Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Ripe Solanum Fruits


I posted a while back about a Solanum atropurpureum plant I'm growing. When fall arrived it responded to the cooler temperatures by stopping everything it was doing, including growing and ripening its fruits. On a whim I just moved it into the house. Light levels were drastically reduced compared to what it was getting all summer but it didn't seem to mind and remains a nice green color. But what's more, once warmed up the fruits finally resumed ripening. You can see here their resemblance to their tomato and pepper cousins. I'm told by the friend who gave me the plant last spring that they won't actually soften so soon I'll harvest some and remove the seed. Another good friend of mine is way into the Solanaceae so I'll mail some off to him to grow. Just for fun I'll hang onto the plant all winter if it decides to live that long and place it outside again next growing season.

2 Responses:

Fast and Fabulous said...

MMMM, purty. And probably toxic too. Looks like your foray into spiny Solanums was a huge success!

Shady Character said...

I know yours will only grow bigger and better! Enjoy!