The genus of the Physalis family from the Solanaceae family (Solanoideae) includes more than 100 species of herbaceous plants whose growth sites are tropical and subtropical regions, mainly Central America and southeast North America.
We have the most common decorative physalis ordinary (Physalis alkekengi) or Physalis Francheti (Physalis francheti), which is also called the Chinese lantern. It is named after its first researcher, Adre René Franche, who was a famous French botanist. This physalis comes from distant Japan, and has been grown as a decorative culture since 1894.
A distinctive feature of decorative physalis is a bright orange-red shell, resembling a paper Chinese lantern, which envelops its fruit and reaches a diameter of 6 cm. It makes the plant valuable from a decorative point of view. At the beginning of summer, the physalis begins to bloom with white, small and very inconspicuous flowers, from which the fruit ripens by the beginning of autumn, presenting in all its glory.
Decorative physalis has various cultivars, which include plants with different heights and sizes of orange cups. Tall physalis Franche can reach 90 cm, and the height of miniature physalis patios does not exceed 30-45 cm. Physalis is very widely used for decorative purposes, and in many countries it is even an attribute of Christmas and New Year. In addition, it can be easily grown in our conditions.
Physalis - growing and care
Physalis Franche is a very unpretentious plant. So, it is the most frost-resistant type of physalis, and is able to withstand temperatures up to -30ºC. Physalis tolerates both partial shade and the sun equally well, so it is allowed to place it under trees or shrubs. And yet, his cups will be bright and large only in sunny places.
The soil for physalis should be prepared in advance by adding humus, compost, manure (but not fresh), or peat, as well as ash. Organic fertilizers can be replaced by complex minerals. Acidic soils must be liming.
This culture makes high demands on soil moisture, however, areas with stagnant water are not suitable for it. Physalis needs standard care, which consists in weeding, loosening, weekly watering (in dry weather it needs to be watered every other day). Regular watering must be carried out until August, then they must be stopped to accelerate the ripening of the fruit.
With watering, fertilizing is combined with complex fertilizer in liquid form. The first feeding is carried out during the flowering of plants, the second - during the formation of fruits, and the third time the physalis is fed 2-3 weeks after the second feeding. To this end, use mineral fertilizers. For 10 liters of water you need to take from 10 to 15 grams. potassium salt, from 10 to 20 gr. superphosphate and 10 gr. ammonium nitrate. The consumption of such fertilizer is 10 liters per 1 square. m. You can use for feeding bird droppings, which should be diluted in water in a proportion of 1:20 or slurry (1:10). For one plant, 0.5 l of such fertilizer is used. It must be remembered that an excess of nitrogen fertilizers affects the crop badly.
When growing physalis, accounting for crop rotation is important: for example, it cannot be planted after solanaceous crops, but it will develop very well in the area where cucumbers, cabbage, legumes or root crops grew before it.
It is not necessary to form plants, only for tall varieties of physalis it is advisable to tie them to preserve the harmony of the branches used in winter bouquets. To decorative lanterns have time to ripen before the cold, in late August, you need to pinch the tops of the physalis.
Physalis - transplant and reproduction
To prevent degeneration of plants, their rhizomes are subject to division and transplantation once every 6-7 years. It is necessary to plant undersized physalis according to the scheme of 40x50 cm, medium-sized - 40x70 cm, tall - 60x80 cm.
They also reproduce well by growing seedlings. With this method, in the spring, physalis seeds should not be deeply sown in a moistened compacted substrate, cover the container with seeds with glass and keep it in a warm place. After the seeds germinate, you need to remove the glass and then grow seedlings in the light with moderate watering, to prevent the disease of the black leg.
The optimal mode for growing seedlings is air temperature from 20 to 22 degrees. Once every 2 weeks, seedlings should be fed with liquid soluble fertilizer for seedlings. After the formation of 3 real leaves, they need to be planted one by one in peat pots or plastic cups, deepened to the first leaves. Tall and medium-sized varieties of physalis must be transplanted into larger pots before planting in the ground.
After the threat of frost has passed, seedlings in phase 6-8 of these leaves should be planted in the open ground, after hardening it, periodically putting it outside.
The time from emergence to maturation of lanterns is 90-150 days.
Physalis - Diseases and Pests
With proper cultivation, all physalis are not affected by diseases and pests. However, with excessive moisture, stem rot may appear, which is primarily fought with agrotechnical methods: maintaining crop rotation, destroying post-harvest residues, etc., as well as by spraying plants with copper preparations.
Of the pests, physalis can be damaged by aphids. To get rid of it, you should spray the plant with insecticides.
