Dear fellow gardeners
Long time no see, due to a slipped disc, a new job and life in general. But I do need to call upon your expertise.
Almost five years ago I planted three goji berries. The first year they were very small and I did not expect to be able to harvest a berry.
The second year they were quite large, but no berries.
The third year they grew very long branches, over two meter long. It had a few flowers, but no berries.
The fourth year I threatened to cut it down, but it grew even longer branches. No berries though.
I pruned it heavily, but gave it another chance. So far it is growing long branches and no flowers. I don't expect it will come up with berries this summer.
What am I doing wrong, besides threatening to chop it off?
The plants are situated in a sunny spot, in well drained soil with enough compost every year. I keep their their spot as free from weeds as possible. Branches that touch the ground grow roots very easily, so it seems to be comfortable.
If the plants don't produce berries I will remove them this year.
I resent killing plants that might be perfectly healthy, so my last resort (and that of the goji berry plants) is your combined expertise and experience.
Please, enlighten me.
Thanks in advance.
Garjan
I planted 3 6yrs ago still no blossom no berries, does any one no if you have male and female plants. perhaps if that's the case mine must be all male
Like yourselves I've been growing these for 4 or 5 years & recognise the stages you've mentioned - growing bigger, long branches etc.. In the last two years I have had a few berries as I read an article about 'ignoring' them i.e. not giving them any feed etc.. to encourage them to flower & produce fruit. So, during the actual growing season they don't receive any feed or extra watering during dry spells. Maybe worth trying, unless you already do this.
I grew mine from seeds from bought berries. Last year which was year three I had about 15 berries. They do not seem to taste of much.
I also bought a plant from Lidl. It is quite different, the leaves are a different shape.
I think this will be my 4th year growing them and so far no flowers, no berries. I remember one of the catalogues saying it would grow to six feet, but somebody on gardeners question time made mention of 15 feet! I think my bigest is around 8 feet at the moment, but I have been "shaping" it a bit. Maybe it will fruit when it hits 15 feet.
iv got on of them ,,had about 2 years ,, no berrys in my 1st year and dug it out to move it ,,this year i see little green berrys on it.. iv not fed it at all. it only a little thing to,
Thank you for your replies. :-*
They will not help me with the goji berry, but they are very good for my self esteem: It's the plants, not me!
And I will not grow plants that need to be 15 feet high before they possibly produce fruits unless it is a tree. So they will be uprooted end of season.
She said firmly.
But perhaps not this year?
http://www.gojitrees.com/gojipruninginstruction.htm (http://www.gojitrees.com/gojipruninginstruction.htm)
I figure that you need prune your plant so that the energy does not only goes to new branches, but also the berries.
if you have too many branches, why not give it a try.
I bought one plant last year, but it produced many new branched from ground. then I googled and found above article and followed its guide. It did produced a handful of berries last year. I have no flower this year yet.
will wait and see.
also people in southern China also nip off the top of every branches of the plant (just like people do to tea tree) and add the tops to soup which is said very good for body as well.
will search more and see whatt I can find later.
Thanks for posting the link. I had no idea that a goji was a tree, perhaps we are being far too impatient.
I saw one growing wild in the hedgerow last year and it was covered in flowers and berries but it was actually quite large.
I got fed up with my two after about 5 years of growing and growing but very few berries. I started muttering "Bonfire!" at them every time I had to skirt round all the waving stems that I had tried to harness to a fence but which fought free.
Last autumn I did indeed cut everything down to about 10" and burnt it all. This year I have a thicket of new stems about knee high, and thanks to the post above will try nipping off the tips. I will be interested to see if I have frightened it into flowering - but in the past I have had plenty of flowers which failed to turn into berries.
I feel sure there must be varieties that are more productive than others, and I have the wrong sort. But I have taken cuttings (they root almost instantly) and will plant them into the huge overgrown hedge nearby and see what they do.
I am fairly sure it will be more trouble than it is worth trying to dig up my bushes, so will probably keep them as a low green hedge.
Thank you for that link, Bink.
It's decided: it is a tree and needs to be very much larger than I am allowed in that spot, so the goji berry bush needs to go.
Very sad. But I will try to find it a foster home.
Thanks evryone for sharing your expertise on gardening.
Just to add to my earlier post: I have now used the goji berry tips in a number of salads and cooked dishes, and find them rather nice. At the moment they are soft and green, though I expect they will harden as the weeks go by. I therefore plan to keep my two as a low hedge regularly cut back, and providing useful greens early in the season.
http://www.gojiking.co.uk/shop/salad-goji-leaves.html
http://saythefword.wordpress.com/2012/04/09/wolfberries-with-wolfberry-leaves/
They are also supposed to make nice tea. There other name is Duke of Argyll's tea tree. Maybe the leaves are a better option.