How to grow the golden berry? A full breakdown of care methods
The golden berry has an unusual fruit shape, an ornamental fruiting period of up to half a year, and bright fruit color, making it a precious ornamental fruiting plant. It likes a warm, humid environment with plenty of sunlight. The optimum growing temperature is 15-25°C. It has some cold tolerance and fears waterlogging and drought. It can withstand low temperatures of 3-4°C. It is suited to fertile, loose, well-drained sandy loam. In winter the temperature must not drop below 12°C. It can be propagated by sowing and cuttings, and is widely used for cut flowers and potted flowers.
How does the golden berry propagate?
The golden berry is commonly propagated by sowing and cuttings. For sowing, sow in pots in spring; the optimum germination temperature is 20-25°C, and germination occurs 7—10 days after sowing. For cuttings, use tender tip shoots as cuttings in summer, 12-15cm long, inserted into a sand bed; they can root in 15-20 days, and after 30 days are transplanted to open ground or pots.
Pest and disease control for the golden berry
Leaf spot and anthracnose damage commonly occur; spray with 10% antibacterial agent 401 acetic acid solution at 1,000 times dilution. Pests include aphids and whiteflies; spray with 2.5% derris extract emulsifiable concentrate at 1,000 times dilution to kill them.
During the growing period the golden berry has relatively few pests and diseases, with occasional damage from viral disease and red spider mites, which can be controlled with 70% thiophanate-methyl and 40% omethoate respectively.
How to grow the golden berry?
For planting, choose fertile, loose, well-drained sandy loam; if drainage is poor, the roots rot very easily. The golden berry likes fertilizer; during the growing period apply fertilizer once every half month, and from bud stage to young fruit stage apply 2-3 additional applications of phosphorus and potassium fertilizer. If the flowering period meets hot, dry conditions, the pollen does not easily disperse, affecting pollination and fruiting. Pay attention to watering and shading. In autumn cut fruiting branches 50-60cm long as cutting material, mainly stems and fruit, remove the leaves, and place in clean water to keep fresh.
1. Soil. The golden berry grows well in deep, loose, fertile, well-drained slightly acidic sandy loam, but it can also grow in neutral and slightly alkaline soil.
2. Fertilizing. Apply sufficient base fertilizer when potting up or repotting; you can place 50 grams of hoof and horn pieces in each pot. Apply more nitrogen fertilizer at the seedling stage, with liquid fertilizer once every half month. After flowering and fruit set, focus on phosphorus and potassium fertilizer, or spray a 0.2% potassium dihydrogen phosphate solution on the leaves, so the fruit is plump and the seeds are full.
3. Temperature. The golden berry likes warmth and is not cold-tolerant; it needs to overwinter indoors and should be kept at 10°C to 25°C. The optimum growing temperature is 20°C to 30°C. It grows slowly at 5°C to 10°C, stops growing below 5°C, and suffers cold damage below 0°C. In summer it can endure high temperatures of around 35°C, but not for too long a duration.
4. Light. It likes plenty of sunlight and avoids long periods of shade. It grows best under strong light. If there is insufficient light, the plant will grow leggy and the leaves will yellow and drop.
5. Water. The golden berry likes moisture and avoids drought and waterlogging. In summer water once or twice a day to prevent the leaves from dropping from dryness and affecting growth. If the soil is too wet during the flowering period, flowers easily drop and the fruiting rate decreases. During the fruit ripening period the soil should be moist to prevent the fruit from drying yellow and losing its luster. Under high temperature and dryness, it easily shows the phenomenon of flowering without fruiting.
6. Dwarfing and fruit thinning. To fully dwarf a tall plant, pinch off the terminal bud when its stem and branches reach 50 cm high, so the plant stops growing taller and the side buds grow. When the side buds reach an appropriate height, spray with paclobutrazol to inhibit height and promote flowering, until the fruit ripens. After fruiting, if the plant has too much fruit, set up supports to prevent breaking and lodging. You can appropriately thin the fruit without affecting the ornamental effect to ensure the fruit is large.