Since Mark Kidd posted the paper on physalis crosses, I’m planning a multi species crossing block for next season.
Single individuals of pubescens and longifolia var. longifolia to be hybrid mothers. Plus a patch of tomatillos for pollen, and patch of peruviana for pollen as well as doing controlled crosses as a seed parent. I understand peruviana is a SC tetraploid and the other species to be SI diploids. According to the paper, peruviana and pubescens make good mothers for hybrid seed. Longifolia is the most closely related North American species to peruviana so I will attempt that in both directions.
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Why can’t Tomatillo & Goldenberry just cross planted next to each other? Hybridization Barriers? Funky Subgenus & phylogenic trees? What about the Chinese Laturn Physalis algenki? It’s been placed in another genus but shouldn’t affect hybridization right?
According the some hybridization studies, tomatillo is not a good mother for wide crosses. I don’t know about Chinese lantern. I think in some of the hybridization attempts, tomatillo works as a pollen parent. I know someone who is growing a hybrid this year of Physalis longifolia x tomatillo. Goldenberry is generally a good seed parent for wide crossing, but it can self you so must emasculate it.
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Oh this is interesting! This is just like with Cucurbita moschata x Cucurbita angyrosperma right? Hmm… Selfing Goldenberries? Should we make them promiscuous too just like with the promiscuous tomato project?
Also how would you emasculate it? They are small flowers, no where near the size of squash flowers.
They’re already more promiscuous than normal tomatoes since they outcross readily. Never done Physalis hand pollination myself, but I hope to try. Could be interesting to cross golden berry with a tomatillo like Queen of Malinalco.
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Nice… NICE!!! 
That’s something I would love to do too but also imagine making tomatillo sized fruits red & sweet! Perhaps Physalis alkegenki can provide the genetics needed to make fruit red.