Tomatillo

[William Schlegel]

I just recieved a packet of Chupon De Malinalco from Baker Creek. It looks huge I really want to see it in two years after it has had a chance to cross with other varieties.

Also Mountain Pima from Native Seeds Search.

I would like a fresh packet of the blue interior I got from Sandhill a few years back. 

My tomatillo grex has been volunteering on auto pilot for a few years and is no doubt well adapted but has become a bit boring perhaps. I do save a packet worth each year but havent needed to use it recently. I think I'll try to resurrect a bit of older seed from my collection and revitilize the patch in 2024 with that and these new packets.

[reed]

I've been going through seed books, looking for something new to try next year and tomatillos are on the list of possibilities. I planted them one time, years ago and they did not do well, thinking maybe it's time to try again. 

[William Schlegel]

I've been going through seed books, looking for something new to try next year and tomatillos are on the list of possibilities. I planted them one time, years ago and they did not do well, thinking maybe it's time to try again. 

If you can get some seed from someone who has been growing them locally for quite a while, it might help a lot.

https://www.thebuffaloseedcompany.com/s/search?q=tomatillo

The folks at Buffalo Seed Company might be a bit closer. They've taken a few strains including Joseph's and grown them in Kansas a few years now.

Variable seed might help too. The Going to Seed Group is doing a nice tomatillo grex for one of their 2024 offerings. I should have saved more seed and contributed some.

My original seed came from Joseph, Michael Jennings, Baker Creek, Sand Hill, Adaptive seeds, and the local Western MT Triple Divide Seed Coop I think. Would be hard to guess what survived. Except, if it is still good, I still have seed for a lot of the originals.

[Chance]

This last season I planted chupon de malinalco, purple Coban, and a large green commercial tomatillo.  Animals took almost all of my tomatoes while they were still green, but they didn't touch the tomatillos.

CD Malinalco and Coban are delicious raw.  Coban makes taller plants, fruit is small and juicy, with a sour kick.  Malinalco when let fully ripe was almost like a pear flavor, I liked it better harvested a little earlier with a little more sour.  It seems like they can be divided into fresh eating vs storage.  The commercial ones store a whole lot longer and have a much thicker skin, and of course aren't so good raw.  The commercial fruit can also survive freezes, while the fresh eating types like malinalco and Coban explode. 

It will be interesting to see how they combine next year.  Malinalco is my favorite. I wonder if its possible to get a sweet, fruity flavor with the long storage?       

[Ferdzy]

I just grew Queen of Malinalco last year for the first time; I assume that's the same as the Chupon de Malinalco, just under a different name.

It has been a few years since we grew tomatillos, but we have started going through wild amounts of green salsa and at $4.50 per 500 ml, that's a mildly indulgent habit, so I want to start canning our own.

We planted 4 plants last year, 2 of the Malinalco, and 2 basic de milpas. They did surprisingly badly. To be fair, on top of a very unfriendly summer they got a terrible position in the garden, and then they were badly attacked by pests. We plan to be prepared to cover them at key points this year both to keep them warmer if needed and to keep the bugs off.

I did save some seed from the better of the 2 Malinalcos, no doubt crossed with the other. I just bought some Plaza Latina from Adaptive, and there is also some of the basic Toma Verde left, so we will see how these all do next year. Looking forward to seeing what comes out of this group. I have to say I really like the low seed count in the Malinalco. 

[Nicolas]

Here is a picture of the result of the grow out of Gabriel Hess



https://pflanzenschaetze.ch/p/tomatillo-candy-mix

From seeds of a unique fruit that is a spontaneous cross between Queen of malinalco and Diiwwii of :



I've let Queen of Malinalco and deep purple cross (and at a distance was a big green tomatillo), should be interesting

[reed]

The folks at Buffalo Seed Company might be a bit closer.

I have never bought anything from them, but they are on my list as possible new sources. I like that they are not all that different in climate from me. Here is another new company, that I just found. Amkha Seed. A but farther outside my climate range but looks promising, and the prices are good, they also have two or three tomatoes that I may want.

[Adam Itsky]

I was also planning a cross in tomatillo, intending to giantize the sweet ripe "pineapple" tomatillo. I havent grown other tomatillos, seems rather rare in the UK, but have found a few seeds, including "Plaza latina Giant A" from realseeds which looks like a giant green beefsteak tom. I have a fantasy of a giant fruity Physalis you can just bite into like a peach.
Will be closely monitoring your posts!

[Mica Winnower]

I saved seeds from my purple tomatillos this year for planting next season, along with some Mexican yellow I purchased. I would like to get a pack of some of those oblong pointed, because I really love that shape.

[Cathy A]

I'm planning to try New Hanover ground cherries from EFN this year. Same genus as tomatillos, different species.

I have tried a variety of ground cherry from Baker Creek a few years ago and the fruits were delicious, but a bit fussy in my garden. It would be interesting to try to breed a variety of tomatillos of ground cherries that were better adapted here, which would mean better able to be direct seeded and produce a good bit of fruit without starting indoors/transplanting, and which has larger plants that produce more fruits per plant.

[Adam Igra]

I'm planning to try New Hanover ground cherries from EFN this year. Same genus as tomatillos, different species.

There are physalis species all the way from panama to canada so im sure you can find something. Not sure theyre all tasty (ive heard some are slightly bitter with off flavours) but the ripe fruits are all edible. The far northern ones survive perennialy via rhizomatous roots i believe. Very hard to find seeds internationally but theyre weeds where they grow so if you are american im sure you can find them.
Could be worth trying to breed a perennial tasty groundcherry.

[William Schlegel]

I just recieved a packet of Chupon De Malinalco from Baker Creek. It looks huge I really want to see it in two years after it has had a chance to cross with other varieties.

Also Mountain Pima from Native Seeds Search.

I would like a fresh packet of the blue interior I got from Sandhill a few years back. 

My tomatillo grex has been volunteering on auto pilot for a few years and is no doubt well adapted but has become a bit boring perhaps. I do save a packet worth each year but havent needed to use it recently. I think I'll try to resurrect a bit of older seed from my collection and revitilize the patch in 2024 with that and these new packets.

I have no idea if the new additions made any impact at all whatsoever. I didn't see any that resembled Chupon De Malinalco. I think I rather didn't give the project of adding things to the grex enough attention and may have whiffed it. Maybe I'll try again sometime. Perhaps I should try tossing tomatillos around in suitable looking habitats outside of the gardens on my land. Spots with a lot of pocket gopher disturbance might be promising habitat. That might also be true for the weediest of tomatoes I can muster.

[William Schlegel]

I saved some seed today from a baggy of tomatillos from the new patch. I mixed in some new seed and some old seed and transplanted some of the volunteers to it. Honestly couldn't tell any difference between the two patches though. Looks like lots of yellow ones and a few with antho skin only.

[AndrewB]

I have never grown tomatillos. I am very interested in the huge Chupon De Malinalco and Queen of Malinalco (supposedly a similar but different and better tasting better strain). How do these taste? How well do they grow in the Rocky Mountains in the USA?

I am also very interested in ground cherries / cape gooseberries. Most of these are new to me as well.

I'm not sure if these are the correct species:

* Physalis peruviana - Cape Gooseberry, Goldenberry, Peruvian Groundcherry, Inca Berry, Uchuva

 * Physalis pruinosa - Husk Cherry, Strawberry Tomato, Ground Cherry

 * Physalis pubescens - Downy Ground Cherry

You may gather from my post that I am less interested in sour tomatillos, and only the sweeter kinds. I would also like to cross these large malinalco tomatillos with these other sweeter ground Cherry physalis species.

[galina gardiner]

I believe they are the same.  They certainly look the same.  Essentially, Queen de Malinalco belongs in the fruit bowl, rather than in salsa.  A bit like the little ground cherries, which are sweet, but larger and less juicy.