Delicious physalis: cultivation and care

Mozhukha (Mexican tomato) - this plant has several uncomfortable and incomprehensible names, but it is familiar to local gardeners under the name Physalis. Growing up and caring for it began within our state only in 1926, earlier simple inhabitants could not taste tasty and useful berries.

Usually cultivated two species of this plant - strawberry and less delicious Mexican. Not only is it nice to eat berries of the first kind, they also have much more useful substances. Fizalis strawberry, cultivation and care of which is now available to almost everyone, contains up to 9% of sugars, which is almost twice as much as in traditional raspberries or strawberries. Also worth noting is the importance of the pectin: it allows you to create amazing jellies, without the help of gelatin or prolonged cooking. Berries are used not only in jam and preparation of candied fruits, but also in pickles, borscht, sauces and various salads. As a red culinary pigment is also used strawberry physalis. Cultivation and care begins with the forking out of healthy seedlings. Popular varieties are considered - mushroom, Mexican, strawberry raisin, confectionery and vegetable.

The best precursor plants in the area before the tasty bush are pumpkin, legumes, root crops and cabbage plants. The general technique of cultivation is similar to the care of tomatoes. At the age of 25-30 days planted on the beds young physalis. Growing and grooming involves gartering, top dressing and regular watering. The plant perfectly copes with short-term frosts, so the landing can be safely carried out immediately after the melting of the last snow on the site at the end of March or in the month of April. Place sprouts in a nesting method according to the traditional for tomato scheme 75x75 or 80x80, in accordance with the size of the bush itself. In warm areas, you can simply sow slightly seeded seeds right into the ground, sprinkling them on top of the soil for 1-1.5 cm.

Flowers physalis will be thrown out almost immediately, and the harvest will have to wait 40-60 days - for seedling method and 80 days - for growing from seeds. To feed it is necessary usual organic and mineral fertilizers, for example, bird droppings or mullein will well approach. Observing these simple rules it is easy to get a tasty and useful physalis. Cultivation and care will take no more time and effort than conventional tomatoes, and the benefits of this plant are much greater.

For medical purposes, fruits are used to treat kidney stones, gout, or used as a diuretic. You can also use physalysis for making ointments from rheumatism, and decoction of it will help with inflammatory processes in the mucous organs: lungs, intestines and stomach. The berries are stored in a dry room at a temperature of + 2-4 ^о С for 3-5 months, which allows you to eat fresh fruits almost all year. Also physalis is used for purely decorative purposes, making up autumn ikebans, as there is a variety with a bright overgrown cup, which has an orange color. Young one-year-old bushes will be an excellent addition to the compositions on beds and flower beds. And the collected dry seeds can be tried to sow under the winter to get an early harvest.