TERMINATED: Ground Cherry "Aunt Molly's"

[pfunnyjoy]

2023-12-28

Seeds: Baker Creek “Aunt Molly's” Ground Cherry
Planted: 7:15 PM
Aerogarden: 2023 Bounty Elite
Location: South 40, front table, left side
Water: tap, filtered, Big Berkey
Grow Medium: 2009 AG Grow Anything sponges
Preferred PH: 6.0–6.5
Preferred EC: unknown

I have read that these are hard to germinate with a 60-80% rate, so I’m doing the pre-soak and the damp paper towel in Ziploc baggie method, with the extra of a little heat from the top of one of my LED AG light hoods. The seeds are not very large!

2024-01-02
One seed is sporting a tiny white root.

2024-01-03: Day 0
This morning, most of the seeds were sporting roots! I removed the Ziploc from the top of the Harvest hood, so the little roots didn’t burn. This evening, all nine seeds had germinated. Seven days. So much for difficult germination!

I’ve heard these start slowly, then explode with growth later, so the plan is light nutrients, increasing as needed. I couldn’t find out much about EC requirements, other than a Reddit Kratky post about a plant that was at 500ppm and flowering. I think that’s about 1.0 EC. The AG Experiments guy says he was using the recommended 12ml for a Bounty, but sometimes going to 14ml.

I erred on the side of caution by tailoring the nutrients slightly downward, hoping for 0.8 EC instead of a harsher 1.0 or more. When I realized that my gallon jug was not even close to making the fill line, that caution was probably unnecessary, as I could have topped off with water and diluted it! I had a similar mix from the Italian Dandelions left over, so I filled the rest of the way with that.

Nutrients (per gallon):
1.0ml CALiMAGic
2.2ml Flora Micro
2.2ml Flora Gro
2.2ml Flora Bloom
5.0ml 3% hydrogen peroxide
1.0ml pH Down

pH: 6.0
EC: 0.8

In hopes of getting nice stocky, healthy seedlings to choose from, I planted ALL NINE PODS. But with the plan of removing all but two once I see how they are growing.

This might seem wasteful, but I reuse grow baskets and domes, and the TPU covers were the ones I sanitized from the terminated lettuce Bounty. The only waste is the sponges and I have TONS of those!

[pfunnyjoy]

2024-01-09: Day 6
I'm seeing green sprouts in many of the pods. Tiny yet, not above the pod covers.

[pfunnyjoy]

2024-01-19: Day 17
Late rinse and refill! The nine pods planted produced 8 seedlings, of those, two were stunted and I removed them a few days back. A third is struggling, but the others look healthy. At present, there's not much for roots, so they are easy to move around. I'll let them grow just a bit more before picking the two best looking seedlings as the final contenders for growing.

Nutrients (per gallon):
3.0ml of CALiMAGic
3.0ml of Flora Micro
3.0ml of Flora Gro
3.0ml of Flora Bloom
5.0ml of 3% hydrogen peroxide

Nutrient mix pH: 6.0
Nutrient mix EC: 1.2

[lynnee]

Ground cherries are totally new to me! They're related to tomatillos.

www.thespruce.com/how-to-grow-organic-ground-cherries-2539577

[pfunnyjoy]

Jan 21, 2024 13:37:18 GMT -5 lynnee said:

Ground cherries are totally new to me! They're related to tomatillos.

www.thespruce.com/how-to-grow-organic-ground-cherries-2539577

I've never grown them, but people have done so in Aerogardens, including the AG Experiments guy. Which is why I know they will eventually get really rambunctious! I can only hope AG will restock Bounty trellises before that time comes! 

I have eaten a cape gooseberry or goldenberry (Physalis peruviana) which is related to ground cherries, back when I was still getting a produce box and I thought they were tasty. My understanding is that the ground cherries are a bit smaller in size, so it's hard to say whether they'll be a worthwhile grow or not. The AG Experiments guy said they produced a lot of fruit though. And they don't sound like a difficult grow, once you get germination, other than managing the sprawl! Or the possible dropping of fruit on the floor ... I'm hoping the table will catch most!

So we'll see. I could swear the little seedlings grew a bit overnight after the nutrients were added.

I just couldn't resist growing an actual sweet fruit for fun. I've not the patience to attempt strawberries.

[lynnee]

One way to get the trellises is to buy more Bounties!

[pfunnyjoy]

Jan 21, 2024 22:56:31 GMT -5 lynnee said:

One way to get the trellises is to buy more Bounties!

First, I need a good sale. Like really good.

I've got the trellis from the currently unplanted regular Bounty assembled and on hand to make level 2 on the ground cherries. Perhaps if worst comes to worst, the kale could stand on their own.

[pfunnyjoy]

2024-02-02: Day 30
Rinse and refill. I think the plant has gone through its nutrients or the pH is off. I’ve suddenly got blotches on a leaf and the other leaves have a bit of yellowing. It’s a day early for a rinse and refill, but I won’t wait.

Nutrients (per gallon):
2.0ml of CALiMAGic
5.0ml of Flora Micro
5.0ml of Flora Gro
5.0ml of Flora Bloom
5.0ml of 3% hydrogen peroxide

Nutrient mix pH: 6.0
Nutrient mix EC: 1.5

[pfunnyjoy]

2024-02-15: Day 43
Rinse and refill. The growth has been crazy this week AND a couple flowers snuck up on me! I don’t know if they got pollinated. Perhaps time to prioritize bloom nutrients! I guess I will have to remember to go down each morning and manually shake the plants to help pollination. Unlike my cherry tomato upstairs, this plant does NOT like having a fan on it, the leaves droop and wilt within a very short time (under a half hour). And with this kind of canopy, I won't see the flowers easily!

There's an amazing root mass already. Fortunately, it seems to be behaving itself and not clogging up the water level sensor. I did lift the deck out and completely rinse and drain the bowl after siphoning most out. Unfortunately, I forgot entirely to look around the pump area. Next time.

Some leaves appear to have what looks like edema. Not sure what to do about that, since the plant hates the fan. I do think that I might be inclined to only plant ONE ground cherry in a Bounty if I ever do this again....

As the TPU pod covers were getting deformed, I removed them. I don’t think algae will be an issue with the amount of shade the deck is getting! If I see a problem starting, I'll put some foil over the pods.

I have set the Bounty Elite to remind me for weekly plant feedings. The EC was at a low 1.0 after a week. I may need to raise the amount of nutrients, but will see how things go this week.

Nutrients (per gallon):
5.0ml of CALiMAGic
6.0ml of Flora Micro
6.0ml of Flora Gro
7.5ml of Flora Bloom
5.0ml of 3% hydrogen peroxide

Nutrient mix pH: 6.0
Nutrient mix EC: 2.2



A flower!

[pfunnyjoy]

Might have a possible help for the leaf edema. I'm running the fan (on low), but it's way across the room now. Won't help with pollination, but it's at least providing a bit more in the way of air circulation in the room. Will see how it goes, but so far, so good, no limp or droopy leaves.

[pfunnyjoy]

2024-02-23: Day 51
7-day scheduled rinse and refill, but one day late. Having a fan across the room during the day has helped with the leaf edema, no new signs of that. The previously affected leaves look awful now with large dry spots and I’ve cut the worst off. There are brown, dry edges on some new leaves and that worries me. Plenty of flowers. Checked EC (0.7) so the plants had gone through their nutrients swiftly! I think I’ll raise nutrients next week.

I remembered to check roots this time, and some were trying to grow into the pump, so I pruned just a little around the pump area. Also cleared a couple roots gathering at the water sensor. Otherwise, the roots looked good!

I gently lifted a couple branches to prop them over the trellis rather than under, to get better airflow.

Nutrients (per gallon):
5.0ml of CALiMAGic
6.0ml of Flora Micro
6.0ml of Flora Gro
8.0ml of Flora Bloom
5.0ml of 3% hydrogen peroxide

Nutrient mix pH: 6.0
Nutrient mix EC: 2.2

[pfunnyjoy]

2024-02-29: Day 57
Rinse and refill a day early. The plant continues to produce flowers. Leaf edema is under control, I have a nice Holmes oscillating fan in the room. The plants still look like there’s nutrient deficiency. The EC for the nutrients I mixed was not as high as I hoped.

I had to do quite a bit of pruning to control growth at the front so I can fill the reservoir. I cut off a lot of the bad looking leaves while I was at it. The plant is so far staying low and wanting to grow outward rather than up. Roots are a big mass, it’s hard to siphon fully, as I can’t get the siphon to the bottom of the bowl. I wish now that I’d just grown a single plant! Live and learn.

I'll try and get another picture soon, but don't feel like fighting with the lighting right now.

Nutrients (per gallon):
5.0ml of CALiMAGic
8.0ml of Flora Micro
8.0ml of Flora Gro
9.0ml of Flora Bloom
5.0ml of 3% hydrogen peroxide

Nutrient mix pH: 6.0
Nutrient mix EC: 2.6

[lynnee]

If it were my garden, I would remove the less vigorous of the two plants. You have blooms, but are the plants setting fruit? Neither plant may be getting enough nutrients. Sixty days to harvest is one number I found by Googling, and you're about there now.

[pfunnyjoy]

Mar 3, 2024 16:04:52 GMT -5 lynnee said:

If it were my garden, I would remove the less vigorous of the two plants. You have blooms, but are the plants setting fruit? Neither plant may be getting enough nutrients. Sixty days to harvest is one number I found by Googling, and you're about there now.

Neither is exactly "less vigorous," LOL! Neither is optimally healthy either. 

I can't tell yet if they are setting fruit. I did think I saw a tiny lantern forming the other day, but it was so small, I really don't know. I'm thinking I will seriously boost the nutrients next feed (possibly early), see what happens. If nothing improves, it might be time to terminate and either try again with a single plant or grow something else for a while.

One thing I know, Ground Cherries supposedly like heat. And that might partly be the problem with the leaf edema. It's on the cooler side in the basement. But I would not wish to grow these rambunctious plants on my office table, so that's that. It's either the basement room or nothing. I don't regret having the seeds, as I'll probably give a try at growing some outside when the weather warms.

[lynnee]

pfunnyjoy, It's likely that either plant will do better if it's less crowded. You can cut the roots apart vertically and then gently pull on the roots of the plant you're removing, to disentangle as many roots as you can from the plant that's remaining.

Don't worry about leaving some roots behind. Roots are used to being submerged in water, and the root ends that are no longer attached to anything won't break down or rot quickly.

[pfunnyjoy]

Mar 3, 2024 20:14:17 GMT -5 lynnee said:

pfunnyjoy , It's likely that either plant will do better if it's less crowded. You can cut the roots apart vertically and then gently pull on the roots of the plant you're removing, to disentangle as many roots as you can from the plant that's remaining.

Don't worry about leaving some roots behind. Roots are used to being submerged in water, and the root ends that are no longer attached to anything won't break down or rot quickly.

OK, that is REALLY good to know about the roots, as these are very intertwined, THANK YOU! And I did worry over leaving some roots behind and possibly having them rot. I don't plan to remove a plant just yet, but if a nutrient boost fails to improve things....

[lynnee]

If you have to take one plant out, another week will pretty much tell you whether the remaining one will benefit from the extra space.

[pfunnyjoy]

Mar 3, 2024 21:51:03 GMT -5 lynnee said:

If you have to take one plant out, another week will pretty much tell you whether the remaining one will benefit from the extra space.

I'm too tired to redo the nutrients tonight, but I might do 'em tomorrow. It's not due for another 4 days, but I might as well find out if a nutrient boost helps at all. 

Let's face it, I tend to fail a lot with gardens before I succeed. OTOH, I brought back Tatsoi, Italian Dandelions, and cilantro practically from the dead! And garden by garden, plant by plant, I'm learning stuff.

The AG Experiments guy did two Ground Cherries in a Bounty and was quite successful. And it didn't sound like he needed a ton of nutrients either. I get the feeling he has lucky, normal water, which may be part of it. 

[lynnee]

Well, as you know . . . Stuff grows so fast in AGs, you can always pitch everything and start over.

I haven't seen the "Experiments" video on Ground Cherries, but if I have one criticism of the channel, it's that he grows a lot of things in too-small AGs, just to prove that he can.

He doesn't get a lot of production from his plants. In one video that I did watch, he got only a couple of cucumbers from the vine. But of course I'm a fan, because his experiments always teach something.



pfunnyjoy

[pfunnyjoy]

Mar 3, 2024 23:34:50 GMT -5 lynnee said:

Well, as you know . . . Stuff grows so fast in AGs, you can always pitch everything and start over.

I haven't seen the "Experiments" video on Ground Cherries, but if I have one criticism of the channel, it's that he grows a lot of things in too-small AGs, just to prove that he can.

He doesn't get a lot of production from his plants. In one video that I did watch, he got only a couple of cucumbers from the vine. But of course I'm a fan, because his experiments always teach something.



pfunnyjoy

Yes, I do think he often overcrowds things. Or does plants that might not be entirely practical, like radishes. However, I think I saw someone else on YouTube who had done ground cherries in AG successfully and I think they had two plants. I'll have to go see if I can find that video again.

I'm pretty sure he said he'd gotten at least a hundred ground cherries before he terminated.