Key points of goji berry seedling cultivation: easily grow robust seedlings

Goji berry Lycium chinensis Mill.

Mongolian name: Qinwayin-Harimoge

Aliases: goji berry fruit, dog nipple

Family and genus: Solanaceae, Lycium genus

Morphological characteristics: shrub, up to more than 1 m tall, much branched, branches slender and weak, often curved and drooping, with thorns, light gray, with longitudinal stripes. Leaves simple, alternate or several leaves clustered at the lower part of the branch, ovate-narrowly rhombic to ovate-lanceolate, ovate, long elliptic, 1.5-3.5 (6) cm long, 5-10 (22) mm wide, apex acute, base cuneate, margin entire, both surfaces glabrous. Flowers often 1-2 (5) clustered in leaf axils, pedicels slender; calyx campanulate, apex 3-5 lobed, lobes more or less ciliate; corolla funnel-shaped, purple, apex 5 lobed, lobes spreading outward, nearly equal to or slightly longer than the tube, margin densely ciliate, base auricles conspicuous; staminal filaments of unequal length. Berry ovate or oblong, dark red or orange-red. Flowering period July-August, fruiting period August-October.

Habitat: grows by roadsides, village houses, field ridges and in shrub thickets of mountainous hills.

Distribution: produced in Chifeng City, cultivated in Hinggan League. Widely distributed in all provinces and regions of the country; also in eastern Asia and Europe.

Ecological habits: mesophyte. Mostly grows in arid sandy land and saline-alkali land. Introduced and cultivated in various places in the Three-North region.

Propagation methods:

Seed propagation. Because goji berry is easy to collect seeds from and has a large seed quantity, seed propagation is generally adopted. However, because the seeds are small and have poor ability to push through soil, the seedlings are very weak, so the technical key points should be mastered during seedling cultivation.

1. Seedling cultivation methods.

1.1 Site selection. For goji berry seedling cultivation, choose a place with flat terrain, fertile soil, sufficient water source and good drainage.

1.2 Land preparation and bed making. Land preparation should be carried out in the autumn of the previous year, with deep ploughing of 20-25 cm, and timely harrowing and leveling. In the 2nd spring, apply base fertilizer. Bed making: bed surface width 1.0 m, length 5-10 m, or as the situation requires.

1.3 Irrigation of bottom water. 5-7 d before sowing, irrigate sufficient and even bottom water. Check on the 2nd day after irrigation. If there are still dry soil spots on the bed surface, immediately replenish irrigation until thoroughly soaked.

1.4 Sowing. Mix with sand, draw furrows 1-1.5 cm, cover with soil about 0.5 cm, cover with film to increase ground temperature and maintain humidity. After the seedlings emerge, uncover it, and pay attention to shading to prevent death from sun exposure. After the stems and leaves of the seedlings turn green again, remove the straw curtain.

1.5 Seedling stage management. It is roughly divided into 4 stages. The 1st stage is the emergence stage: May 15 to May 25, that is, about 10 d from sowing to full stand. This stage is mainly about the seedlings taking root, pushing through the soil and emerging. The main management measures are preventing and controlling pests and diseases, spraying water on the bed surface, and keeping the bed surface moist to ensure a full stand. The 2nd stage is the seedling hardening stage. From late May to late June, that is, starting when the seedlings grow 4 leaves, the aboveground part of the seedlings grows slowly in height, while the root system grows relatively fast. During this period, the focus of management is pest control, hoeing weeds, loosening soil, thinning seedlings, and irrigation. In high-temperature weather, spray water to lower the temperature and ensure normal growth of the seedlings. The 3rd stage is the seedling growth stage, from the beginning of July to mid-August. During this period, the seedlings grow very fast. The main tasks are pest and disease control, topdressing, irrigation, weed control, and pinching off the tips. The 4th stage is from late August to mid-September, the late growth stage, to promote the seedlings to become lignified as soon as possible, mainly by loosening soil and pulling out large weeds.

2. Issues that should be noted.

2.1 Do not sow too densely during seedling cultivation. If sowing and retained seedlings are too dense, the seedlings grow weakly, the root system develops poorly, the resistance is not strong, planting is not easy to survive, or severe shoot dieback occurs.

2.2 Pinch off the tips in time. Carry out tip pinching in mid-August to promote lignification of the seedlings, so that after planting the survival rate is high and the growth is good.

2.3 Weed in time. Because goji berry likes light, too many weeds affect photosynthesis and cause the seedlings to die.

Economic value and uses: medicinal fruit and root bark, with effects the same as Lycium barbarum.