Physalis Blog Post
2019 Physalis Improvement Project
Welcome to the 2019 Physalis Improvement Project
We are excited to announce that the second year of The Physalis Improvement Project is underway. With that said, we would like to welcome all new followers and project participants, as well as thank those who continue to follow along. We will continue to post updates surrounding the project, Physalis in the news, and “Biology Minutes”. To view past posts, you can the visit the blog page here.
Project News
- Tomatillo, otherwise known as Physalis ixocarpa, is now part of the improvement project. We provided seeds for two varieties, “Toma Verde” and “Purple de Milpa”.
- We have continued to provide groundcherry (Physalis pruinosa) and goldenberry (Physalis peruviana) seeds. New this year is “Schoenbrunn Gold”, a type of goldenberry from Austria.
- We have more than doubled in size from last year with 52 Citizen scientists (and counting!).
- We have expanded beyond New York and now have growers in 13 states (see map below).
Upcoming Dates
- March 1st: Recommended start date for Physalis peruviana (Goldenberry (GB) and Schoenbrunn Gold (SG))
- We learned from the project last year that goldenberry needs a longer growing season. So, we recommend starting these earlier than the other species.
- For your convenience the full calendar of recommended dates can be found at: https://btiscience.org/wp-content/uploads/Physalis-Information.pdf