Goji Bush

[spud57]

Hi there - we have just bought a small goji berry bush, about 9" tall. Its in a pot right now, but I wondered if anyone knew how much growth you can expect in one season from one of these? I thought I might put it into a bed when it is a little bigger.........?

[Paul Wagland]

Hi Spud,

Good question. Ours have been in the ground for one year and have put on about 50cm of growth already. They send out arching stems at first, a bit like raspberry canes in their shape. I have yet to find out if this is their 'adult' habit, or if they prefer to be pruned and then bush out...

Also interested in discovering what the fresh berries taste like - I can't stand the dried ones, but Jeannine loves them! Apparently they are extremely good for you, fresh or dried.

[minera]

Hi,

Hope I am doing this right as I am new to the site.

Am awaiting arrival of mine having seen the price in the supermarkets for the berries which my daughter asked me to purchase. They are very easy to grow and care for and it is up to you as to how much you prune them. My friend grows them as a hedge along with lots of other berries which is how I intend to grow mine, they are hardy and need very little in the way of care. I will just prune out anything that gets in my way and use the prunings to get more plants. Hope this is of some use, if you want to know general stuff about them visit wikepedia online, seems the Duke of Argyll was using them as hedges in 1730.

[allotmentlady]

Plant it out now, it willbe fine, they are a robust litle plants and grow quite fast. I prune mine once they start developing feeler branches and keep them neat. Water well in hot summer but they can survive our cold winters without protection.

[spud57]

Thanks everyone I like the idea of a bit of a hedge, will have to ponder that somewhat........ Are they easy to take cuttings from? The plants themselves seem quite expensive so maybe I could wait til my single one is bigger then breed from it!

[Madasafish]

collect the seeds. They germinate easily.

[jeannine]

Madasafish is absolutely right about them being easy to grow from seed, but I've read that they take 5 years to fruit from seed, so given the cost of dried berries in the shops it's well worth investing a few pounds in buying some bushes and maybe growing some from seed too, so you have loads of bushes in the future!