Physalis is a beautiful and unusual plant. Its name is translated from the ancient Greek language as "bubble". And indeed, each fruit is hidden under strongly bloated sepals resembling Chinese lanterns. The genus belongs to the Solanaceae family. Its representatives can be found in Eurasia, South and North America. Some of them are used exclusively for decorative purposes, while others are cultivated in agriculture, like vegetable and berry crops. Graceful physalis thickets upon contemplation give a lot of positive emotions, and berries saturate the body with active substances no worse than a multivitamin complex.
What does physalis look like
Physalis is a herbaceous perennial or annual. It feeds on creeping horizontal rhizomes. The plant has branched flexible stems 20-120 cm long. They can grow vertically or spread along the ground. The bases of the shoots are gradually lignified.
Foliage is most often opposite. It is mounted on the petioles. A shiny or dull plate has an ovoid or palmate shape with unevenly cut edges and a pointed end. Veins have a lighter color.
Single flowers in the branches and axils of the leaves are located on flexible short peduncles. The drooping bell-shaped cup is compact in size. A white corolla with pointed petals peeps out of it. Flowers bloom in early June and attract little attention.
After pollination in early autumn, fruits begin to develop in the form of bright roundish berries of various sizes. The berry is hidden under thin bracts, painted in yellow, orange, red or greenish color. Inside, a juicy berry resembles a tomato. It contains small teardrop-shaped seeds of a cream or yellowish tint.
The fruits of some physalis are edible, while others are poisonous, so before use it is important to figure out which variety is cultivated in the garden.
Popular views
In the genus Physalis, there are 124 species of plants. Conventionally, they are all divided into food and decorative.
Physalis is ordinary. A herbaceous perennial 40-60 cm tall grows petiole ovate leaves. A leaf plate with solid edges swollen between the veins. Its length is 6-12 cm, and its width is 4-9 cm. White flowers with five fused petals resemble a bell in shape, their diameter is 1-1.5 cm. The rounded berry is hidden under the bloated membranous walls. The size of the fruit can be compared with a chicken egg. Berries are edible, but more often used as a medicine. Unripe fruits lead to poisoning.
Physalis vegetable (Mexican). Perennial thermophilic, undemanding to soils with flexible ribbed shoots. Its advantage is especially large fruits with a diameter of 3-5 cm (sometimes up to 7 cm). They have a smooth yellowish surface and a sweet and sour taste. Varieties:
- Confectioner - large sweet fruits with a light green skin are suitable for both pickles and desserts;
- Korolek is a thermophilic early ripe variety with a pronounced aroma and is more used for desserts.
Physalis Peruvian. The shrub with grassy shoots 90-160 cm high is covered with soft, pubescent leaves of a heart-shaped shape. The length of the serrated leaf plate is 6-15 cm, and the width is 4-10 cm. Small flower bells with yellow petals and dark purple spots at the base after pollination are replaced by rounded orange berries. Fruits are hidden under thin yellowish-brown bracts. The diameter of the berry is 12-20 mm. It has a pleasant fruity aroma and sweet and sour taste. Varieties:
- Pineapple - the fruits ripen earlier than usual and have a pronounced smell of pineapple;
- Strawberry - a sprawling shrub with a height of not more than 70 cm in the autumn is covered with very sweet amber berries with strawberry aroma;
- Dessert - upright shoots up to 70 cm tall, slightly leafy, bright orange fruits with lots of sugars are visible against them;
- Marmalade - a branched bush up to 1.5 m in height grows lilac-yellow berries weighing up to 60 g.
Physalis is decorative. Perennial with more elegant, albeit inedible fruits. Usually, branches densely covered with bright lanterns are already used in early August for drying and making bouquet compositions. In the warm season, thickets adorn the garden. Variety Franche is popular - a high branched shrub up to 90 cm in height with oval dark green leaves and scarlet teardrop-shaped fruits.
Physalis cultivation
Most often, physalis is grown from seeds. He gives a good self-seeding. Reproduction is carried out in seedling and seedling method. Immediately in the soil, physalis is sown in autumn or spring. Wells 1-1.5 cm deep are prepared for winter sowing in October-November. Seeds are carefully planted in the soil, and the surface is mulched with a layer of peat, compost or humus leaf to a height of 2-3 cm. Shoots appear in mid-spring.
For spring sowing in April, the seeds are first soaked in a weak saline solution, and then in potassium permanganate. You can leave them in a damp cloth until sprouts appear. Sowing in open ground is carried out in early May. Seeds are not widely distributed to a depth of 1.5 cm. With the emergence of seedlings, the physalis is thinned out, gradually increasing the distance between plants to 25 cm. It is not necessary to destroy torn seedlings. They can be transplanted to another convenient place.
In central Russia or more northern regions, it is recommended to first grow seedlings. In this case, flowering will come earlier, and the fruits will have time to ripen properly. Planting is done in cassettes or peat pots in February-March. Disinfected in potassium permanganate for half an hour, the seeds are planted to a depth of 1-1.5 cm. The container is covered with a film and kept at a temperature of + 22 ... + 25 ° C. Shoots appear after 1-1.5 weeks. After that, the shelter is removed. The earth is regularly but moderately moistened. In high humidity, a black leg can develop quickly. Growing in separate pots avoids picking.
Seedlings placed in a well-lit and protected from drafts place. Caring for them before planting is similar to caring for tomato seedlings. In open ground, seedlings are planted at the end of May. Work is planned for the evening. The earth should be well fertilized with organic matter. Physalis grows best after cucumbers or cabbage, but after tomatoes and peppers, the plot is freed from nightshade for several years, since microbes and parasites to which they are sensitive can remain in the soil.
In addition to seed propagation, vegetative methods can be used:
- Division of the bush. In spring or summer, the bush is divided into several parts. You can get a full division even from root segments with a growth point.
- Cuttings. In July-August, cuttings with 2-3 nodes are cut. They are rooted in pots with loose fertile soil. The shoot is immersed in the ground to half, and covered with a film on top. New leaflets testify to rooting, after which the film is removed.
Outdoor Care
Physalis prefers well-lit places or a small partial shade. It grows well only with proper protection from drafts and cold gusts of wind. The site should be on a hill so that groundwater does not come into contact with the rhizome, and when the snow melts, the water quickly leaves. The soil should be neutral or slightly alkaline; on acidic soils, the plant hardly develops. Before planting, the earth is dug up and a sufficient portion of wood ash, humus, lime, sand is introduced. To make the plants look neat, planting is done by staggering with a distance of 30-50 cm. The rhizome is buried to the nearest sheet. After planting, the bushes are abundantly watered and mulch the surface of the soil with peat.
Daily care of physalis does not require much effort. In spring and summer, it is regularly watered in the absence of rainfall. It is very important to remove weeds in a timely manner, especially near young plants.
Fertilizers are applied twice a month, using a weak solution of chicken droppings or mullein. After feeding, watering with normal water is required so that burns do not appear.
Physalis does not need to trim and remove stepsons. The more branches are formed, the more fruits will appear.
Harvested as it ripens, checking the berries daily. In vegetable crops, they can fall to the ground, and in berry crops, they are harvested directly from the branches. The use of unripe fruits is not allowed.
In the autumn, annuals that are grown only for harvesting are removed. Decorative perennials are cut to the ground and cover the rhizome with a layer of fallen leaves and spruce branches. In the spring, new shoots will appear from the growth points.
Physalis can boast of good immunity, but diseases such as mosaics, phytosporosis and the black leg can ruin all plantings, so you must strictly follow agricultural practices and regularly inspect the shoots. It makes sense to carry out treatment with a fungicide ("Bordeaux liquid") not only upon infection, but also as a prophylaxis. Pests of the plant are bears and wireworms. Bait is made from them, poison is laid out, or plants are planted in a ring from cut plastic bottles.
Beneficial features
Physalis fruits are a real storehouse of vitamins and minerals needed by the body. In addition, they contain protein, fiber, sugars, organic acids. Berries are consumed fresh or made from them jam, jam, dried fruits.
The product has a pronounced choleretic, diuretic, antiseptic, hemostatic, analgesic, anti-inflammatory action. A decoction of physalis is taken orally to combat dysentery, bronchitis, edema. Dried berries help in the fight against colds and urolithiasis. An ointment of olive oil and crushed dried fruits is applied externally for attacks of rheumatism.
As such, physalis does not have contraindications, but a small amount of alkaloids is contained in the shells of the berries. If used excessively, they lead to poisoning.
Use in landscape design
Upright bushes are planted along the path or entrance to the site as bright accents. Creeping flexible shoots can be directed along the fence or along the arch. Bright and unusual lanterns retain their rich colors even in winter, so physalis is often planted to decorate a snowy garden. In a mixed flower garden, the company can make a plant gypsophila, immortelle, lunaria, coniferous plants. Sprigs are dried from the summer and later used to create bouquets and dry flower arrangements.
