Spin
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Joined: Fri May 28, 2010 11:05 pm
Location: New Brunswick, Canada

Ground cherries in container

I'm getting ready to transplant my ground cherries into containers and just read that it is better to plant them in pairs for pollination. I have a large pot 12" across and 9" deep...anyone know if it would be better to plant two in that pot or just one and put the other in a second pot. I'm running low on containers, but I don't want to stifle the growth of anything either.

Thanks in advance if anyone has any suggestions! :)

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Kisal
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Joined: Tue Jun 24, 2008 1:04 am
Location: Oregon

The flowers aren't self-fertile, so yes, you will need to have at least 2 plants if you want fruit. I don't think you would need to plant both plants in a single container, however. The plants grow quite large, sometimes as much as 6' tall and 5' across, so putting two in the same container would probably crowd them too much for them to flourish. I also expect that a plant that size is going to require a rather large root system. I'm not sure a 9" deep container will be optimum for even one ground cherry plant.

Personally, I think your plants will do well if you treat them like you would a tomato plant, I.e. provide each with a container no smaller than a 5-gallon bucket, don't give them too much nitrogen, etc. You can place the containers all in one area, so insects can readily fly from plant to plant and provide pollination. :)



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