How to Cultivate Goji Berry Seedlings? The Latest Technical Method Tutorial
The goji tree is a multi-branched shrub plant of the genus Lycium in the Solanaceae family, often growing on hillsides, wastelands, hilly land, saline-alkali land, roadsides, and beside village houses. It can be used in gardens as hedges, as stump bonsai, and as a shrub for soil and water conservation. Its fruit, the goji berry, together with Qiongzhen lingzhi, Changbai Mountain ginseng, and Dong'e Ejiao, are known as the four treasures of traditional Chinese medicine. Now let us take a look at goji seedling cultivation techniques!
Goji Cutting Propagation
In spring, before the plants begin to sprout, select plants with large fruit, high yield, and good quality, cut 1-year-old branches with a diameter of 0.5 cm, and cut them into 15-20 cm long cuttings. Dip the lower end of the cut in 0.05% rooting powder or 0.05-0.1% indolebutyric acid solution quickly for 10-15 seconds, then let dry before inserting. When inserting, open a furrow on the prepared seedbed surface at a row spacing of 40 cm, with a furrow depth of 15-20 cm, insert at a plant spacing of 10 cm, with the cuttings exposed about 1 cm above the soil surface. After inserting, set up a shade frame, keep the seedbed moist frequently, strengthen cultivating and weeding, apply appropriate topdressing, and when the seedlings reach 80 cm in height they can be lifted from the nursery for planting out.
Goji Division Propagation
Division and transplanting is mostly carried out in early to mid-March to April. Directly take root-sucker seedlings from the goji garden for transplanting. After digging up the clustered plants, cut off most of the branches, divide and plant, water immediately, and keep the soil moist frequently. They root very easily and can flower and fruit in the same year. Goji division propagation saves labor, but the quality of the variety is difficult to identify. To avoid the above shortcomings, you can take the sprouting seedlings growing on the horizontal roots at the lower part of the mother plant's root crown or within a range of 3-7 cm from the mother plant for transplanting.
Goji Seed Propagation
1. Seed selection and collection: In the planting area, select plants that grow robustly, have large red fruit, are free of pests and diseases, and are over 6 years old as seed mother plants. From June to November, when the fruit turns red, pick them promptly. Soak the picked fruit in 30-35°C warm water for 24 hours, remove and rub, then wash out the seeds in clean water. Remove the pulp and skin, take out the mature, plump seeds that sink to the bottom, and after drying they can be sown. If not sowing immediately, mix 1 part seeds with 3 parts wet sand evenly, place in a wooden box, and stratify at 20°C indoors to promote germination. The following spring, when 30-50% of the seeds have cracked and shown white, take them out for sowing.
2. Timely sowing: Sowing can be done in spring, summer, or autumn, with sowing in late March of spring being the best. On the prepared nursery seedbed, open sowing furrows transversely at a row spacing of about 25 cm, with a furrow depth of 2-3 cm and a sowing width of 5 cm, then evenly scatter the seeds into the furrows. After sowing, cover with fine soil, press lightly, and cover the seedbed with grass to keep warm and moist. Use 150-200 grams of seed per mu.
3. Seedling management: After sowing, water frequently to keep the seedbed soil moist, so as to facilitate seed germination and seedling growth. After the seedlings emerge, remove the grass covering the seedbed, then carry out cultivating and weeding 4-5 times. Combine cultivating and weeding with thinning. The first thinning is when the seedlings are 5 cm tall, pulling out weak seedlings and keeping seedlings at 5-6 cm spacing. The second thinning is in early to mid-July, removing the weak and keeping the strong, with final spacing of 10-15 cm. At the same time as thinning and final spacing, apply 1000-1500 kg of diluted human and animal manure per 667 sq m each time to promote robust seedling growth. When the seedlings grow to 30 cm in height, promptly remove the side branches growing from the base of the seedlings. When the seedlings reach 60 cm in height, pinch the tops to accelerate the thickening and robust growth of the main trunk and main side branches. Spring seedlings can be lifted from the nursery and planted after autumn. Summer and autumn seedlings should be given one irrigation of sealing ice water in winter and lifted from the nursery for planting after the following autumn.