Japanese lantern, also sold as Chinese lantern, is one of the easiest perennials to grow, and it comes back each year with little fuss. The harder job for most gardeners is keeping it in one place rather than keeping it alive.1Toronto Master Gardeners. How to Grow and Care for Japanese Lantern Plant The orange lanterns it is grown for aren’t flowers but a husk that swells around a small berry after blooming.2PubMed. Deciphering the evolutionary development of the “Chinese lantern” within Solanaceae Good care comes down to soil that favors lanterns over leaves, firm boundaries, and a little caution, since most of the plant is poisonous.
Starting Japanese Lantern From Seed or Division
The seeds need light to germinate, so press them onto the soil surface and leave them uncovered.3Gardener’s Toolkit – Eden Brothers. How to Plant Chinese Lantern Seeds – Eden Brothers Planting Guides Keep the soil moist and at about 70 to 75°F (21 to 25°C) while you wait.4Burpee Customer Service Center. Learn about Chinese Lantern Indoors on a warm windowsill or a seed mat is often easier than cold spring soil outdoors.
To sow indoors, fill a tray with moist seed-starting mix and firm it lightly. Scatter the seeds on top and press them in with your palm. A sheet of clear plastic over the tray holds in moisture while still letting light through. Mist rather than pour, so the seeds don’t wash under the surface. Be patient, because seedlings can be slow and uneven to appear.
Once frost danger has passed, harden the seedlings off by setting them outside for a few hours a day over a week. Then plant them straight into a pot or a barrier-lined bed, as covered below, not open ground.
Division is the fastest way to get a mature plant. In spring, lift the whole plant with a shovel and cut it into smaller sections with pruners.5The Spruce. How to Grow and Care for Chinese Lantern Replant the sections where you want them and keep them well watered until new growth appears.6The Spruce. How to Grow and Care for Chinese Lantern Every division you share passes on the spreading habit, so warn whoever receives it.
Sun, Soil and Water for the Best Lanterns
The plant prefers average, well-draining soil that stays consistently moist.7The Spruce. How to Grow and Care for Chinese Lantern Aim for a near-neutral pH of roughly 6.5 to 7.5.8Tazart. Chinese Lantern Plant Care (Physalis alkekengi): Full Growing Guide Rich soil can make the plant spread faster than you want.9The Spruce. How to Grow and Care for Chinese Lantern Too much nitrogen also gives lush leaves at the expense of lanterns.10Tazart. Chinese Lantern Plant Care (Physalis alkekengi): Full Growing Guide So dig in some compost at planting and skip high-nitrogen fertilizer.11Tazart. Chinese Lantern Plant Care (Physalis alkekengi): Full Growing Guide
Good drainage means no standing water after rain.12Tazart. Chinese Lantern Plant Care (Physalis alkekengi): Full Growing Guide In heavy clay, a raised bed or pot is a safer home. Water during dry spells so the soil never fully dries out.13BBC Gardeners World Magazine. How to grow Chinese lantern plant (Physalis alkekengi)
In most temperate gardens the plant grows in full sun to part shade. More sun generally means more and brighter lanterns, but in hot afternoon sun, part shade helps keep the soil from drying out.
Your plants will tell you when conditions are off. Tall, leafy plants with few lanterns usually mean soil that’s too rich. Wilting and crisp leaf edges point to soil drying out, and yellowing, rotting stems suggest waterlogged ground.
How the Lanterns Form and Ripen
After flowering, the small green cup behind the flower keeps growing and quickly inflates around the berry.14PubMed. Deciphering the evolutionary development of the “Chinese lantern” within Solanaceae Pollination signals trigger the husk to swell.15Frontiers in Plant Science. Evolutionary developmental genetics of fruit morphological variation within the Solanaceae As the berry matures, the husk loses its green and turns orange.16PubMed Central. Chinese lantern in Physalis is an advantageous morphological novelty and improves plant fitness
Small creamy white flowers appear first and are easy to overlook. Green lanterns then hang from the stems for weeks before coloring, and the orange builds from late summer into fall. Each lantern holds a single round berry inside.
Some plants make few lanterns. Flowers that aren’t pollinated won’t form them, overfed leafy plants put their energy into foliage, and young seed-grown plants may need another season.
Stopping Japanese Lantern From Taking Over
The plant sends out horizontal underground stems that pop up as new shoots often several feet from the parent.17Tazart. Chinese Lantern Plant Care (Physalis alkekengi): Full Growing Guide It spreads by seed too, and unchecked it can take over whole beds.18Toronto Master Gardeners. How to Grow and Care for Japanese Lantern Plant
Never plant it into an open bed without a solid barrier at least 12 inches (30 cm) deep.19Tazart. Chinese Lantern Plant Care (Physalis alkekengi): Full Growing Guide Dig a trench around the planting area and line it with root-barrier fabric or heavy plastic sheeting.20Tazart. Chinese Lantern Plant Care (Physalis alkekengi): Full Growing Guide Planting next to pavement or a regularly mowed area also limits how far it travels.21GrowVeg. Chinese Lantern Plant Grow Guide Pots sunk in or set on soil can let runners escape; the safest pot is one on a deck or patio, where hard ground blocks them.22Toronto Master Gardeners. How to Grow and Care for Japanese Lantern Plant23Toronto Master Gardeners. How to Grow and Care for Japanese Lantern Plant Check any barrier each spring for runners that slipped underneath.24Tazart. Chinese Lantern Plant Care (Physalis alkekengi): Full Growing Guide
To make a barrier hold, leave an inch or two of its edge sticking above the soil line, which also makes it easy to see and to mow along. Overlap the seams by several inches and fasten them, because runners find gaps at joins. Barriers slow the plant rather than make it permanently harmless, so a yearly walk around the edge to cut any shoots outside the line is part of the job.
If you’re removing an existing patch, dig out as much of the runner network as you can find. Any broken piece left behind can regrow, so expect to pull new shoots for a season or two afterward. Bag the roots rather than composting them.
To cut seed spread, harvest lanterns for drying, which removes most seed from the garden. Lanterns left to rot outside drop seeds nearby. Pull seedlings while they’re small, before they form runners.
Growing in Pots and Overwintering
A large pot gives runners room and dries out less quickly. Choose one with drainage holes.
Heavy pots resist tipping as stems grow tall. Avoid pots with cracks the runners could escape through.
Fill the pot with good-quality potting mix, set the plant so the top of the root ball sits just below the rim, and firm the mix gently around it. Plant at the same depth as the root ball and keep the compost moist.25BBC Gardeners World Magazine. How to grow Chinese lantern plant (Physalis alkekengi) Leave about an inch between the soil and the rim so water soaks in rather than running over the edge. Water thoroughly until it drains from the holes, then check the mix every few days, since a pot in sun dries far faster than garden soil.
Potted plants usually overwinter fine in a sheltered spot or an unheated garage.26Gardening Know How. Gardening Know How A bag of leaves around the pot adds easy insulation.27Gardening Know How. Gardening Know How Water about once a month, just enough to stop the soil drying and cracking.28Gardening Know How. Gardening Know How
In spring, move the pot back into light as new shoots appear and resume regular watering as growth picks up. Divide a crowded pot every few years to keep it vigorous.
Flea Beetles and Other Problems
Flea beetles are tiny jumping beetles that chew many small holes in leaves.29Sprigs & Twigs. How to Grow and Care for Japanese Lantern Plant The species that attack tomato-family plants are dark metallic brown, black or bronze.30Pacific Northwest Extension. Organic Management of Flea Beetles They feed most on hot, sunny days.31Sprigs & Twigs. How to Grow and Care for Japanese Lantern Plant
Flea beetle damage appears as many small round holes scattered across the leaf rather than large ragged bites from the edge. Brush a leaf or disturb the plant and the beetles may spring away like fleas, which is the clearest way to confirm them. Large chewed patches or leaves eaten from the edges point to a different pest, such as caterpillars or slugs, which need different handling. Young seedlings are most at risk, while established plants usually outgrow light damage.
Yellow sticky traps catch adult beetles.32Sprigs & Twigs. How to Grow and Care for Japanese Lantern Plant Diatomaceous earth kills crawling beetles when sprinkled on the soil surface around the plant rather than mixed in.33Sprigs & Twigs. How to Grow and Care for Japanese Lantern Plant Neem oil sprayed on both sides of the leaves targets eggs, larvae and adults.34Sprigs & Twigs. How to Grow and Care for Japanese Lantern Plant Radishes planted nearby can lure beetles away.35Sprigs & Twigs. How to Grow and Care for Japanese Lantern Plant
Is Japanese Lantern Poisonous
A poison control center rates the plant moderately to highly toxic, with all parts poisonous.36Kansas Poison Control Center. Chinese Lantern – Is It Poisonous or Toxic? Eating large amounts can cause serious effects, and it is known to harm animals.37Kansas Poison Control Center. Chinese Lantern – Is It Poisonous or Toxic? Keep it out of reach of pets and young children.
Only fully ripe berries are edible. Leaves, husks and unripe berries are toxic.38Specialty Produce. Chinese Lantern Flowers Unripe berries are light green, while ripe ones are light to golden yellow.39Eat The Weeds and other things, too. Chinese Lantern Archives – Eat The Weeds and other things, too Edible cape gooseberry and tomatillo are related but different plants, so don’t assume a garden lantern plant is a food crop.
If someone swallows part of the plant, call poison control right away, and note which part was eaten and roughly how much. For a pet, call a vet.
Harvesting and Drying the Lanterns
Cut stems when the lanterns are fully orange, usually late August to October, before a hard frost.40SeedsChoice. How to Dry Chinese Lanterns: Whole Pods, Skeleton Lanterns & Autumn Crafts Check that they’re orange all the way to the base, since lanterns cut while still green or partly colored tend to shrivel and stay dull. Cut long stems low on the plant with clean pruners, on a dry day, because damp lanterns can mold while drying.
Strip off the leaves and stand the stems upright in a tall container.41Spot of Tea Designs. Dried Flowers: Chinese Lanterns – Spot of Tea Designs Let them dry for 2 to 3 weeks in a dark, airy, frost-free spot.42SeedsChoice. How to Dry Chinese Lanterns: Whole Pods, Skeleton Lanterns & Autumn Crafts Dark drying keeps the orange from fading. Dried stems last for seasons in fall arrangements.
For skeleton lanterns, soak dried pods in water, which rots away the tissue between the veins over three to six weeks.43SeedsChoice. How to Dry Chinese Lanterns: Whole Pods, Skeleton Lanterns & Autumn Crafts Change the water weekly and ease off any remaining film with a soft toothbrush.44SeedsChoice. How to Dry Chinese Lanterns: Whole Pods, Skeleton Lanterns & Autumn Crafts Stems left outdoors over winter often skeletonize on their own.45Gardenia. Physalis alkekengi var. franchetii (Chinese Lantern) Simmering pods in washing soda for 1.5 to 2 hours is a faster method.46Christine de Beer – effortless floral craftsman. Skeletonize Physalis Pods Wear gloves when handling washing soda, and keep the soaking water outdoors, since it smells strongly.