Goji Berries

Other plants we have or landscape elements like ponds.

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stevelau1911
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Re: Goji Berries

Post by stevelau1911 »

I would prefer juicing entire trays to get about 1 cup worth of juice.
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Iowaboo
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Re: Goji Berries

Post by Iowaboo »

I think I would prefer fruit juice, don't like greens as it is :alien: . Is all your gojis- seedlings, or have a special selection growing? is like night and day the difference in fruiting ability.
stevelau1911
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Re: Goji Berries

Post by stevelau1911 »

The large bed of them which I spread out over 100 square feet with around 100 divisions is only a foliage producer which makes larger leaves however it only produces purple flowers, no fruits.

I did buy a fruiting type last year that made berries, but I believe that the non-fruiting type is a lot more vigorous as a little 4 inch cutting can turn into a huge plant within a season as long as it is taken care of. The seedlings I made were from the dried fruits themselves, but since they all died, I think I'll start over again, but this time, do it in pots outdoors.

If they only take 2 days to germinate, I might as well wait until it's warm enough to grow them rather than pushing my luck too soon.
stevelau1911
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Re: Goji Berries

Post by stevelau1911 »

Here's the goji bed tarped. I believe that they can handle temperatures down to 28F, but seeing how inconsistent temperatures have been lately, it may be better to keep them protected I don't risk burning the leaves.
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I did pot up a few of these cuttings to gauge the progress that is likely happening under that tarp.
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stevelau1911
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Re: Goji Berries

Post by stevelau1911 »

After 2 weeks, it looks like pretty much every goji cutting/ division is taking, and should turn into a nice plant. Here's one of them potted up to see if there's any difference which I haven't noticed yet.
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I'm actually surprised at how well these are taking since most of them are only 4-6 inch pieces of branches, or the tuberous roots. I think they take better than willow cuttings since they seem to be regenerating themselves from tiny fragments which are all capable of growing into a 2-5ft tall plant in 1 season with good care.

This one is definitely well rooted by now, and ready to explode with multiple canes. It's a division from one of the original stems so it was loaded with tons of energy from the start.
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The skinnier branches are a bit slower growing, but are still rooting as I have seen a boost in their rate of growth.
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One from a tuberous root.
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This branch was put in at an angle which seems to be even more effective than straight up and down as it is probably easier for it to take up nutrients.
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Here's the entire bed of these cuttings which should look very green by July.
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Since goji cuttings are so easy to take root, I decided to try some other plants.

It looks like my blackberry cuttings will make it, but based on their appearance, they still haven't taken root just yet.
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My peach and pear cuttings were cured for a month in a bucket buried in the ground with peat moss and upside down. I'm hoping some of them have stabilized enough to take.
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If the peach cuttings take, it will be interesting to see how their growth compares to peach trees grown from seed.
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Iowaboo
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Re: Goji Berries

Post by Iowaboo »

I remember a topic awhile ago on garden&*% that a person was succesfully doing peach cuttings,, though think most people fail with them. What rooting hormone are you using?
stevelau1911
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Re: Goji Berries

Post by stevelau1911 »

I only used schultz take root powder on those, but I cured the cuttings by keeping them in a 5 gallon bucket. They were first powdered, and then kept inside the bucket underground in a shady location, and covered for temperature for about 5 weeks before I took them out a few days ago to try and force them to take as we move into cooler temperatures this weekend.

Goji plants will literally make new plants from little fragments as they seem to be made of rooting hormones themselves so it's not necessary to use anything extra on them.

If I end up having too much goji, I might have to use some of the branches to boil, and get rooting hormone that way because I think they may have superior rooting capabilities in comparison to willow branches. Surprisingly, goji plants are not invasive as they generally stay in the same spot they are planted.
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Re: Goji Berries

Post by stevelau1911 »

Just to update on my goji berries, I checked one of my test cuttings, and they are definitely rooting out well as expected. After propagating stuff for a while, I can kind of tell just when they have taken because there will be an immediate boost in growth. Goji cuttings may be some of the easiest to root plants that you can work with.

Here's the test cutting which has a few shoots growing noticeably faster in the last week.
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As suspected, it did already have quite a few roots despite only starting from a skinny branch a month ago.
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The average plant in the ground right now is much stronger than this test cutting which means that a lot of root growth should already be taking place. Eventually, long tuberous roots that grow several feet deep, and go all over the place will form, even within 1 season, and fertilization can get these guys up to 4-7ft tall within the season.
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It really doesn't matter if the cutting is a fat chunk of wood with no buds, it will form buds and root out anyways.
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Many of them are getting up to around 6 inches high already so I expect them to be up to 2-3ft and ready for their first harvest in a couple weeks.
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Here's an experimental softwood cutting which I believe will take and perk back up in a couple days.
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stevelau1911
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Re: Goji Berries

Post by stevelau1911 »

I haven't touched on this topic for a while, but this goji patch seems to be getting stronger and stronger with bigger leaves now making it look like a smaller area. My fruiting one is also about the size of one of these so I need to find a spot for it as well as some of my other plants ensuring they don't eventually get shaded out by a bamboo or tree.

These get harvested for their leaves quite frequently, but I think I want to make a patch of them that produces berries too.

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