I planted it last year and it has grown well with lots of branches on it. It would be about 6 ft tall but the branches hang over.
I noticed a berry the other day and ate it.
YUK!!
It seemed to be ripe so I don't think that was the problem.
I've never tasted them before, so maybe they are an acquired taste?
Anyone want a Goji plant?
I have one that an A4A member sent me but its not that big so if you are wanting to be rid of it Betty then I will have it ;D
Quote from: shirlton on October 02, 2009, 17:47:31
I have one that an A4A member sent me but its not that big so if you are wanting to be rid of it Betty then I will have it ;D
You can certainly have it Shirl. I had to cut it back a bit because it was in the way. When would you like to get it?
I could come on Sunday morning for tea and toast as well Betty ;D
Quote from: shirlton on October 02, 2009, 18:23:19
I could come on Sunday morning for tea and toast as well Betty ;D
See you on Sunday then!
Goji berry bushes, shrubs , trees even --- 6ft tall, whoooo, was going to buy one of those,
- thought they were like ' plants ' ? ::)
Quote from: flossy on October 02, 2009, 19:17:15
Goji berry bushes, shrubs , trees even --- 6ft tall, whoooo, was going to buy one of those,
- thought they were like ' plants ' ? ::)
I imagined it would be a bit like a blueberry........it isn't! Apart from the length of the branches, there are small thorns on them! Wouldn't have been so bad if I'd enjoyed the fruit.
It's going to a new home on Sunday. :)
I planted them for the thorns because we had gangs of boys charging around and I hoped it would put them off trampling on leeks etc.
Suddenly council gave us fences and locked gates.
Very disappointed so far: did not start flowering until September, no berries at all yet. Pale purple flowers, a few light green berries, what can I expect next? And they have mildew. And are taking up a lot of space with their great long canes waving about (have fastened some to bamboo fence) which I do not like to prune because maybe the red berries will appear on them.......
My plant is covered in mildew too.....
I've got a few plants, no thorns on mine though.
A few flowers, which I doubt will produce fruit this late in the year.
QuoteI planted them for the thorns
I had not realized they have thorns, one of my plants has particularly vicious ones.
Has anyone tried the leaves for tea, seems they have also got the name Duke of Argyll's tea tree.
I don't actually think they're supposed to taste nice at all and especially not fresh. They're not popular that way in China at least. I find it odd that gardeners here are growing them and eating them that way - maybe it's a misunderstanding.
I lived there for a number of years in 3 different regions and never saw anyone selling them fresh nor eating them fresh. They're considered medicinal, very good for eyesight in particular, and are put liberally as a dried fruit in lots of cooked dishes and teas, but they have no strong taste as far as I remember just a sort of floral background hint.
Like a lot of the things the Chinese eat, as medicine and food are very much merged into one, they're eaten for the health benefits not the flavour.
QuoteI noticed a berry the other day and ate it.
Actually this is the first mention I have come across of a goji producing fruit. How old is the plant?
My seed raised plants are now quite big and over a metre tall with several woody stems, so hoping for some action next year. Still worried that it will take another year yet.
They can, I believe, grow up to 3m tall. I do know that the fruit has to be totally ripe before eating. I have heard the taste described as somewhere between cranberry and cherry, so maybe a bit tart and tangy?
I don't know how much serious scientific research there has been to back up the claims that it is a wonder food. Also Chinese medicines contain some pretty weird things sometimes.
Quoteis a wonder food
I have been hoping that with a few gojis I would live for ever. ;D ;D ;D
I grew a few plants from seed kept two and gave the rest away,my two are now about 5ft tall no fruit as yet and no thorns, are they meant to look scraggy. ??? my two do.
You sent me one Froglegs and it looks a bit scraggy too. Will compare it with the one I get from Betty tomorrow and post a pic
Thanks earlypea for all the information - I wish I'd known all that before I ate it!
The only reason I was growing it was because a friend gave it to me. It's going to a new home tomorrow when Shirl comes for it.
Quote from: Digeroo on October 03, 2009, 09:26:40
QuoteI noticed a berry the other day and ate it.
Actually this is the first mention I have come across of a goji producing fruit. How old is the plant?
I planted it last year. It was then about 1 foot high and looked dead. My friend had sent away for it from a newspaper and I had serious doubts that it would grow. When I planted it there were two branches, now it's difficult to count them while it's in position but when I dig it up tomorrow I will have a closer look (and take a photo)
It had a fair amount of flowers but only the one fruit.
Quote from: Froglegs on October 03, 2009, 10:41:38
I grew a few plants from seed kept two and gave the rest away,my two are now about 5ft tall no fruit as yet and no thorns, are they meant to look scraggy. ??? my two do.
Mine has lots of long branches which bend over and attack me as I walk past! I tried fastening them to canes but couldn't keep up with the speed it grew and gave up in the end.
Mine are certainly very scraggy indeed, looked good small, but now the west wind has not been kind to them.
3 metres sounds like a tree, they are not allowed, so I will have to keep it cut back.
Not sure we will have enough sun to get them dried.
Actualy I AM interested in these large prickly plants, ......... have just had a close encounter
with cat '' pressies '' on my lawn ! have just had to scrub and dissenfect right throw our home'
................ grrrrrrr 1^*$)*&!, need some planting to grow across the fencing. >:(
It sounds like Goji plants grow like bamboo ? straight up -- or bushy with it ?
Would love to see a pic of any full grown ones, please, :)
:) been listening to local radio garden phone in today,
Goji berry- foul tasting, more iron than steak,more vit c than grapefruit,good for getting rid of cellulite ;D ;D ;D ;D
don't grow from seed- buy a year old plant from a nursery so plant is completely hardy before you plant it.... or you will get weak, spindly plants
Makes a good hedging plant.
Hopes this helps/ shades x
When can you prune them as we have about 12 of the little darlings?
we put 2 plants in the fruit cage on the alotment and they went mad!
grow up about 3 feet then head towards the ground, they were everywhere, running along the ground so I did a few wigwams and back-tracked them in circles to keep them away from the netting. today we picked the berries. picked about 2 pints of them, gonna make a drink out of some and maybe try and dry some out.
Wandered round the plots today offering them to people and they seemed to like them and many knew the great benefits of them, better than blueberries and the new superfruit etc.
They are a bit bitter but not inedible! also similar properties to viagra so may eat the lot to test it!!!! ;D
Forgive me for repeating this, but I am a fan of Blackmoor nursery, received an email from them advertising their goji berries with an enticing picture of a twig dripping with beautiful red berries, and emailed to ask them when their berries ripen, as I am fed up with my 2 bushes which are huge in spite of regular pruning, flowered a lot in early October, and are clearly NOT going to produce ripe berries. He wrote a helpful answer which I show below.
My son has a Thai/Chinese wife whose very lively and beautiful Chinese mother (in her 70s) eats dried goji berries as a matter of daily routine. Never fresh. They are a bit like raisins. I am very disappointed with my bushes, and am thinking of buying one from Blackmoors as a last attempt.
By the way, they grow incredibly easily from cuttings, survive drought, and I am sure I will never manage to dig them up. Here is the Blackmoor email again:
Jon Munday <jonmunday@blackmoor.co.uk>
The Goji berry is a little new to me too but from my experience of growing the fruits (3 years now)
They flower here in Hampshire late Aug-early September. The image shown on the website and email was taken on Monday this week so from the early flowers they take around 6 weeks to form and ripen. As you say they are rather vigorous and I have several systems for growing them and the best seems to grow them upright with support and keep any side growth trimmed several times during the growing year.