Talk:Alkekengi

(Blfgbf 19:40, 9 September 2006 (UTC))

I went to a yard sale today and bought a Chinese Lantern Plant from an elderly lady. My questions are:

Nobody else seems likely to answer, so I'll answer these best I can. I have an amazing brown thumb, so I'm not really a gardening expert. --71.192.117.127 23:21, 24 February 2007 (UTC)

1/ can I plant in a large containter

I've seen them in containers before, but I'm not sure if they were actually growing, or somebody stuck the branches into soil (which I've seen done before with other dried plants). I wouldn't see why you cannot though, and I'm guessing you would know the answer by now any rate. --71.192.117.127 23:21, 24 February 2007 (UTC)

2/ I understant they are very evasive, will they be as invasive in a containter

Depends where you put it. Two ways plants spread: roots and seeds. Once we got all the mint out of our garden, then put one plant in a container, and put the container in the ground. Next year it was back again, roots growing out through the hole in the bottom. Patio should be okay. As for seeds, I've seen these growing wild before, they don't seem to drop the fruits very easily. Even if they do, the pods aren't likely to go too far. --71.192.117.127 23:21, 24 February 2007 (UTC)

3/ I am in Zone 7--will it survive the winter?

Probably. Ground cherries, a relative, are native to Eastern Massachusetts, and according to Johnny's Seeds, it cannot even grow in a climate hotter than zone 8. And I seem to recall seeing one wild at Arcadia wildlife sanctuary in Easthampton. (I'm in zone 4 or 5, depending on who you ask.)--71.192.117.127 23:21, 24 February 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for the help, I hope you enjoy gardening as much as I do.

It's always fun to pull out the weeds that I let overgrow the garden the previous year after my crops died, to watch the seedlings grow, and to transplant the melons. Less fun to see my crops die again later in the summer. --71.192.117.127 23:21, 24 February 2007 (UTC)

Thanks

bfulop4@yahoo.com

(Blfgbf 19:40, 9 September 2006 (UTC))

Beautiful

I looked this up on Wikipedia after seeing this Flickr photo, it's beautiful http://www.flickr.com/photos/jam343/250314176/in/set-79822/ Do they normally turn into a skeleton? Can they be grown in Australia? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 58.168.150.204 (talk) 12:55, 14 February 2008 (UTC)

Edibility

What I want to know is: are the bright read berries edible, or at least non-toxic? --71.192.117.127 23:21, 24 February 2007 (UTC)

Lest somebody take this as frivilous, I am curious, if in a passhing fashion. So may things which are edible we do not, for one reason or another, eat. And others most of us do not eat, because we consider them ornamental, and would not consider eating. --71.192.117.127 00:08, 25 February 2007 (UTC)

I have just discovered that these Physalis plants are edible and are sold in Paris. I have exactly the same question as UTC: can these Physalis we call Chinese lanterns and we grow in cold climate actually edible like the subtropical species we import from Latin America as exotic fruit? Dr Jacques COULARDEAU

I am not sure. I remember nicking P. alkekengi at a neighbor's and trying them when I was young, as I had read of Cape Gooseberries. They did not taste well. I knew they were Solanaceae and what that meant, and I didn't finish them. I remember them tasting "greener" or "more like potato fruit smell when crushed" compared to the Cape Gooseberries I eventually ate. Might be they were not quite ripe (they were small and it was in the middle of Germany where they probably didn't get enough sun), might be it is one of these things that just don't taste good to children (like olives or Brie cheese etc). But I remember being a bit worried that I might have a poisoning; they certainly did not taste edible to me there and then.

I do not think the question of edibility is frivolous BTW; quite to the contrary it seems actually important because they are attractive to children. And if they are edible, they arguably make a valuable small-gardening fruitplant/ornamental. Dysmorodrepanis (talk) 19:46, 18 November 2007 (UTC)

The Russian article about this plant (you can check it) says that its berries are toxic and cannot be eaten. But I have been eating them for many years and have not noticed any bad effects except for them being bitter. In fact, they are sweet-bitter. So, am I in danger? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 158.181.12.190 (talk) 09:07, 7 March 2012 (UTC)

Just to correct, the Russian (as well as the Czech) article says that while unripe berries are toxic (they contain solanine in sufficient quantities to cause gastroenteritis), ripe berries are eaten raw and/or processed without any ill effects.PeterRet (talk) 18:40, 7 June 2015 (UTC)

Mmm, chinese lantern-eey

Thees things taste good! Do not die before eating them they taste like no other fruit!—Preceding unsigned comment added by 124.197.54.130 (talk • contribs)

My Iranian friend gets bought these by her family as fruit to eat - so yes, they are meant to be eaten! She knows them as "Chinese lanterns" too SetaLyas (talk) 22:54, 14 April 2008 (UTC)

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