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Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
							P	P	P	P	P

(Best months for planting Cape Gooseberry in Australia - temperate regions)

P = Plant direct in garden where they are to grow.

A straggling bush up to one metre tall that bears yellow fruits inside a brown papery envelope. It is perennial and can tolerate some frost. The cape gooseberry is related to tomatillo, ground cherry and husk tomato, all in the genus Physalis.

The Cape Gooseberry is very easy to grow and as the fruit are popular with birds and plants can be easily spread around the garden.

Culinary hints - cooking and eating Cape Gooseberry

The berry is the size of a cherry tomato, is very aromatic and full of tiny seeds. They are delicious eaten fresh or can be made into jam. They can be added to salads, desserts and cooked dishes, they are delicious stewed with other fruit, especially apples. They also go well in savoury dishes with meat or seafood.

Your comments and tips

31 Jan 12, margaret (Australia - arid climate)

I have two cape gooseberry bushes the problem i am having that some of the branches are half green and the other end of the branch is brittle dry like hollow from inside it looks as if the plant is dying. It is not starving from water or fertilizer so what could be the reason. Both these plants are near the hedge. Thanks margaret

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19 Jan 12, Carol (Australia - cool/mountain climate)

My gooseberries has taken off and are quite large bushes. I have an ongoing battle with little cucumber beetles (I think). I have grown them in three different suburbs around Toowoomba (different plant sources) and have always got this annoying and persistent beetle making a mess of the bushes. Pyrethrum seems to keep them at bay but not eradicate them. The berries look great until I open the paper pod and there is only a tiny shriveled up thing inside. Is the pyrethrum destroying the berries or the bugs? Or maybe would there be a problem with soil nutrition? Does anyone know?

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20 Jan 12, Canh (Australia - temperate climate)

Hi Carol, My guess is your plant isn't getting enough water and/ or manure. My cape gooseberry which is now in the green house has gone wild, it's taken over the greenhouse. Not that I mind because it is loaded with fruit. Occasionally I squeeze the green husks to feel how the fruits are developing. The husks that developed in early December has fruits the size of a marble. I don't think they are going to get much bigger than that. New side shoots are still emerging just like the tomato plants and new fruit are developing with these new shoots. How I look after my goose berry is I try to get keep the soil around the plant moist but not damp if you know what i mean. Occasionally I let the soil to almost dry out but never completely dry so the root system can breathe. If you see the leaves starting to wilt from dry soil this will affect the berries in the pods. Try putting dry leaves around the base of the tree to preserve moisture. I don't need to mulch mine because the plant is so bushy it's shading the base itself!! I feed the plant with horse manure. How i do it is, I have a plastic bin about 40 litres with a cover. I put about a supermarket size bag of raw horse manure in the bin then filled it up with water, put the lit on and let it sit for about 2 weeks. I then scoop 4 or 5 cups of this mixture including the grassy bits of the manure from the bin and put into a 10 litre bucket. Fill the bucket up with fresh water, stir them together and water the plants. I feed the plants once every 2 weeks. simple as that..

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12 Jan 12, Frog (Australia - sub-tropical climate)

I recently found my childhood memory cape gooseberries when revisiting Mt Tamborine. The new householder I visited did not know how precious her plants were to me, and hopefully now to her. I have some fruit, which I won't eat, as I want to plant. Do I dry them, store in fridge and plant March, as 'green harvest' mentioned or just leave whole fruit in ground, and magic happens.

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05 Jan 12, Canh (Australia - temperate climate)

How I got my Cape Gooseberry to grow from a cutting..The cutting I managed to get was about 3cm long. It was the tip of one of the branches. When I got it home after a 30 minutes car drive, I let the cutting soak in cool tap water for a couple of hours. Then I put the cutting into a small pot with 3/4 of soil. I then put 3 small stakes about 15cm above the pot level wedged around the edge of the pot. Then I use a clear plastic bag and covered the pot. I made a small hole in the bag for ventilation and also for watering the pot without having to take the plastic bag off. keeping it moist but not damped I noticed the cutting was getting bigger and side shoots began to show. When it got to about 15cm tall I transplant the gooseberry into a glasshouse. about 3 months later the gooseberry plant is over 1.5metre tall and has dozens of side shoots over a meter tall. It's like going wild in my glasshouse. And yes, the tree is loaded with fruit but not riped to pick as yet. Since my cape gooseberry took off and produced many side shoots I've been making more cuttings. Now I don't know what the hell I am going to do with all the new plants I've made. So it is very easy to grow Cape Gooseberry from cuttings as long as the cutting has a tip or a nod/ bud where branches or new side shoots going to come out of. Anyone in the Canberra area wanting a cutting or small Gooseberry tree let me know.

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16 Jan 12, Annie (Australia - temperate climate)

I would absolutely love to buy a small gooseberry tree off you, I live in batemans bay and am able to pick it up it that's ok with you. My phone number is 0478004132 or if unable to contact me on that number my partner Robs number is 0449818956. Seeing that comment you posted made my day!! I haven't had a gooseberry in years and would love my own plant! :) please be in contact :)

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11 Jan 12, Greg (Australia - temperate climate)

Hello canh, if you still have any surplus new plants I'd like to have one. We grew a cape gooseberry years ago and really enjoyed the flavour, so I'd like to grew it again. I'm in Gowrie (tuggeranong). cheers, Greg C

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20 Jan 12, Canh (Australia - temperate climate)

Hey Greg, Unfortunately, the gooseberry plants are more are popular than I first thought. Pretty much everyone at my work I've talked to about the gooseberry plant they all seemed to want one so I am out of stock, lol.. I will pot a few more this weekend but if you're happy to get a few cuttings from me to see if you can get it to strike you're most welcome. Otherwise you have to wait for about 3 weeks or so. Like I said in my post, it's very easy to take off and very quick to establish. I live in Kambah so not far from you. My mobile is 0403 706 007 send me a text and i'll reply with my address or i can drop a few cuttings to you if you don't want to wait for the ones i am making this weekend to take off.. Canh

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11 Jan 12, NAFISA (Australia - arid climate)

I would dearly love some baby Cape Gooseberry Plants!!! Would like to give them a go here where I live in hot Broken Hill, which a bit far from you. Do you think you could wrap a few with a bit of potting soil around the roots and then in plastic or damp newspaper and send them to me in a little box? I do receive some baby plants this way from Nurseries, and sent Express Mail, they arrive happily ready for transplanting. I would be happy to pay postage or whatever. Your story is so good!! Nafisa

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20 Jan 12, Canh (Australia - temperate climate)

Hi Nafisa, I just replied to Greg telling him that I've given all my potted gooseberry plants to people at my work. I've been giving away fresh cucumbers and zuuchinis at work and telling people about the cape gooseberry plants. So they were all very curious and wanted to plant them. So i am out of of stock at the moment but I am going to do a big batch this weekend and sure I am happy to send a few out to you once they take roots or I am happy to wrap them in wet newspaper and put them in Chinese take way plastic container and post to you if you want to grow them from cuttings yourself. My mobile is 0403 706 007, text me your address and let me know if you want to wait til they taken roots or send you just the cuttings. They are very easy to take roots, just follow my instructions from the original post if you want to try it yourself. Canh

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