Goji in Our Garden

You will read about: Chinese Wolfberry, vitamin content, growing Goji, fertilising and watering, pruning Wolfberry, basics of pruning, fruit consumption

Goji in Our Garden - Growing Chinese Wolfberry

Let's follow the trail of the elixir of eternal youth and try to discover the remedy for a long and happy life. One of the lesser-known paths leads us straight to the heart of the Asian continent – to the Himalayas. Here, in the diet of local inhabitants, there is a crop not very well known to Europeans, bearing the name Chinese Goji.

Thanks to this inclusion in regular eating habits, people here live to a ripe old age. According to statistics, the longest on average in the entire country. This fact leads us to a more detailed analysis of the local dining, and thus the Chinese Wolfberry was discovered.

This Himalayan treasure hides an indescribable wealth preserved in the form of vitamin C, B1, B2, B6 and E.

Fruit Full of Vitamins

This Himalayan treasure is part of a botanical gem. It contains anti-inflammatory beta-sitosterol, which is suitable and even used in the fight against high cholesterol, a very topical issue. However, the whole set of beneficial effects doesn't end there. It helps with problems related to serious prostate disease and, moreover, thanks to the lyceum polysaccharide component, it can delay ageing, as this factor neutralises free radicals.

Growing Goji

In our conditions, this adaptive fruit is frost-resistant. If we were to look for the correct botanical classification, we must reach into the nightshade family category. The flowers are hermaphroditic. Let's give the wolfberry a lighter and warmer place with plenty of moisture and it will reward us with beautiful fruits that are full of energy and vitality.

Prepare the bed with humus-rich soil. Be prepared that this deciduous and thorny shrub can grow up to 2.5 metres in length and adjust its position accordingly. This shrub needs to be pruned into a specific shape, which should resemble a trunk and then leave the crown. Between June and October, you can look forward to purple flowers and 1-2cm long fruits, which appear 2-3 years after planting.

Chinese Wolfberry is grown exclusively for its fruits, but it can also be used to cover unsightly spots and plant steep slopes.

Quality soil for growing Goji should have a pH around 8. Loose and light sandy-loam soil is the ideal bed.

We start planting in March or April, which is the most ideal time to begin the entire era. Maintain a sensible spacing that should not be shorter than 2 meters. Try to remove weeds from the immediate vicinity, or cover the soil with mulching bark.

Fertilizing and Watering

In this regard, it's good to maintain rock-solid regularity. The best fertilizer is farmyard manure, which should be added in autumn. At the end of April, urea will benefit it, and in summer, ammonium phosphate. From June throughout the entire flowering period, we apply foliar fertilizer every 15-20 days.

Focus on warmer periods when it's important to water every 25 days; with cooler weather, the interval extends. The first and last watering of the year should be more abundant.

Formative Pruning

• 1st Year

If you want your Goji to bear fruit as soon as possible, you must follow a certain pruning method. In the first year, expect a 60 cm shrub that will call for trimming. Around the main trunk, identify evenly grown branches. These branches will become the foundation of a rich crown later, and ruthlessly trim them to a length of 20 cm. This trimming will ensure secondary branching. Early fruit setting will be ensured by leaving several central branches from the main trunk. As soon as some branches exceed others, level them to one size.

• 2nd Year

We find a stronger vertical shoot that starts in the lower tier, and designate it as an extension of the trunk. It's important to awaken its desire to branch, so shorten it by at least 10 cm. Shorten two more branches by 20 cm, which will serve as fruiting shoots. Remove all but one water sprout and shorten it 15 cm above the crown. Leave 5 secondary shoots and remove the rest from the trunk.

• 3rd Year

In the third year, we copy the procedure from the second. We use lower branches to strengthen the crown. Remove trunk shoots rising above the crown and trim one 15 cm above the crown. If you don't find any of these shoots, focus your attention on branched limbs from the upper part and shorten 1-3 to 20 cm above the crown.

Pruning Basics

The main principle hidden in professional pruning is to ensure neatness and unhindered growth of the shrub. Remove crossed branches, overgrown, congested areas, as well as root suckers throughout the year. After winter, remove dried branches that would limit the vigorous growth of the shrub.

If you notice affected branches and leaves, remove them immediately and burn them. Clear the surrounding area of weeds and try to fertilize the soil lightly. Only use chemical treatments on the recommendation of an expert who can assess the type of disease.

Consumption of the Berries

Goji berry is one of the most valuable plants on our planet. Its beneficial effects on the entire body have been known for centuries, but do we know how and how many berries we can consume daily?

The recommended dosage for one person ranges from 6 to 15g per day. Best in the form of tea, which you can prepare in the same way as rosehip tea.

How to prepare the tea? Boil 10g of berries for 10 minutes in 0.5l of water and enjoy a delicious tea.

Do you already have experience growing Goji?

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