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didn't know they were plants!!

Japanese Lantern Plant

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RE:

How do you grow Chinese/Japanese Lantern's?

I have them growing in my yard, need to know how to save seeds and when to plant!

Chinese Lanterns are easy to transplant. Because it is very invasive its best to keep this plant contained in a large pail with holes on the bottom and dug into the garden to the top.

Lift and divide roots in March or April and replant immediately. Plant the ripe seed, which is inside the lantern, outdoors in April.

Chinese Lanterns

(Physalis alkekengi) It's called Physalis and it's a relative of the tomatoe family. They are more tolerate of cold and have perrennial tendencies but are better treated as biennials.To collect the seeds you must wait until the fruit inside the husk starts to over ripen like an over ripe tomatoe.When the lantern becomes to skeletonized.And in a strainer crush the fruit and separate the seeds from the pulp over the sink and leave the seeds to dry on paper towels until dry. And plant in spring after danger of frost has past.

CULTURE

Location: The plant likes a sunny, frost-free location, sheltered from strong winds. It does well planted next to a south-facing wall or in a patio.

Soil: The cape gooseberry will grow in any well drained soil but does best on sandy to gravelly loam. Very good crops are obtained on rather poor sandy ground.

Irrigation: The plant needs consistent watering to set a good fruit crop, but can't take "wet feet". Where drainage is a problem, the plantings should be on a gentle slope or the rows should be mounded. Irrigation can be cut back when the fruits are maturing. The plants become dormant during drought.

Fertilization: The cape gooseberry seems to thrive on neglect. Even moderate fertilizer tends to encourage excessive vegetative growth and to depress flowering. High yields are attained with little or no fertilizer.

Pruning: Very little pruning is needed unless the plant is being trained to a trellis. Pinching back of the growing shoots will induce more compact and shorter plants.

Frost Protection: In areas where frost may be a problem, providing the plant with some overhead protection or planting them next to a wall or a building may be sufficient protection. Individual plants are small enough to be fairly easily covered during cold snaps by placing plastic sheeting, etc. over a frame around them. Plastic row covers will also provide some frost protection for larger plantings. Potted specimens can be moved to a frost-secure area.

Propagation: The plant is widely grown from seed. There are 5,000 to 8,000 seeds per ounce, which are sometimes mixed with pulverized soil or ashes for uniform sowing. High humidity is required for good germination. The plants can also be propagated from 1 year old stem cuttings treated with a rooting hormone. Plants grown this way flower early and yield well but are less vigorous than seedlings.

Pest and Diseases: Cape gooseberries are bothered by several diseases, including Alternaria spp. and powdery mildew. The plants are also prone to root rots and viruses when grown on poorly drained soil. A host of insect pests also attack the plants, namely cut worm, stem borer (Heliotis suflixa), leaf borer (Epiatrix spp.), fruit moth (Phthorimaea), Colorado potato beetle, flea beetle and striped cucumber beetle (Acalymma vittata). Greenhouse grown plants are attacked by white fly and aphids. The stored fruit can be adversely affected by Penicillium and Botrytis molds.

They are like weeds and will come back next year if you simply leave them alone. I have been trying to pull the ones around here because I don't like them, and yet...they always manage to spring up in the spring. "lanterns" once they have turned brown, after all it is the orange lanterns that are so showy in the fall. Save the seeds in a dry place and plant them next spring, no real maintenance required like I said..they grow like weeds.

the original lanterns were turnips. But now for your problem. When you grow pumpkins you do not leave all the flowers on the vine. You take most of them off and grow fewer pumpkins but bigger pumpkins.just leave two or three flowers on.

:))))