The Cutleaf Ground Cherry is an annual species that has round, orange, edible fruits that are similar to a cherry tomato. The fruits are enclosed in an inflated, balloon-like calyx that resembles a Chinese lantern. Leaves are petiolate, alternate, ovate to lanceolate in outline, and irregularly toothed. Flowers are solitary in the leaf axils. The flowers are campanulate and hang below the leaves. The flowers are creamy yellow without dark basal spots. The anthers are blue. Cutleaf Ground Cherry has been used in herbal medicine, and it is sometimes cultivated for its unusual fruit. The ripe fruit is sometimes called a “husk tomato
Growing Instructions
1. Put a mixture of potting soil and sand, perlite or vermiculite in a small pot.
2. Water the soil
3. Sow the seeds on the soil.
4. Cover the seeds with a layer of soil that is ¼ inch thick.
5. Water the seeds when the surface of the soil begins to get dry.
6. The seeds germinate best when they are in an area where the temperature is
70-85 degrees F. The seeds take 2-6 weeks to germinate.
7. When the seedlings have a few leaves, they can be transplanted.