Oregon · Washington · Idaho
When to plant ground cherries
Plant in the garden: Portland and Seattle May 15 – Jun 12; Spokane May 20 – Jun 17; Boise May 1–29; Bend Jun 9 – Jul 7.
Your dates in
Ground cherries are low, sprawling relatives of tomatillos whose marble-sized golden fruit grows inside papery husks. Ripe fruit drops to the ground, which is how the plant got its name, and it keeps for weeks in the husk. The fruit is eaten fresh, in jam or in pie, but unripe fruit and the leaves are toxic.
Puts ground cherries on your free plan, with dates for your town and a spot in your beds.
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Sun
- Full sun
- Spacing
- 2 to 3 feet apart
- Planting depth
- Bury the stem up to the first leaves, like tomatoes
- Frost
- Killed by frost
- First harvest
- About 70 days after planting
Sweet, pineapple-tomato flavored fruit in papery husks. Unlike tomatillos, one plant sets fruit on its own, and it ripens fine in cool Northwest summers.
Ground cherry planting dates
| Towns | Start seeds indoors | Plant in the garden |
|---|---|---|
| Portland, OR, Seattle and Tacoma, WA | Mar 27 – Apr 10 | May 15 – Jun 12 |
| Spokane, WA, Astoria, OR | Apr 1–15 | May 20 – Jun 17 |
| Boise and Meridian, ID | Mar 13–27 | May 1–29 |
| Bend and Redmond, OR | Apr 21 – May 5 | Jun 9 – Jul 7 |
Dates for six main cities. For any of the other 80 towns, type it in the box at the top of the page or browse all towns.
| Gresham, OR, Hillsboro and Beaverton, OR, Oregon City and West Linn, OR, Portland, OR, St. Helens and Scappoose, OR, Wilsonville and Canby, OR | Mar 27 – Apr 10 | May 15 – Jun 12 |
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| Corvallis and Albany, OR, Cottage Grove, OR, Eugene, OR, McMinnville and Newberg, OR, Salem, OR | Mar 27 – Apr 10 | May 15 – Jun 12 |
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| Ashland and Talent, OR, Grants Pass, OR, Medford, OR, Roseburg, OR | Mar 27 – Apr 10 | May 15 – Jun 12 |
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| Astoria, OR, Brookings and Gold Beach, OR, Coos Bay and North Bend, OR, Newport and Lincoln City, OR, Tillamook, OR | Apr 1–15 | May 20 – Jun 17 |
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| Bend and Redmond, OR, Klamath Falls, OR | Apr 21 – May 5 | Jun 9 – Jul 7 |
|---|---|---|
| Burns, OR | Apr 23 – May 7 | Jun 11 – Jul 9 |
| Lakeview, OR | Apr 16–30 | Jun 4 – Jul 2 |
| Madras, OR | Apr 6–20 | May 25 – Jun 22 |
| Prineville, OR | Apr 13–27 | Jun 1–29 |
| Baker City, OR, Enterprise and Joseph, OR | Apr 6–20 | May 25 – Jun 22 |
|---|---|---|
| Hermiston, OR, Hood River, OR, Ontario, OR, Pendleton, OR, The Dalles, OR | Mar 13–27 | May 1–29 |
| John Day, OR | Apr 9–23 | May 28 – Jun 25 |
| La Grande, OR | Apr 1–15 | May 20 – Jun 17 |
| Bremerton and Port Orchard, WA, Everett, WA, Kent, Renton and Auburn, WA, Olympia, WA, Seattle and Tacoma, WA, Shelton, WA | Mar 27 – Apr 10 | May 15 – Jun 12 |
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| Anacortes, WA, Bellingham, WA, Friday Harbor and the San Juans, WA, Mount Vernon and Burlington, WA, Oak Harbor and Whidbey Island, WA | Mar 27 – Apr 10 | May 15 – Jun 12 |
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| Aberdeen and Hoquiam, WA, Forks, WA, Long Beach and Ilwaco, WA | Apr 1–15 | May 20 – Jun 17 |
|---|---|---|
| Port Angeles, WA, Port Townsend, WA, Sequim, WA | Mar 27 – Apr 10 | May 15 – Jun 12 |
| Centralia and Chehalis, WA, Longview and Kelso, WA, Vancouver, WA | Mar 27 – Apr 10 | May 15 – Jun 12 |
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| Chelan, WA, Wenatchee, WA | Mar 13–27 | May 1–29 |
|---|---|---|
| Leavenworth, WA, Omak and Okanogan, WA, Winthrop and Twisp, WA | Apr 1–15 | May 20 – Jun 17 |
| Ellensburg, WA, Goldendale, WA | Apr 1–15 | May 20 – Jun 17 |
|---|---|---|
| Ephrata and Quincy, WA, Moses Lake, WA, Sunnyside, Grandview and Prosser, WA, Tri-Cities (Pasco, Kennewick, Richland), WA, Walla Walla, WA | Mar 13–27 | May 1–29 |
| Yakima, WA | Mar 20 – Apr 3 | May 8 – Jun 5 |
| Colville, WA, Pullman, WA, Spokane, WA | Apr 1–15 | May 20 – Jun 17 |
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| Bonners Ferry, ID, Coeur d'Alene and Post Falls, ID, Sandpoint, ID | Apr 1–15 | May 20 – Jun 17 |
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| Lewiston, ID | Mar 13–27 | May 1–29 |
|---|---|---|
| Moscow, ID | Apr 1–15 | May 20 – Jun 17 |
| Boise and Meridian, ID, Emmett, ID, Nampa and Caldwell, ID | Mar 13–27 | May 1–29 |
|---|---|---|
| McCall, ID | May 4–18 | Jun 22 – Jul 20 |
| Burley and Rupert, ID, Idaho Falls, ID, Pocatello, ID, Rexburg, ID, Twin Falls, ID | Apr 1–15 | May 20 – Jun 17 |
|---|---|---|
| Salmon, ID | Apr 6–20 | May 25 – Jun 22 |
Ground cherry year at a glance
| Task | J | F | M | A | M | J | J | A | S | O | N | D |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Start indoors | Mar | Apr | ||||||||||
| Plant | May | Jun | ||||||||||
| Harvest | Aug | Sep | Oct |
Around Portland. Colder towns, especially east of the Cascades, run a few weeks later; the table above has your town's planting dates.
How to grow ground cherries
- Start seeds indoors on your city's dates in trays or small pots under a grow light or in your sunniest window. Or skip this step and buy young plants (starts) at a garden center.
- Harden off the young plants: about a week before planting, set them outside for a few hours a day, a little longer each day.
- Plant them in the garden on your city's dates, 2 to 3 feet apart. Bury the stem up to the first leaves, like tomatoes.
- Water deeply once or twice a week rather than a little every day, and mulch once the soil is warm.
- Harvest: Gather the fruit after it drops to the ground in its husk, when the husk is dry and tan and the fruit inside is golden. Rake or shake the plants every few days.
Growing ground cherries in your part of the Northwest
The same plant behaves differently on the wet west side, the foggy coast and the dry, colder east side.
West-side valleys
Willamette Valley, Puget Sound, southern Oregon
Ground cherries ripen more reliably than most tomatoes in a cool west-side summer. Collect fruit as it drops in its papery husk.
Coast
Oregon and Washington coast
One of the warm-season crops most likely to ripen on the coast. Give it the sunniest spot.
East of the Cascades
Columbia Basin, Yakima, Boise, Spokane, north Idaho
Ground cherries grow easily in the heat and often self-seed for next year.
High desert and mountain towns
Central Oregon, high eastern Oregon valleys, McCall, Salmon
Start indoors and plant out after frost; the short season still usually gives a crop.
More ground cherry varieties
More widely sold picks that do well somewhere in the Northwest. The tag says which part of the Northwest suits each one best.
Aunt Molly's
The classic ground cherry, with sweet, citrusy golden fruit. Compact, sprawling plants produce heavily from midsummer until frost.
Both sides
Goldie
Small, golden fruits with a sweet, tropical flavor. Productive and easy, it is a good one for kids to pick off the ground.
Both sides
Cossack Pineapple
An early heirloom with a pronounced pineapple flavor. Its quick ripening makes it a good pick for the coast and short-season gardens.
Short seasons
How much to grow
How many to plant
For a family of four, 3 to 4 plants.
What to expect
Several hundred small fruits per plant over the season.
Storing the harvest
In their husks, they keep for weeks at room temperature or longer in the fridge.
What to plant after ground cherries
Around Portland, the ground cherry harvest wraps up around October. These crops can still go into the same bed, and they come from a different plant family, which helps with rotation.
Garlic 
Fava beans 
Shallots Portland dates. Pick your town at the top of the page for yours.
Key numbers
- 70–85°FSoil to sprout
- 65–75Days to harvest
- 1–2 feet, sprawlingPlant height
- Flea beetlesBiggest risk
Top care tip: Harvest the fruit once it drops to the ground in its papery husk, which means it's ripe.
Growing notes
What makes the difference in Northwest gardens, in plain language.
What ground cherries are
Ground cherries are small relatives of tomatillos and tomatoes. Each marble-sized golden fruit grows in a papery husk and tastes like a mix of pineapple and tomato. Unlike tomatillos, a single plant pollinates itself, so one or two plants are enough.
They ripen earlier and more reliably than most tomatoes, which makes them a good bet for cool west-side and coastal summers.
Growing and picking
Start seeds indoors about seven weeks before planting out, and plant them in warm soil after the last frost, buried a little deeper than they grew in the pot. They're low, sprawling plants, so give them room and skip the cage. Average soil is fine; too much nitrogen gives leaves instead of fruit.
The fruit drops to the ground when it's ready. Collect it every few days. Fruit in dry husks keeps for several weeks at room temperature.
Volunteers next year
Fruit you miss drops seed, and seedlings will pop up in that bed next year. Pull the extras or move a few to where you want them. Like tomatoes, don't grow them where tomatoes, peppers, eggplants or potatoes grew last year.
Good neighbors and crop rotation
Good neighbors
- Basil. Same warm-season timing.
- Lettuce. Grows underneath early in the season.
Tomato family: Tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, eggplant, tomatillos and ground cherries are all one family. Keep them out of the same bed for three years: early blight survives on old plant debris and verticillium wilt lives in the soil. Dig up volunteer potatoes, which can carry late blight over winter.
Pests and problems
What most often goes wrong with ground cherries in Northwest gardens, how to spot it and what to do.
Flea beetles
Signs: Tiny holes in young leaves.
What to do: Row cover until plants are well grown.
Self-sown seedlings
Signs: Seedlings come up everywhere the next year.
What to do: Rake up dropped fruit, or let a few grow as next year's crop.
Saving ground cherry seed
Will it come true?
Ground cherries pollinate themselves and come true from seed. Plants also drop fruit that sprouts on its own the next spring.
How to save it
Collect ripe fruit from the ground, mash it in a little water, rinse the seeds and dry them on a plate. Store dry seed in a labeled paper envelope in a cool, dry place.
Common questions about growing ground cherries
When should I plant ground cherries in Oregon, Washington and Idaho?
Plant in the garden: May 15 – Jun 12 in Portland and Seattle, May 20 – Jun 17 in Spokane, May 1–29 in Boise and Jun 9 – Jul 7 in Bend. Pick your town at the top of the page for your own dates.
Are ground cherries the same as tomatillos?
They're close relatives, but ground cherries are smaller, sweeter and self-pollinating. Tomatillos are tart and need two plants to set fruit.
Are green ground cherries safe to eat?
No. Eat only fully golden fruit. Unripe fruit, leaves and husks contain compounds that can upset your stomach.
How do I know they're ripe?
They fall off the plant. The husk turns dry and tan, and the fruit inside is golden yellow.
See what else to plant in March, April, May or June.
Tomatoes
Peppers
Eggplant
Sweet corn
Tomatillos