Detailed Explanation of Key Techniques for Sowing and Raising Goji Berry Seedlings

Seedling raising by direct 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 raised in a short period of time, meeting the urgent need for seedlings 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 current need for large quantities of seedlings in production, although this method has disadvantages, it still has certain application value.

Seed preparation: There are many varieties of goji berry, but the three varieties Ningqi No. 1, Ningqi No. 2 and Damaye are relatively good. Therefore, in production, large fruits of the above superior varieties should be selected for seed extraction. Small fruits with mixed quality should not be used for seed production, so as to prevent reducing seed quality.

Seed extraction: Extracting seeds from goji berry fruits can be divided into the following steps: ① Soaking the fruit. If dried fruit is used for seed production, the dried fruit should be placed in water and soaked until the skin swells and becomes easy to rot; if fresh fruit is used for seed production, soaking is not necessary. ② Crushing the fruit. Crush the soaked fruit or fresh fruit so that the seeds are completely separated from the flesh. ③ Washing. After crushing the fruit, add an appropriate amount of water and wash it; pour off the juice, fruit skin and floating impurities such as empty and shriveled seeds. After several washes, what sinks to the bottom of the basin is plump seed. ④ Drying the seed. Spread out the plump seeds to dry; after drying, store them in a cool, dry place for later use. Generally, each kilogram of dried fruit can yield about 0.1 kilogram of seed. The germination rate of the seed decreases with ?４ seed age, so do not use ?４ aged seed for sowing?

Sowing time: Goji berry sowing can be carried out in spring, summer and autumn, but in production more is sown in spring. After spring sowing, under suitable temperature and humidity conditions, the seeds germinate and emerge, and after the seedlings emerge they also have a relatively long growth period, so 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 1000-grain weight of about 1 gram, and only 0.2 kilogram 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 seed with 10 times its amount 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 it firmly with a foot so that the seeds are in close contact with the soil, then irrigate once with a shallow flooding irrigation; after 2-3 days, when the soil surface is no longer wet, irrigate again. Irrigate frequently before the seeds germinate and emerge to keep the soil surface moist, which is beneficial for seed germination, emergence and seedling growth. Seedlings emerge quickly with this sowing method, uniformly, with a high emergence rate, and it is simple to operate. ② Dry sowing method. Its difference from the water sowing method is that 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 and the soil moisture is poor, and seedlings do not emerge for a relatively long time, a small amount of shallow irrigation can also be used to promote seed germination and emergence.

In order to make the seeds emerge early after sowing, the seeds can be pregerminated before sowing: mix 1 part seed with 10 parts fine wet sand, place it indoors at about 20°C after mixing, cover it with plastic film on top, spray water once a day, and maintain good temperature and humidity; generally, sow when half of the seeds have broken white (germinated). When sowing in summer with suitable temperature and humidity, they can germinate and emerge after one week.