73 feet tall?

What kind of fertilizer are you using?

That might have been an exaggeration (okay, it was) - but it's a good 10 foot tall and it's been impossible to contain (I stake - that should have been in a cage). It took over practically an entire bed.

Nothing special in the bed. Potting soil from one of the big box stores and then I subsidized the soil with some mushroom compost, some Schultz Water Control potting soil and some Organic Pro-Mix...

LOL!

I grew 2 of the Tomatillos the year before last I think, in a giant container, and I only got maybe 20 fruits from both. I never did eat one.

I don't think the plants were any taller than 3 feet, but boy, did they get wide. Of course I didn't cage them so they ended up being one big mess of branches in that container sitting on the deck...

beside the back door.

I won't do that again!

I'm having really good luck with mine this year also. They are over 6ft now and loaded with fruit. Just wish my other tomatoes would come along.

Tomatillos can not self-pollinate, you need a second plant to get fruit.

Mine has fruit now (not many) - and as far as I know, it's the only one in the neighborhood.

There's no way to know where your bees have been. If you google things like Tomatillo self-incompatible, Tomatillo self-compatible,and Tomatillo culture you will find numerous articles on this.

Maybe I make my bees check-in before I let them near my plants! :)

Actually, I looked up a few threads on this before I ever posted here... The last thread I found included this (and no one contradicted this information). It was posted by ZEEDMAN:

"Grandad is correct... the tomatillo pollination issue was indeed discussed last year (see the link).

Tomatillos are self-fertile, and there are no male/female plants. Don't take my word for it, if a plant is blossoming but not bearing, dissect a flower - you will find that the flower is "perfect", meaning that it has both stamens (male) and pistil (female). When conditions are right for self-pollination, it will occur.

I and many others have grown single plants with good results (unless you are canning, you only need one!). This is not to say that multiple plants won't improve pollination - just that it isn't necessary to get fruit. But like some self-fertile plants, tomatillos may require agitation to transfer the pollen effectively... whether by insects, wind, thumping the flowers lightly, or giving the plant a good quick shake in the morning. Some of their cousins, the peppers (which are also self-fertile), behave the same way."

Its not a matter of pieces and parts, the problem is the plant can not use its own pollen. Those who say that they have had success with a single plant owe their success to the bees that found other plants in their range. Its not a coincidence that every year someone starts a thread asking why their lone tomatillo plant is not setting fruit.

Here is a link to a thread from three years ago:
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/tomato/msg080132591320.html
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This issue is widely documented on the web . Here are just a few examples:

http://www.seedsandstring.com/2009/06/tomatillo-matchmaking-services.html

The thing about tomatillos is: they are self-incompatible. This means that one tomatillo plant standing all alone will not produce fruit. Tomatillo flowers on one plant need the pollen from at least one other tomatillo plant's flowers in order to produce the tasty green or purple crop. This is a trait present in some plant species that encourages outcrossing, and thus more genetic diversity in succeeding generations.
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http://sparks-mexico.com/costalegre/fruit/tomatillo.htm

The Mexican husk tomato is highly self-incompatible. When the flowering plants are bagged, no fruits are set. K.K. Pandey, while at the University of Ohio, studied this problem. He reported that only a few seedlings in a group produce rare fruits by natural-selfing and such fruits usually contain no seeds or only a small number. An occasional fruit may have 100 or more.
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http://growingtaste.com/vegetables/tomatillo.shtml

Vital note: Tomatillos are self-sterile, so always plant at least two! (So that's why the darn thing didn't fruit . . . .)

Recall, though, that the tomatillo is not self-fertile, so that you must have at least two plants to get any actual tomatillos.
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http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/proceedings1990/v1-407.html

Tomatillo is self-incompatible, so all plants are hybrids. Pollination is by insects. Cross pollination with other cultivars or other Physalis spp. would be possible if the plants are closer than 500 m.

Here is a link that might be useful: 2006 gardenweb link

Thanks for the info...

I wasn't doubting you. The problem is, every time I think the answer is to get a second plant (I know a place I could probably still get one)... Someone posts info saying I don't need another plant. Frankly, the fact I have a couple fruit off of this plant is probably going to be enough. If I plant next year, I'll just make sure to get a couple (and CAGE the suckers).

Did you buy your seeds from the same guy who sold Jack his beenstalk beans? Them are some big plants.

Tom

I don't know what I've done "right" in terms of getting them to grow so big. I'm growing them in raised beds, containers and believe it or not kids wading pools. I did use a good quality potting soil and they are in a space where they get sun.

I have 1 plant that is getting very wide, not tall, has tons of flowers and husks, and inside the huskd you can feel the tomatillo growing. I have 2 others in pots thatI started way later, only a foot tall, one with flowers 2 without, on the other side of the house,, but the 1 plant started getting husks and baby fruit way beofre the others were even a foot tall with no flowers. I will try and get a pic of it tonight maybe there are some wild things growing around that helped, i do have alot of those things that look like tomatillos but arent, around, chinese lanterns or something,??

This was the only plant I had until about 2 weeks ago, the other ones are only 12 inches tall, and this one had long set fruit with husks by then, although the fruit inside the husk is still only about 1/2 to 3.4 inch yet. There is nno one around me growing them for sure:)

So I guess I am just wondering about the 1 plant thing, because there were no plants period, around this guy when he started fruiting. Must be hundred babies on him right now.