How to grow goji berries from seed in a small pot? A step-by-step guide to the planting method

The Ningxia goji berry (Lycium barbarum) has a graceful tree shape, emerald-green leaves, light purple flowers and bright red fruit, making it an excellent ornamental bonsai plant. Some ornamental goji berry cultivation already exists, so how do you grow goji berries from seed in a small pot?

1. Seed soaking

Soak the goji berries in clean water until they fully unfold, then take out the seeds inside. After removing them, rinse them clean with water and let them dry, and they are ready for sowing.

2. Growing environment

Goji berries like a sunny environment. For indoor potted goji berries, choose a sunny spot for care. Goji berries are not demanding about soil; a well-drained calcareous sandy loam is best, and clayey and waterlogged soils should be avoided.

3. Watering

Water goji berries by letting the soil dry out and then watering thoroughly. During the high-temperature dormant period in summer, the plant stops growing and most leaves drop, so watering should be restricted. Goji berries are drought-tolerant and afraid of dampness, so never let water accumulate.

4. Fertilizing

Usually apply a liquid fertilizer mainly based on phosphorus and potassium about once a week. In winter apply well-rotted base fertilizer, and during peak flowering apply 2-3 top-dressings of nitrogen fertilizer. When repotting each year, apply sufficient base fertilizer, and add phosphorus and potassium fertilizers such as superphosphate as base fertilizer.

5. Bonsai making

Goji berry bonsai styling is mainly done by coarse wiring and fine pruning. The trunk can be shaped into many forms, and the branches are mostly wired into flat or coiled shapes. Use metal wire for wiring, and loosen it when it starts to cut in; if the trunk has not set its shape by then, it can be wired again. Generally, the shape can be set after 1 year of wiring. Wiring is mostly done before the buds below the branches sprout or after the sprouting branches have become half-woody. Once the shape is formed, pruning is mostly used to maintain the tree form. During vigorous growth, water shoots can be cut away at any time to ensure the fruit has sufficient nutrition. Remove leaves in late summer and early autumn, and apply several more dilute liquid fertilizers containing phosphorus and potassium so that flower buds and new leaves grow out at the same time; flowering and fruiting accompanied by new leaves is good for ornament.

6. Propagation methods

Goji berries are mainly propagated by cuttings and division, both simple and easy. Cuttings can be taken in spring and autumn; choose vigorous water shoots or healthy vegetative branches, cut them into 12-15 cm lengths, with the top cut flat and the base cut into a horseshoe shape. The usual seedling success rate can reach 80%-90% or more. Division is mostly done in early spring by peeling off the root shoots and transplanting them, with adequate watering; the seedling success rate is very high. Sowing can also be used, and seedlings can bloom and bear fruit in 2-3 years.

7. Pest and disease control

Goji berries are prone to powdery mildew. Spray 70% thiophanate-methyl at 1500 times dilution, or spray 50% sulfur powder in the early morning before the dew has dried. The main pest is aphids, which can be killed by spraying 40% dimethoate at 1000 times dilution.

Goji berries have a well-developed root system and strong drought resistance, and can still grow in arid desert land. Long-term waterlogged low-lying land is unfavorable for goji berry growth, so when caring for potted plants, never let water accumulate.