Goji Berrues - what you need to know about this superfood

[Mackay]

Goji Berry



I've been looking into goji lately and have found some remarkable evidence that they may well be worth the trouble. They have a pleasant taste but their medical benefits are astounding being 5 times more powerful than blueberries. They can grow almost anywhere and few are as of yet, grown in the USA.


I recently purchased some at $19 dollars a pound, plus $10 shipping, not to eat but to plant. Apparently they can grow anywhere, from desert to high altitude, in cold or warm.


So I planted a tray of 30 and they do seem to be coming up slower that advised. In a few weeks I will transplant them to bigger pots for the winter to keep in my sunroom, which does freeze, as the house is not done yet, but will not get as cold as outside, which can get to 20 to 50 below on bad years. Some protection for young plants is advised in the winter, especially the first year.


Here are some videos that will show you why goji may be worth adding to your garden.They also dry well for winter storage.


this following film shows a great improvement in the state of the blood only 36hours after first consuming goji berries. Cholesterol and bacteria are reduced and blood cells look healthier.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORYDNsRFWDk


This defines the ORAC scale related to Goji - 25,100 ORAC! It also contains ORMUSand is a complete protien, polysaccharide sugars (think glyconutrients)



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5bSrQ9M6QQ



Goji Berries are number one in Chinese medicine and are also reported to boost natural human growth hormone levels.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n79mnVOS18k



This is the instructional film I followed to plant goji. I planted the whole berry. Some did not come up so I split open some berries and took out the seeds and planted 3 to a cup and Im waiting to see how that does. I used azmonite andgoat manure to fertilize a typical organic potting mix. I will transplanteventually to a larger pot and add chicken manure. Because these plantstypically grow in high regions of the mountians high nitrogen soils should notbe required. Actually, each seed has about 30 seeds, not hundreds. I will winter them in 1 gallon pots in a cold sunroom for winter protection until spring then put them in the groud.

Currently I have 12 new goji berry babies that I will transplant in a few weeks into 3 gallon pots for the winter . I will protect them over the winter from extreme weather and perhaps put them in the ground next spring. It takes 3 years for them to produce fruit but I think they may be well worth the time and work.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ujWa2e41EQ=related



and last but not least

This page has studies related to goji berry. Seems a fair amount of research has been done.



http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=goji berry

 

[lesa]

I look forward to hearing how you do with these...

 

[Mackay]

Well Im still working on my gogi project. I over wintered 10 gogi plants that I started last august in our unheated sunroom. It did freeze in there most of the winter and to well below zero. About 3 weeks ago when the temps moved up to the 70s in the day time and just around freezing at night the gogi's started to grow again. Some never lost their leaves and others did but new leaves are coming on. They have grown about 6 inches in the last couple of weeks. It also appears that they send up shoots from their root system as the plants are surrounded by what lookes like new plants coming up all around them.

though the winter I watered them about once a month. Now that its warmer and they are growing Im watering once a week.

I had about 20 very small plants that I kept in our studio apartment that were growing right along all through the winter but then my cat ate them. He munched them right down to the soil. A few returned but then he got them again. My friend had the same problem with her cat.. so beware. When I moved them to where I thought he wouldn't go after them he became very persistant and he won.

So When the weather gets warmer yet, maybe in mid June, I'll put them outside for the summer. Ive been advised to wait till they are 2 to 3 years old before I put them out permanently. We are zone three and I've been told that they will do better when they are larger.

So this fall Im thinking I will put out half of the 10 plants to a permanent location as a trial and winter over inside again the rest.

I also just started another 36 plants that I will winter inside also.

 

[so lucky]

If the ones you have overwintered were hardy to below 0, could you not just leave your new plants outside this next winter? Maybe just mulch them well with straw?

 

[897tgigvib]

So Lucky, zone 3 is not only that serious 35 below, but winter is lllooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnngggggggggggggggggggg.

It really takes a special plant to know not to wake its buds up too early in zone 3.

It's hard to find a broadleaf plant that holds its leaves in winter that is zone 3.

Kinnikinik, barely... or st. johns wort, but those leaves fall off anyway...

 

[Mackay]

I was advised not to put them outside for the winter until they are 3 years old. But I think I will try to put a few out this year just to see what happens. They are suppose to be zone 3 but the advice says more will make it if they are older.

They are 7 months now and it looks like they are sending up new stalks from the root... not quite sure, it still could be seeds coming up from the berry I planted but these look hardier than seedlings. Nothing I read mentioned that this could happen. Im thinking of digging into one to try to figure it out.

I see that they are selling them now in many seed catalogues. I wouldn't bother. Just purchase some berries and plant them. Why put them though the stress of shipping etc. What they send are quite small.

Since there are some differences in nutritional value in the varieties I recommend www.gojiberry.com

 

[Smart Red]

I purchased one goji berry and two honey berry plants three springs ago. The goji made it through the first winter, but not through that second summer. Makay is correct about the size that is shipped. Mine was pretty darned small and I think it dried up because it's roots didn't grow down far enough to reach moisture. (Or perhaps the chickens damaged it.) The honey berry plants did just fine.

I may have to purchase a few goji berries from the local health food store since even without shipping, the cost of those seeds at the link you posted are high . . . and I have no use for 100 plants.

 

[hoodat]

Thanks for the tips. Somehow I had it in my mind that Gojis were exotic plants that needed very special conditions. From what I am hearing they should do just fine here in San Diego. I'll get some on order right away before we run out of the shipping season.