physallis vine: any details ??

Last year I got some seeds from a vine that produces chinese-lantern pods, no fruit in them, just some funny black and white seeds. I just got a few to germinate, what do you suggest I do with the plant, sun / shade, water etc??

Dimitri

Sounds like a Cardiospermum species Dimitri. Likes fertile, moist but well drained soil in full sun. Interesting little vine, we grow them as annuals in the UK as their minimum temperature is 7-10C, would they be perennial for you?

Well, I saw the vine on a fence, all dried up already, and picked 10 - 15 seeds on my way to a nearby restaurant. I laid out small pots for seeds growing in early April. I forgot them, and last week I thought I would give it a go, even late, and planted 10 pecans (Lantana was kind to send them and I still haven't sent her back anything, but the dracs are maturing now) 10 very exotic acacia seeds (I collected them 3 ys ago) and 10 physallis WHICH ARE GROWING!! So, they will be off to the fence tomorrow, but I think the Cretan sun is too much for them, so it wil be partial shade.

Dimitri

They are quick growing aren't they!

Sounds like the seeds are doing their best to keep you incredibly busy :)

Sounds like the little vine we call "heart in a puff". I am not sure where they came from but I liked the pretty shape of the leaf when I discovered some growing, so I let them develop. Then I liked the puffs, and collected seed from a few. The following year, they had somehow spread without me planting any, and are now likely to come up anywhere, sun or shade. I don't water them, and in a really dry, hot summer, they will dry up and turn brown early, but are just as likely to come back when it cools. It is very possible the seed were in some 50 year old sheep manure I took from an old shed at the back, far from my gardening areas.