Detailed explanation of seed sowing and seedling raising techniques for goji berry: master the key points to grow strong seedlings

Seedling raising by true seed sowing, that is, sexual propagation. It uses seeds to propagate seedlings. The advantage of this method is that a large number of seedlings can be grown in a short period, meeting the urgent need for planting stock in production, and it is low in cost and easy to master. The disadvantage is that the seedlings produced vary greatly, the superior traits of the mother tree cannot be maintained, and fruiting is late with poor quality. However, considering the need for large quantities of seedlings in current production, although this method has disadvantages, it still has a certain application value.

Seed preparation: There are many cultivars of goji berry, but Ningqi No. 1, Ningqi No. 2 and Damaye are relatively good. Therefore, in production, large fruits of the above superior cultivars should be selected for seed extraction. Small fruits with mixed quality should not be used for seed production, to prevent reducing seed quality. Seed extraction: Extracting seeds from goji berry fruits can be divided into the following steps: 1. Fruit soaking. If dried fruits are used for seed production, the dried fruits should be soaked in water until the fruit skin swells and becomes easy to mash; if fresh fruits are used for seed production, soaking is not necessary. 2. Crushing the fruits. Mash the soaked fruits or fresh fruits so that the seeds are completely separated from the flesh. 3. Washing. After crushing the fruits, add an appropriate amount of water and wash; pour off the water juice, fruit skins and floating empty, shriveled seeds and other impurities. After several washings, what sinks to the bottom of the basin is plump seed. 4. Drying the seeds. Spread out the plump seeds to dry; after drying, store in a cool, dry place for later use. Generally, each kilogram of dried fruit can yield about 0.1 kg of seed. The germination rate of the seeds decreases with the extension of storage time, so seeds should not be stored for too long. Sowing period: Goji berry sowing can be carried out in spring, summer and autumn, but in production more sowing is done in spring. After spring sowing, under suitable temperature and humidity conditions, the seeds germinate and emerge; after the seedlings emerge, there is also a longer growth period, and they can be lifted from the nursery and planted in autumn of the same year or spring of the following year. Goji berry seeds are small, with a thousand-grain weight of about 1 gram, and only 0.2 kg of seed is needed per 667 sq m. Sowing methods: There are two types, the water sowing method and the dry sowing method. 1. Water sowing method. When sowing, mix the seeds with 10 times their volume of fine sandy soil, then use a hoe to open sowing furrows 0.3-0.5 cm wide on the prepared nursery bed at a row spacing of 40 cm, and sow in drills along the furrows. After sowing, cover with soil about 0.3-0.5 cm thick, or do not cover with soil and simply press firmly with the foot so that the seeds are in close contact with the soil, then carry out a shallow flooding irrigation once; after 2-3 days, when the soil surface is not wet, irrigate again. Before the seeds germinate and emerge, irrigate frequently to keep the soil surface moist, which is beneficial for seed germination and emergence and seedling growth. This method produces fast, uniform emergence with a high emergence rate and is simple to operate. 2. Dry sowing method. Unlike the water sowing method, after sowing, soil is covered according to soil properties and soil moisture, with a thickness of 1-2 cm. For sandy soil with poor moisture, cover more soil; for clay soil with good moisture, cover less soil. After covering with soil, do not irrigate immediately. If after sowing the weather is dry, the soil moisture is poor, and seedlings do not emerge for a relatively long time, shallow irrigation with a small amount of water can also be used to promote seed germination and emergence. In order to make the seeds emerge early after sowing, the seeds can be pre-germinated before sowing: mix 1 part seeds with 10 parts fine wet sand, place after mixing in a room at about 20°C, cover with plastic film on top, spray water once a day, and maintain good temperature and humidity; generally, sow when half of the seeds have split and shown white (germinated). When sown in summer under suitable temperature and humidity, they can germinate and emerge after one week.