Organic Balbis Nightshade - Ferme de Sainte Marthe seeds

The Litchi Tomato, also known as Sticky Nightshade, Morelle de Balbis or Sisymbrium Leaf Nightshade, is a very unique fruiting plant. It is cultivated for its red berries, which have a sweet taste that resembles lychee. It forms a beautiful thorny bush of about 1.2 metres (4 feet). Its cultivation poses no difficulty: it is sown like tomatoes, from March to April, for harvesting from late July until the first frost.

Sometimes presented as the ancestor of the Tomato, Sticky Nightshade (Solanum sisymbrifolium in Latin) is native to South America and belongs to the Solanaceae family. It is a perennial frost-sensitive plant that is generally cultivated as an annual in European climates.

Its habit is quite indeterminate, it can reach a height of 1.5 metres (5 feet). Its foliage is deciduous and composed of large green, pinnatifid leaves. The entire plant is thorny: its branches, its leaves, and also the calyxes that surround the fruits. It blooms from June to August in the form of small white or slightly bluish five-petaled flowers. It produces round red berries, about the size of a cherry tomato, at the end of summer, grouped in clusters.

The Litchi Tomato grows very well in European climates. It likes the sun and rich, light, and well-drained soil. Like tomatoes, it needs to be staked, and it can also be grown in a sufficiently large pot.

The fruits of Sticky Nightshade can be eaten raw, like Peruvian Groundcherries, but they can also be cooked, made into compote, jam, or jelly.

In the garden, you can plant Sticky Nightshade alongside your other red berries, but be careful of its thorns and avoid planting it near a frequently used pathway, because whoever touches it will get pricked! However, this inconvenience has a big advantage because its numerous thorns deter thieving birds.

Harvest: The harvest takes place from late July to the first frost, and the fruits are ripe when they can be picked without the risk of being pricked.

Storage: The fruits can be stored for a few days in the bottom of the refrigerator, but it is preferable to consume them soon after harvest.

Gardener's tip: Sticky Nightshade is known in market gardening for its ability to fight nematodes. When cultivated in an infested plot, it is believed to eliminate them thanks to a substance secreted by its roots.