The following is a guest post by Dylan Rodgers, an undergraduate student at Cornell University studying Environment and Sustainability. He is concentrating in aquaponics, which combines aquaculture (raising fish) and hydroponics (growing plants without soil) in a...
The following is an update post by Dr. Joyce Van Eck. A new year brings new possibilities! Well, it’s hard to believe another year, our third year, has gone by for our community science activities for the Physalis Improvement Project. It is an understatement to...
Dear All, I am writing to let you know that this will be my last blog post for the Physalis Improvement Project as I am moving on to a new position. Over the past three growing seasons I have enjoyed getting to know many of you as we worked together to learn more...
The following is a guest post by Zoe Dubrow, a PhD Candidate in plant pathology at Cornell University. She works on virulence mechanisms of bacteria that cause disease in a variety of crops including cabbage and banana. In her spare time, Zoe loves baking plant...
The following is a guest post from Savanah Dale, a Plant Breeding and Genetics Ph.D. student at Cornell University, as part of the Approaches for Crop Improvement Blog Series. She can be reached at smd346@cornell.edu. Welcome back to the third installment of the...
Seed SavingDid you enjoy your experience growing Physalis this year? If so, we invite you to save your seeds for future crops! To save seed remove the seeds from the pulp of the fruit. We have found that squishing the fruit in a cup of water is an easy method to get...
The following is part of the “Approaches for Crop Improvement Blog Series” Approaches for Crop Improvement: MutagenesisBack in 1929, a grapefruit grower in Texas noticed that one of his trees was producing red-fleshed fruit, an anomaly to the standard pink...
Join Us! Join us in an interactive chat with Dr. Joyce Van Eck to talk about her research and the Physalis Improvement Project. June 30, 2020 @ 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm Free registration here: https://btiscience.org/breaking-ground-discussion-series-joyce-van-eck/...
Greetings everyone!This past week we were able to plant our 2020 Physalis crop here in Ithaca. We planted five types of groundcherry, three types of goldenberry, and one type of tomatillo. These plants were started in the greenhouse back in March (goldenberry) and...
Greetings Everyone,Thank you all for submitting updates and logging observations on iNaturalist! It has been great to hear from so many of you and we hope you are enjoying this growing season. As a reminder please upload any insect observations found on Physalis to...
Welcome to the first entry of The Approaches for Crop Improvement series: Traditional Plant Breeding! Today’s post will look at how traditional plant breeding capitalizes on naturally occurring biodiversity to create the food crops we depend on daily. The variety we...
A Project UpdateGreetings Everyone! Can you believe it is already the last week of April? Though it has been a rainy and snowy month here in Upstate NY, we have started to see glimmers of Spring sunshine, making us hopeful for a warmer month to come! Our plants in the...
The following is a guest post by Matthew Szarzanowicz to begin a special blog series “Approaches for Crop Improvement”.Approaches for Crop Improvement: An overviewIf there is one thing that unifies us, it is our daily need to consume food. Human history...
Home Year 2020 Greetings,We hope you are all staying well and are looking forward to the coming Spring garden season. I just wanted to check in and see how things are going with your seeds and give an update on the project.First off, we were delighted by the amount of...
Welcome! To our new blog subscribers: Welcome! We hope that you will enjoy following along with our project. We use this blog to share project updates as well as other Physalis related content. Feel free to check our some of our past posts here. Getting Started With...
Citizen Science 2020: Join Now! Grow plants that produce edible fruit in your home garden Submit photos to help us track pests and pollinators Follow along with our blog and follow us on twitter @PhysalisProject Growing instructions provided Available to anyone...
The Breakdown of Self-Incompatibility: What happens after pollination? The following is a guest post from Chelsea Pretz, a PhD Candidate at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Chelsea is interested in general taxonomy and nomenclature of the Physalis, along with the...
With winter in full swing in Ithaca, it has come time to wrap up our first Physalis field season. Being that it was our first time growing groundcherry and goldenberry outside in a field setting, we didn’t know what to expect. One thing we were interested in was...
Thank you to all who joined us for our event Physalis: From the Garden to the Table! It was an opportunity for us to thank our participants as well as share a little bit about this year’s Physalis Improvement Project, all while enjoying Physalis foods! Dishes...
Project Update: Consumer Preference Test Greetings everyone!August has been a busy month for us out in the Physalis field. Our groundcherries appeared to reach peak production levels the first week of August, and our goldenberries steadily produced for all of August....
The following is a guest post from Dr. Craig Schenck, a postdoctoral research associate in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Michigan State University, who studies plant metabolites and their role in plant defense. Connect with him on twitter at...
Self-incompatibility HomePhysalis Blog Home Year 2019 Biology Minute: Self-incompatibility Flowering plants harbor a large amount of genetic diversity; so much so that they are the most diverse group of land plants. From an evolutionary standpoint, genetic diversity...
Greetings Everyone! Although it seemed to endlessly rain throughout the month of June, we have finally found ourselves in a streak of warm and sunny weather. It seems that the hot sun was just what our plants needed to really take off in the field, and we have...
Physalis Pest Alert: Three-lined Potato Beetle HomePhysalis Blog Home Year 2019 Greetings Everyone,As the growing season moves forward I wanted to alert everyone to be on the lookout for a Physalis pest that has started to appear this season. The three-lined potato...
This week we completed our first field planting of groundcherry and goldenberry! In total, we put 90 plants in the ground, consisting of 3 types of groundcherry (Pineapple, ZL05, and Goldie), and 3 types of goldenberry (Goldenberry, India, and South Africa). As you...
The following is a guest post by Julie Davis, a first year PhD student in the Cornell University Department of Entomology Spring is finally yawning and stretching before it takes off full-force here in Ithaca, NY. Hyacinths, cherry blossoms, cilia, crocuses, red...
Greetings everyone! Below you will find some project updates: What we are growing This year we are doing our first field planting of groundcherry and goldenberry. Growing our plants in the field (versus the greenhouse) allows us to better understand the...
Greetings Everyone, With April just around the corner it might be a good idea to start thinking about planting your groundcherry and tomatillo this weekend. Last year we found that groundcherries started around this time began to produce ripe fruit near the end of...
Award-Winning Chili Every year the Boyce Thompson Institute hosts a Chili Cook Off with awards for “Best Overall Chili”, “Best Meat Chili”, and “Best Vegetarian Chili”. Although there were many strong contenders this year, the award...
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...
2018 Physalis Improvement Project As the first year of the Physalis Improvement Project comes to a close, we would like to take this opportunity to share a little about the citizen science project and some of the results. Background In the first iteration of the...
Looking for some culinary inspiration? Look no farther as we have now started a collection of recipes for Physalis! These dishes, made by project participants, first debuted at our Fall 2018 Physalis Harvest Event. We liked them so much we wanted to be able to share...
Best Wishes for the End of the Year As we wrap up the 2018 we want to thank everyone who has taken an interest in Physalis, especially groundcherry and goldenberry. Remember, if you are interested in participating in the project this upcoming year, please fill out...
Physalis Harvest Event 2018 Thank you to all who could join us for our 2018 Physalis Harvest event! It was night of fun, food, and physalis. It was a great opportunity to interact and hear from participants about their experiences growing Physalis this season, and...
The Physalis genus is known for the husks that surround its fruit, an attribute that offers protection from pests and disease, increases shelf life of berries, and in the case of Chinese lantern, adds ornamental value. Although commonly associated with Physalis, these...
A quick reminder this event will occur two weeks from today! Save The Date! Physalis Harvest Event Attendance is limited to project participants only (invitation to follow) Wednesday, October 24th, 2018 5-7 PM Boyce Thompson Institute Atrium Details and registration...
Judy’s Day In memory of Judy Abrams, the Cornell Botanical Gardens puts together a family learning festival annually that celebrates learning and the natural world. This year’s theme was “Plants Have Families Too”, and what better...
Harvest Season Survey As we make our way into the fall season, many are reporting that their Physalis plants have ripe fruit! With the harvest season underway, we want to hear from you about your observations throughout the course of the project. If you were a...
The second half of July has been busy with farm visits and other activities related to Groundcherry and Goldenberry Project. Ithaca Children’s Garden One of our community project participants is the Ithaca Children’s Garden, where they have been growing...
With the growing season in full swing we are starting to visit project participant farms to see how the Physalis plants perform in different environments and any challenges that may come with growing Physalis. This past Tuesday we visited a plot of Physalis plans in...
Hello Physalis Growers, It has come to our attention that the insect known as three-lined potato beetle (Lema daturaphila) has been infesting Physalis plants this season (pictured below). They are known to prefer Physalis over potato. According to the University of...
In the earliest stages of growth, groundcherries and goldenberries appear quite similar, however as they develop the difference between them becomes apparent. From plant architecture to fruit taste, these two species have differentiated themselves over the course of...
In addition to their unique appearance and sweet taste, groundcherries and goldenberries are considered a healthy fruit. As your fruit start to ripen keep in mind the nutritional profile that is being developed. Some of the nutritional benefits reported in literature...
On Tuesday of this week we transplanted our Physalis seedlings from market packs to individual 4-inch pots, and moved them from the growth chamber to the greenhouse. They will stay in the greenhouse for the next few weeks until they go to their new homes where they...
The fruit ripening process is a crucial stage of fruit development, as it results in an edible and more attractive fruit for consumption. Fruits that ripen as a result of a sharp increase in respiration and ethylene production are classified as climacteric fruit, and...
How old is the genus Physalis? Check out the article below to read about tomatillo fossils discovered early last year in Patagonia, Argentina. This discovery marks the earliest findings of the Solanaceae family to date. South American fossil tomatillos show...
It’s been 11 days since we planted our Physalis seeds here at BTI, and as of yesterday we are starting to see the first signs of germination. This is right on track as we expect Physalis seeds to take anywhere from 7-14 days to germinate (and maybe even longer!). It...
A distinguishing property of groundcherries and glodenberries is the calyx (or husk) that covers the fruit. The calyx collectively refers to the sepals that surround the flower, that protect the bud and support the petals. As the flower matures into fruit the calyx...
It’s been an exciting week here at BTI! On Tuesday, with the help of volunteers, we planted 120 Physalis seeds to kick off the growing season for the first year of this project. The plants grown from these seeds will be distributed to citizen scientist...
The flowers of pruinosa and peruviana are perfect, meaning that they have both male and female reproductive parts. The male parts are the stamens whereas the female part is the carpel. Each flower will contain both of these reproductive organs allowing them to...
