Goji Berries.

[michaeljohnson]

Has anyone tried as yet to grow to maturity the fairly new on the market-Goji Berries, I have and had mixed success with them-so far I have managed to grow from saved seeds from the dried berries, plants that sort half reach maturity and then I cant seem to get them no further,

Tried them in several different methods in pots and outdoors - the plants seem to get about three feet high in long waving wands or fronds, and I cant seem to get them any further than that. as they then stay like that for most of the season long instead of going on to branch out and flower etc,

Has anyone else ever had a go at them

[canadamike]

All I know is they tend to take a lot of time to bear fruit, sometimes close t o a year.

[PatrickW]

Funny you mentioned this. This year in Amsterdam is the first year I have seen goji berries for sale outside of over priced speciality shops. I bought some, took out a few seeds and germination tested them. Not a very high rate of germination, but enough to give it a go in the spring. I'll be interested in any tips anyone else has to offer.

[plantsnobin]

I have had one planted for going on two years now. Mine starts blooming late, and continues until very cold weather, without really putting on any fruit this year. Last year they did produce, but the chickens got to them as they were turing red, so I can't say anything about how they tasted. We get frost in April, early May, then in fall from October on. This year we have had a couple of moderate frosts, but they still have blooms and all their leaves. I have to say that in my climate I don't expect much from them based on my experience so far. They do sucker a bit, that may be good or bad depending on placement.

[Alan]

Karen, are those the ones I tried at your place?

[canadamike]

Karen, you're living in a climate similar to theirs. They are not, by far, a tropical crop, growing up there n the mountains of Tibet. Is the taste fresh good? I have dried berries here and I tasted the 40$ a bottle juice...

[orflo]

I'm trying them again this year, I tried them many years ago, but they didn't survive the winter (probably not the cold but the wet weather and heavy soil killed them). Over here they need two years to produce a berry, but in some climates they do produce in one year.

[stevil]

Same experience here, Michael (where are you by the way?)

I have a 15-year old Lycium barbarum (from seed) which is identical to your description - never seen a flower and it just straggles. Perfectly hardy though otherwise!

I also started an L. chinense in 2002 and this is going the same way - looks the same.

[michaeljohnson]

Hi-Stevil, I am in the Uk, just down the road a tad from you

I tried to grow them three years in a row now and have had them around three feet high- as them come from the himalayas I thought they would easy grow here- but it appears to be harder to do than first thought.

[lieven]

This is how I got hold of 1 m tall goji plants last year : I entered 'lycium' in www.plantenvinder.be and they gave me a few commercial growers that had this shrub in pots, labeled and all. Chinense or Barbarum: I've got to check them out - or are these synonyms anyway?
Half of my 10 plants flowered a bit last summer & produced about 10 berries each between October and November. Not bad for this lazy gardener, I'd say. Juicy, sweetish, but with a typical solanacea taste I'm not all that fond of. Oh, and just 5 berries in a smoothie give plenty of color: it's all those carotenes, I guess.
Don't you guys have any plantfinder websites around?

[toad]

Lycium barbarum grows in hedgerows in Denmark, preferably close to the sea, where salty air will spray their leaves. Guess I should pick the fruits next year. Must be growing in similar manner in coastal areas across northwestern europe.

[castanea]

If you are growing smalll ones outdoors, be aware that slugs and snails love them and can strip the plants within a couple of days.

[Hristo]

Lycium barbarum is common here (Bulgaria). We grow it as hedge. Local forms are small fruited (less than 1 cm.). The taste is nothing special.

[richardw]

I notice my first ever Goji berries this morning, its taken ten years for first fruit, now its about sowing this seed from my own bushes. From 50 bushes first planted only three managed to stay alive, this is the very best bush so i believe that taking seed off my best should produce stronger offspring. And man they taste soooo much better than dried fruit.

[blueadzuki]

There's a Lycium one near a wall near me (right next to the nightmarish kudzu vine no one seems to want to do anything about) but the fruits are too small to be worth cultivating. And there was one with larger fruit that was in a back lot in Ithaca when I was at college up there.

Speaking of color, has anyone played around with the black fruited species (Lycium ruthenicum)? from what I have read, it's health benefits beat even the red kind.