Will ground cherries ripen after picking?

The title says it all. I tried growing them for the first time in 40 years. Last time I did was in the late 70's. For some reason the birds have been grabbing every one that hits the ground and either tearing them apart or completely eating them.

I finally had enough of it yesterday and figured if I was never going to get enough to make something out of them so I picked all the husks turning yellow. I peeled off the husks, set them in a tray inside by my window and hope they will ripen like tomatoes.

Most are yellow to yellowish-green so they are on their way.

Will window ripening work for ground cherries?

This says yes, I have never grown them..

"We grow our own ground cherries and I can say they WILL ripen if picked green. There will be some that fall on the ground and still be pretty green, with slight yellow. Just put them in a box and within 2 weeks they should be pretty rip. So in short they should. Good luck!"

https://gardening.stackexchange.com/...-after-picking

Thanks Mary. I checked them about an hour ago. Most of the light green ones have turned yellow! I would say they'll be good and ripe by tomorrow. I have sitting in a window directly facing the sun a good part of the day. Going to try and make a pie with them. Made my first pie last week out of home grown red, gold, and black raspberries mix with my fist batch of rhubarb. I'm addicted now...no going back.

Are they like other fruit that will ripen in a closed bag with a ripe banana due to the gases given off?
Respectfully,
Bill

They are like a mini cherry tomato with a husk. They taste like fruit. Hard to describe, kinda like mango and quava mixed together. I planted 16 plants in my garden and have couple of other varieties I started in buckets from seeds I bought off eBay. The ones I started from seeds in buckets are three times bigger than the 12" tall seedlings I planted in my garden. Apparently they like hot soil that my buckets provide from the sun beating on them. The cherries are a lot bigger on the 5 gal bucket grown plants as well. I would say 3 times the size.

They make good jam. When they turn yellow they are ready. and the husk will be on the off tan color on the light side. Some parts of the US they grow wild. You can not just eat one once you had one.

I keep picking a few and throwing them in with this batch. They're yellowing up pretty good and it's only been a couple days now.


http://i.imgur.com/Xc55K6x.jpg

I have family visiting this afternoon and I know they will disappear if I leave them in my window.

I just moved them onto my trucks dash under lock and key. Lol I'm sure the sun beating through the glass will turn them yellow pretty fast. I had some on my dash for a half day trip last week. The green husks were completely dried out by the end of the the day.

I tried a few green ones right after picking. They still have a good taste just not as sweet as when they are ripe. I will say it takes a lot of plants and beating the birds to them to get a batch like this.

I froze them yesterday morning. One and a 1/4 cups worth. I made the mistake of putting another batch on my windshield with the husks on. They turned into raisins. I'm still going to use them as they have a good taste.

I grow ground cherries.
I leave the husk on them when picked if I don't use them right away...whether they are greenish or fully ripe. I leave them at room temp in a bowl, the green ones will ripen in a week or so. Also, they last quite a long time that way(room temp with husks on), maybe a couple months. One year, I harvested all the remaining green ones at the end of the season (late Sept), they ripened and we had them (fresh) at Thanksgiving.

Thanks, I'll leave the next ones on the counter so they won't dry up. I was anxious and in a hurry to make something with them.

I have wild ones all over in my garden. I have been trying to get rid of them for 15 years, but they just keep getting worse. Any herbicides that kill them also kill my tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant. They produce tons of seed that live in the soil for years.

Ground cherries [emoji523]??? Never heard of em.


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Because of this thread , I ate one of the pea size ground cherries that grow wild as a weed and it tasted like a sweet tomato. Not bad, but would be a lot of work to pick. You learn all kinds of things on Cast Boolits.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by farmerjim

Because of this thread , I ate one of the pea size ground cherries that grow wild as a weed and it tasted like a sweet tomato. Not bad, but would be a lot of work to pick. You learn all kinds of things on Cast Boolits.

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Lol

I haven't grown them in 35-40 years. Since I've been picking them and eating them, I've found you want to wait till they've fallen on the ground and the husks are dried up and the cherry is gold in color. That is where they get the name ground cherries...not ripe till they hit the ground. In my case I can't wait or the birds and squirrels get them before I do. If they are green yet the outer skin will be tough and not as sweet.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tripplebeards

I keep picking a few and throwing them in with this batch. They're yellowing up pretty good and it's only been a couple days now.


http://i.imgur.com/Xc55K6x.jpg

I have family visiting this afternoon and I know they will disappear if I leave them in my window.

I just moved them onto my trucks dash under lock and key. Lol I'm sure the sun beating through the glass will turn them yellow pretty fast. I had some on my dash for a half day trip last week. The green husks were completely dried out by the end of the the day.

I tried a few green ones right after picking. They still have a good taste just not as sweet as when they are ripe. I will say it takes a lot of plants and beating the birds to them to get a batch like this.

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If you did that here in Texas right now, they would be cooked in short order! It was 114 last week one day, an all time high.