Planting Methods and Technical Points for Goji Berry Trees

Goji berries can be eaten directly or made into goji berry tea. The goji berry is a perennial shrub cash crop that is drought-tolerant, poor-soil-tolerant and salt-alkali-tolerant. So, what is the planting technique for goji berry trees?

1. Seed propagation

Select fine varieties, soak and wash them in warm water at 30-60°C, then dry them for later use. Before sowing, mix them evenly with wet sand and place them at room temperature of 20°C to promote germination. When 30% of the seeds have sprouted white, they can be sown. Spring sowing is the main method. Open furrows at a row spacing of 40cm for drilling, at a depth of 1.5-3cm, and cover with soil 1-3cm deep. After the seedlings emerge, pay attention to watering according to soil moisture conditions.

When the seedlings are 1.5-3cm tall, loosen the soil and weed once, and thereafter loosen the soil and weed once every 20-30d. When the seedlings are 6-9cm tall, thin them to a plant spacing of 12-15cm, leaving 150,000-180,000 plants per 1hm2. In combination with irrigation, apply fertilizer 3 times in May, June and July. To ensure seedling growth, promptly remove the lateral buds growing on the part of young plants 40cm above the ground. When the seedlings are 60cm tall, pinch off the growing tips to accelerate the growth of the main trunk and upper lateral branches. When the roots are 0.7cm thick, they can be lifted from the nursery for transplanting.

2. Field management

In May, June and July, cultivate and weed once. From late October to early November, apply sheep manure, barnyard manure, cake fertilizer and the like as base fertilizer. For topdressing, apply urea in May and phosphorus and potassium compound fertilizer in June-July. For shaping young trees, in the autumn of the year of planting, select 3-5 thick, vigorous branches around the upper part of the main trunk as main branches, and cut them back at about 20cm. In the second spring, when new branches emerge from these branches, cut them back at 20-25cm as scaffold branches. In the third and fourth years, following the method of the second year, continue to use the water sprouts on the scaffold branches to expand, heighten and fill out the tree canopy framework.

3. Pruning principles

Remove the old and keep the new, remove the diseased and keep the healthy, remove the weak and keep the strong, so that the fruiting branches are evenly distributed within the canopy. Aim to cultivate more fruiting branches and prune away non-productive branches.

After 5-6 years of shaping and training, the tree enters the mature stage. For pruning mature trees, each spring prune dead branches, crossing branches and root suckers. In summer, thin out the dense and keep the sparse, pruning away water sprouts, diseased and insect-damaged branches and thorny branches. In autumn, carry out comprehensive pruning, tidy the canopy, and select and retain good fruiting branches.

4. Harvesting

Goji berries are generally picked in summer and autumn when the fruits are ripe. Remove the fruit stalks, place them in a cool place to dry until the fruit skin wrinkles, then sun-dry them until the outer skin is dry and hard and the flesh is soft. In rainy weather, they can be dried over a low fire.

In addition, goji berries can also be planted in gardens as hedges, as potted tree stumps, and as shrubs for soil and water conservation, etc.