How to grow Jerusalem cherry? These cultivation tips you need to master
Jerusalem cherry
Jerusalem cherry (Solanum pseudocapsicum), a perennial woody plant, upright in form; the plant can reach 40 cm, smooth, with alternate, oblong leaves; flowers white, fruit ripening to red, spherical, more than 1 cm in diameter. It likes warmth and sunshine, and is not cold-tolerant; the soil should be loose, fertile and well-drained, and rich in phosphorus fertilizer to prolong the fruiting display period. For potted plants, pinch off the growing tips to encourage more branches, more flowers and more fruit.
Small to medium-sized potted plant. The fruit-ripening period falls right around New Year's Day and the Spring Festival; displaying it on hall stands or windowsills can add a festive atmosphere.
1. Water: Water appropriately during the growing season, just enough to avoid drought; in midsummer, water twice a day, and be careful to avoid rain soaking, otherwise it is prone to anthracnose and may die. After winter begins, water less, which can extend the fruiting period.
2. Fertilizer: Apply fertilizer in moderation, not too much, to avoid excessive vegetative growth.
3. Temperature: Keep it above 2 degrees in winter; the suitable growing temperature is 10-25 degrees. Before Frost's Descent (Shuangjiang), it needs to be moved indoors to avoid freezing.
4. Light: It likes sunlight and does not need shading; it needs 4 hours of direct light per day, and indoors it should be placed in a bright spot.
Cultivation tips for Jerusalem cherry
Jerusalem cherry
News from the China Landscape Web on June 15: Jerusalem cherry (Solanum pseudocapsicum), a perennial woody plant, upright in form; the plant can reach 40 cm, smooth, with alternate, oblong leaves; flowers white, fruit ripening to red, spherical, more than 1 cm in diameter. It likes warmth and sunshine, and is not cold-tolerant; the soil should be loose, fertile and well-drained, and rich in phosphorus fertilizer to prolong the fruiting display period. For potted plants, pinch off the growing tips to encourage more branches, more flowers and more fruit.
Small to medium-sized potted plant. The fruit-ripening period falls right around New Year's Day and the Spring Festival; displaying it on hall stands or windowsills can add a festive atmosphere.
1. Water: Water appropriately during the growing season, just enough to avoid drought; in midsummer, water twice a day, and be careful to avoid rain soaking, otherwise it is prone to anthracnose and may die. After winter begins, water less, which can extend the fruiting period.
2. Fertilizer: Apply fertilizer in moderation, not too much, to avoid excessive vegetative growth.
3. Temperature: Keep it above 2 degrees in winter; the suitable growing temperature is 10-25 degrees. Before Frost's Descent (Shuangjiang), it needs to be moved indoors to avoid freezing.
4. Light: It likes sunlight and does not need shading; it needs 4 hours of direct light per day, and indoors it should be placed in a bright spot.
Cultivation methods and precautions for Jerusalem cherry
Chinese scientific name: Dong Shanhu (Jerusalem cherry)Latin scientific name: Solanum pseudocapsicum L. var. diflorum (Vell.) BitterOther names: Coral cherry, Jiqing fruitKingdom: PlantaePhylum: AngiospermsClass: DicotyledonsSubclass: SympetalaeOrder: TubifloraeFamily: SolanaceaeTribe: SolaneaeGenus: SolanumDistribution area: Native to Europe and the subtropics; wild plants occur in Yunnan, ChinaJerusalem cherry, now called Coral bean (Solanum pseudocapsicum L. var. diflorum (Vell.) Bitter). An upright small shrub, much branched and clump-forming, cultivated as a 1-2 year plant. Plant height 30-60 cm. Leaves alternate, narrowly oblong to oblanceolate. Flowers in summer and autumn, small, white, axillary. Berry deep orange-red, spherical, 1-1.5 cm in diameter. It fruits after flowering, and the fruit does not fall for a long time, remaining on the branches until after the Spring Festival. Today there are also dwarf cultivars with a short, much-branched form. Berry, seeds small, fruit shape broadly ellipsoid with a pointed tip. Other names include: Coral cherry, Jiqing fruit, Coral seed, Coral bean, Jade coral, Red coral, Wild pepper eggplant, Wild sea pepper, False cherry, Four-season fruit.1. Morphological characteristics
Coral bean (Beijing); Jade coral (Japan); Thorn pomegranate (Mianxian, Shaanxi); Foreign sea pepper (Leibo, Sichuan); Jerusalem cherry (Anjiang, Hunan). (Variety)An upright branched small shrub, 0.3-1.5 m tall; young branchlets covered with dendritically clustered hairs, gradually falling off later. Leaves paired, unequal in size, elliptic-lanceolate, 2-5 cm long or slightly longer, 1-1.5 cm wide or slightly wider, apex obtuse or shortly pointed, base cuneate and decurrent into a short petiole, leaf surface hairless, lower surface often with dendritically clustered hairs along the veins, margin entire or slightly wavy, midvein prominent below, lateral veins 4-7 per side, conspicuous below; petiole about 2-5 mm long, covered with dendritically clustered hairs when young, gradually falling off later. Inflorescence short, axillary, usually 1-3 flowers, solitary or in a scorpioid cyme, peduncle short and almost absent, pedicel about 5 mm long, flowers small, about 8-10 mm in diameter; calyx green, deeply 5-parted, lobes ovate-lanceolate, apex obtuse, about 5 mm long; corolla white, tube concealed within the calyx, about 1.5 mm long, limb about 6.5-8.5 mm long, deeply 5-parted, lobes ovate, about 4-6 mm long, about 4 mm wide, apex pointed or obtuse; filaments about 1 mm long, anthers oblong, about twice as long as the filaments, apical pores slightly inward; ovary nearly round, about 1.5 mm in diameter, style about 4-6 mm long, stigma truncate. Berry solitary, spherical, coral red or orange-yellow, 1-2 cm in diameter; seeds flattened, about 3 mm in diameter. Flowering period April-July, fruit ripening period August-December.
2. Related species
Coral cherry (original variety)var. pseudo-capsicum
An upright branched small shrub, up to 2 m tall, the whole plant smooth and hairless. Leaves alternate, narrowly oblong to lanceolate, 1-6 cm long, 0.5-1.5 cm wide, apex pointed or obtuse, base narrowly cuneate and decurrent into the petiole, margin entire or wavy, both surfaces smooth and hairless, midvein prominent below, lateral veins 6-7 pairs, more conspicuous below; petiole about 2-5 mm long, not distinctly separate from the leaf blade. Flowers mostly solitary, rarely in a scorpioid cyme, without or nearly without a peduncle, arising outside the axil or nearly opposite the leaves, pedicel about 3-4 mm long; flowers small, white, about 0.8-1 cm in diameter; calyx green, about 4 mm in diameter, 5-parted, lobes about 1.5 mm long; corolla tube concealed within the calyx, less than 1 mm long, limb about 5 mm long, lobes 5, ovate, about 3.5 mm long, about 2 mm wide; filaments less than 1 mm long, anthers yellow, oblong, about 2 mm long; ovary nearly round, about 1 mm in diameter, style short, about 2 mm long, stigma truncate. Berry orange-red, 1-1.5 cm in diameter, calyx persistent, fruiting pedicel about 1 cm long, enlarged at the apex. Seeds discoid, flattened, about 2-3 mm in diameter. Flowering in early summer, fruiting in late autumn.
3. Growth habits
It is especially often seen at field edges, roadsides, in thickets or by ditches, commonly in areas at 1350-2800 m elevation, and also distributed in areas at 600 m.Jerusalem cherry likes sunlight, warmth and tolerates high temperatures; above 35°C there is no sunscald. It is not shade-tolerant, nor cold-tolerant, and not drought-tolerant; in the hot summer it fears rain soaking and waterlogging. It has no strict soil requirements, but grows vigorously in fertile, loose, well-drained slightly acidic or neutral soil. It has strong sprouting ability. It is not cold-tolerant, and potted ornamental plants in the north need to be moved into a greenhouse to overwinter.