Growing Cape Gooseberry

Growing Cape Gooseberry from seed is easy and it can overwinter outdoors in mild areas or when grown in favored positions such as the foot of a sunny wall. It is part of the family called physalis, a nightshade relative of the tomato and some other ground-growing berries. Cape gooseberry is not a true gooseberry and is in fact a ground cherry, which is not a true cherry but more closely related to tomatoes and tomatillos. The cape gooseberry is an excellent source of vitamins and is a good source of energy, protein, and phosphorus. It can be grown in almost any environment and is an easy plant to care for.

Growing Cape Gooseberry from Seed

• Start Gooseberry Seeds indoors 6 – 8 weeks before the end of frost season.
• Best planted at soil temperatures between 10°C and 25°C.
• Cape gooseberries can be grown fairly easily from seed.
• Don’t give up on them – the seeds take longer to germinate than those of many other plants.
• Plant seeds into damp potting compost and water carefully and consistently.
• Seeds need to be kept in a warm place in order to germinate.
• It is adaptable to most soil types and will grow almost anywhere, although it does best in sand or gravel.
• Cape gooseberries need full sun to thrive, which means at least six hours a day of bright sunlight.

Maintaining Cape Gooseberry Plants

• The cape gooseberry is easy to care for.
• The plant does not need a lot of water and over-watering is not good for the plant.
• Pruning is not required until after the first harvest.

Harvesting Cape Gooseberry

• Flowering can last up to 75 days after seeding, and the first harvest usually occurs up to 100 days after that.
• It will produce fruit for up to three years, but after the first year, the fruit is usually smaller.
• Some fruit will fall to the ground, and if still in the husk, it will remain edible up to several days.
• Additionally, cape gooseberries will continue to ripen after you pick them, especially if you place them in a windowsill to ripen.