Growing Cape Gooseberry, also Golden Berry, Inca Berry

Physalis peruviana : Solanaceae / the nightshade family

Jan F M A M J J A S O N Dec
    S                  
        T              
        P              

(Best months for growing Cape Gooseberry in USA - Zone 5a regions)

  • S = Plant undercover in seed trays
  • T = Plant out (transplant) seedlings
  • P = Sow seed
  • Easy to grow. Sow in garden. Sow seed at a depth approximately three times the diameter of the seed. Best planted at soil temperatures between 50°F and 77°F. (Show °C/cm)
  • Space plants: 39 - 59 inches apart
  • Harvest in 14-16 weeks.
  • Compatible with (can grow beside): Will happily grow in a flower border but tends to sprawl over other plants.

Your comments and tips

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22 Jul 19, Anna Read (Australia - temperate climate)
I have successfully planted a cape gooseberry in my front garden. So far; so good. My questions are - should it be pruned back? Does it need a frame to climb on?
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23 Jul 19, (Australia - tropical climate)
If falling over, provide a frame. Prune one side and see how it goes.
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30 Mar 19, Brad (Australia - temperate climate)
Keep an eye out for the 3 lined potato beetle if you are growing cape gooseberry as they can breed up quickly and ruin the leaves and fruit lanterns. See here for pictures to help identify the beetle, larvae and eggs: http://tomatoenvy.com/2015/06/09/wanted-dead-three-lined-potato-beetle/ My own approach is to keep an eye out for the beetles or chewed up leaves and squashing the beetle / larvae as I find them, and also checking the underside of the leaves for clusters of orange eggs which can be easily removed with a fingertip. More often than not I will find a pair of beetles together on the same plant and have found they are especially active in Nov-Dec but I have found stragglers as late as March even.
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24 Mar 19, Kelly (Australia - temperate climate)
Trying to grow cape gooseberry from seed, in pots, in Perth. Plants are small and struggling, some have dropped all leaves. Any thoughts? How much light and water would they need?
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14 Jan 19, Renee Chettle (Australia - tropical climate)
Available at Daley’s nursery, does online orders
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10 Dec 18, |Lily (Australia - temperate climate)
just wondering if the plants need to be pruned or just let them spread out Thanks
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13 Dec 18, Mike (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
Maybe stake and support them and a light shaping of the bush.
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01 Nov 18, Nellie (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
Each morning I check for small yellow and black striped beetles and then squash them between gloved fingers. This year I did this and have been able to harvest a crop for jam making.
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24 Oct 18, robert brown (Australia - temperate climate)
Boiled Rhubarb leaves are a good insecticide and for the ground invasion use coffee grounds the left over from coffeemakers
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24 Oct 18, Liz (New Zealand - temperate climate)
Rhubarb leaves are poisonous to humans too, so don't spray onto something you are going to eat.
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Showing 61 - 70 of 392 comments
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Hello, I'm researching information on growing this plant and this site has the most, however after reading all the comments I am a little confused. could somebody clarify some bits please? 1) Most comments and tips agree on that the plant doesn't need any fertilizer but some speak about potassium and manure. If I use whatever is suitable for tomatoes will i hurt the plant or just get a lot of vegetable growth but no fruits? 2)Last year I grew 4 plants and managed to destroy two of them by over-watering (I had them all in pots so i guess draining was the issue). I live on a Greek island and the summer here is pretty hot while we get no frost during winter (the entire month of July passed with temperatures in the range of 30-43C). I grew two more from cuttings planted on the ground and they all seem to do well though I'm experimenting on different sun exposure. The plants I have in pots are under direct sun light for the most part of the day (10 hours min.) while the ones on the ground are under partial sun exposure (4-6 hours a day) though the latter are approximately 1m tall while the first are up to 2m. My problem is that I do not get any blossoms at all. There's plenty of them on the plants but they never get to grow into flowers, as soon as they get thick as a needle they seem to burn out. Do I need to water the plants twice a day or add fertilizer? Last year the plants were less than 1m tall and I got only a single flower which of course couldn't turn into fruit (but at least it was a flower :) ) so I thought I was off to a good start but obviously I'm doing something wrong.

- George

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