Solanum pyracanthum - Devil's thorn

Has anyone tried this, I assume as a houseplant - although perhaps it could be outside during the summer? Looks interesting and a cool thing for the grandkids.

http://www.gardendesign.com/photos/bizarre-halloween-ready-plants

Woah! It's beautiful, in a scary, dangerous kind of way. hehe. I couldn't grow it as a houseplant, my cats would get into it. Not good for them or the plant.

I'd be careful with that one around little kids, too- those thorns look sharp, and it said they grow poisonous fruit...

Only one grandkid (so far) who is 12. She'll keep her distance, I'm sure. I just think it's pretty cool looking, and per the info, fairly easy to grow from seed. Now to find the seed...

That is beautiful!! Since I have no grandkids and it doesn't look promising at this point, I can grow the weird, wonderful and poisonous! Yay!

I have scary plant envy! I wish I could keep my cats from attacking anything plant-like. I really need a greenhouse.

Hey, I'll bet Tracy could grow it in his office, though... he likes to have lots of plants in there. He has grow lights and everything.

Seeds available here: http://www.tradewindsfruitstore.com/servlet/the-2158/Solanum-pyracanthum--dsh--Porcupine/Detail

Don't anyone buy seeds just yet. I think I will have some shortly. These will get enormous planted in the ground if we have a decent summer. Not so much this year.

Ahhh. Thanks, TD, we will await your results.

Gorgeous plant in a quirky way. It is not winter hardy here and I strongly doubt that it would overwinter in the house. All solanums are poison, but they taste very bitter and it's unlikely for kids to do much more than get a bit of juice before they scrunch their faces up and start spitting!
If you get enough seeds to satisfy the others, may I have a few? I've not had this plant in years.

I used to grow these "porcupine tomatoes" in containers near Portland, Oregon. They lived on the south-facing deck most of the year and came inside when it got cold.

They grow rapidly and produce lots of eggplant-like flowers and little green tomatoes as long as there is good sunlight. I never had a tomato that was bigger than my thumbnail. They remain green and firm all the time. I'm not certain if this is their preferred method of propagation, but the biggest tomatoes will sometimes burst under their own internal pressure and squirt seeds a few feet away.

They can survive in a south-facing window all winter, but they drop all their summer leaves and put on feeble little leaves at the tips of their branches. Mine also tended to be attacked by spider mites while indoors. It was much easier to overwinter them if they were pruned back and blasted with neem oil. Other than freezing and severe overwatering, they are pretty hard to kill.

I say we all try it next season and report back.

I have several surviving the cold inside the greenhouse. Lots of seeds too. So hang tight and remind me in a month or so. Bonehead you are so close it shouldn't be a problem getting you some seeds or a start.

A pic for the thread.

Thistledown....do have any extra seed you'd be willing to part with?