Niacin<\/strong>).<\/p>\nAs long as you eat them only when they are ripe they will give you a good boost of health-giving nutrients.<\/p>\n
Eating unripe ground cherries can cause an upset stomach, so make sure you only eat them when they are fully ripe.<\/p>\n
How Many Ground Cherries Do You Get Per Plant?<\/h2>\n
Unlike some plants that don\u2019t yield a lot, or only bear one or two fruits, ground cherries are heavy croppers.<\/p>\n
You can expect to get as many as 300 fruits per plant, and they will continue to produce until the first few frosts have started to hit.<\/p>\n
If you plant a few ground cherry plants, you can expect to be overrun with the delicious fruits. There are a lot worse fates than this!<\/p>\n
These little plants self seed and self pollinate, so you may find that once you have planted one, you never need to buy more seeds.<\/p>\n
If you have a bumper crop then it\u2019s a great idea to preserve some of the fruit in jams or other products that have a long shelf life.<\/p>\n
Keeping your ground cherries this way means that you can continue to enjoy them long after the growing season is done.<\/p>\n
When Should You Pick Ground Cherries?<\/h2>\n
You can, of course, pick the fruits whenever you like – they make great decorations – but they are toxic if eaten before they are ready!<\/p>\n
The good news is that you can ripen them at home in a bowl on the counter – just keep them warm, and check for mould developing.<\/p>\n
You\u2019re looking out for when the outside husk – the papery covering of the fruit – goes dry, pale and crispy. This is the time for harvesting.<\/p>\n
You may also find that some of the fruit falls from the plant, so make sure you check the ground below the plant for any windfalls.<\/p>\n
This useful video shows you the best way to harvest your ground cherries at the right time:<\/p>\n