Chinese Lantern

I love Chinese Lantern as it reminds me of summer festivals in Japan.  I love the vivid orange colored, tomatillo-like fruits that resemble lanterns.  I remember, as a young child, I helped my parents decorate the house for Obon; these lanterns would guide our ancestors home.  I want plants that let me remember home and my childhood, so when I saw the seeds, I just had to get them.

This is a vigorous and very invasive plant, so it's highly recommended to plant it in a container.

This is how the seeds look like.  It is like chili pepper seeds.  I seeded them in some peat pallets as I always do.

The seeds germinated in about a week, but I forgot to take pictures when that happened (grrr!).  Here's a pictures of the seedlings, 27 days after seeding.

 46 days after seeding.  Large true leaves started to grow, and roots were growing out of the pallets, I transplanted the seedlings into plant-cells.

This is how they look at 72 days after seeding.  They grow fast, huh?  I will transplant them in larger pots in a few days.

SEED INFORMATION:

Seeds I bought: Ferry Morse's CHINESE LANTERN

Seeds bought from: Home Depot

Origination of the seeds: USA

According to the package:

*  Days to germination: 20-30 days - Mine took about 7 days to germinate

*  Days to bloom: 60-90 days

*  Plant height: 24 inches

*  Grows best: Full Sun

*  Recommended planting season for San Diego: February-May & August - September - I planted in October.