Horticultural crops are classified as decorative and edible. But there are plants that combine excellent decorativeness with a pleasant taste. Such crops include strawberry physalis. You can not only admire them, but also enjoy the fruits.
Description of strawberry physalis
As soon as this plant is not called, it is a strawberry tomato, and an annual frost, as well as a Barbados physalis. Who loves to grow unusual plants, this physalis is perfect for that, which is perfectly cultivated both on the windowsill and in the garden. Physalis strawberry is pollinated independently.
Often summer residents give preference to something exotic and complex, although in fact there are more interesting and easy-to-care specimens. Perhaps it's just a matter of time. Physalis is just becoming popular, and the demand for it has just begun to rise.
It reaches a height of 35-40 cm, and its shoots are either creeping or raised above the ground. The plant produces berries with a diameter of about 6-12 mm, and they weigh no more than 3-5 g. The orange color of the fruit resembles the appearance of a persimmon or tangerine and is very pleasing to the eye. Positive emotions are enhanced by inhaling the delicate strawberry aroma of the fruit. Physalis has a sweet taste. However, unripe berries are similar in taste to nightshade. Jam is made from ripe fruits, which has an unusual taste. They are also dried to a raisin state.
Growing physalis at home
The growing season of physalis lasts 100 days, so it can be cultivated by seedling.
It will not be difficult to buy culture seeds. For planting, you should purchase soil intended for tomatoes or peppers. Seed material must be placed in a gauze bag and put in a solution of potassium permanganate and held there for 20 minutes. Then transfer for 12 hours to a solution of the drug "Epin" (two drops / 100 ml of cooled boiled liquid). The seeds are dried until they become free-flowing.
The best time to plant is in March. Seeds are sown shallow. First, the soil must be tamped and slightly moistened. Place the seeds on top and sprinkle with a layer of soil no more than 1 cm thick, then compact again a little.
It is advisable to sow seed material in containers and cover with transparent material to improve germination. The dishes should be kept in a warm place. As soon as the shoots appear, the shelter must be removed and the seedlings ventilated.
Now the plant needs to be grown in the light, at a temperature of + 20-22 ° C, periodically sprinkling with a slightly warm liquid.
Seedling care
As soon as 3-5 leaves are formed on the culture, it is necessary to subject the sprouts to a pick into peat cups, while burying them to the first leaf. At the same time, the culling of weak, underdeveloped seedlings occurs. Do not forget that with insufficient lighting and elevated temperatures, the sprouts are stretched out.
After the picking process, the seedlings are fed with a complex fertilizer for vegetable seedlings. It is necessary to water the seedlings at least two to three times every seven days.
In April, gardeners are busy hardening seedlings. The containers are taken out into the street in the daytime, and by night they are brought into the room.
With the onset of May and until the middle of the month, the sprouts should be planted in the ground under the film. If the seedlings are stretched out, they must be placed at a slight slope.
Physalis does not tolerate excess moisture, so when cultivating under a film, it is not necessary to create an excess of liquid during watering.
Open bed cultivation
The area for growing physalis should be prepared in advance. The land is fed with humus, peat, rotted manure, compost or ash powder. Organics can be replaced with complex mineral preparations.
The beds should be open or shaded. Physalis grows well in places where cabbage, legumes, cucumbers were its predecessors.
The first feeding is carried out during the flowering period. The second - during the formation of fruits, and the third - after 14-20 days. For feeding, a composition of mineral fertilizers is used, such as ammonium nitrate (10 g), potassium salt (10-15 g), superphosphate (10-15 g), all ingredients are diluted in water (10 l). The prepared solution should be used in a proportion of 10 l / 1 sq. m. There are also top dressing - chicken droppings in a ratio of 1:15, slurry (1:10). These formulations need to be poured 0.5 liters per plant.
Systematic watering is carried out until August 15, after they are reduced. Physalis tolerates heat and drought well; during hot weather, watering is carried out about twice every seven days.
Gathering ripe berries
The harvest ripens gradually, the crumbling fruits are fit for consumption. If not all the berries have ripened before the onset of frost, you need to collect them and put them in a room where the fruits will ripen. You can dig up the plants and hang them in the shed so that the fruits can ripen.
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