious! Fruit is only about the size of a pea, but super sweet and a hint of tang. Kids gave them a thumbs up, and I’m always looking for ways to get the kids to each veggies. Prolific, very early producing for a Solanum, and easy to grow. No disease issues to speak of. A hidden gem among their more famous tomato cousins! Every gardener should grow these!