Does anyone like Goji berries?

my black goji i stated from seed In march is 16in long but it doesnt stand upright. its acting like a vine. the leaves look like the pics of the plant but it won’t stand up like a bush. i have a fan blowing in there to toughen the plants to be put out. going to put it outside soon to harden off.

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That’s where I got mine! I’m still waiting for its arrival. If you’re vouching for it, that gives me hope.

That’s weird, I thought it was supposed to be shrubbier than standard goji. Has it been vigorous for you?

I understand red goji is already a tough plant, but I was under the impression that black goji can take more abuse, particularly regarding drought. Would it make a good rootstock for red goji? Would it perhaps prevent suckering? Or would it do a bit of suckering of its own?

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its been very vigorous. i barely need to water and it grows. maybe once it gets bigger it will be upright. had 4 and culled 2 the other one went to dutch-s. no space for them. this was the biggest one. its in a gal. pot in my grow room. once it gets a little warmer I’m going to move it out to harden off then into the ground. got a dry gravelly spot near my crandall that it should do well in.

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Love Crandall!

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just put in a 2nd one from a different nursery from the one i have now. it was much bigger than the 1st one. should bear some berries this summer.

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Crandall was on my wish list, seemingly the only Ribes that might handle my heat well. I haven’t found a good low-budget source yet. Do domestic currants and gooseberries have decent heat-tolerant cultivars?

I’ve read a lot about them. the golden currants from the west coast and crandall from the midwest are the most heat tolerant. theres someone on here, can’t remember his name, that grows crandall in 10a CA and he gets good fruit from his bushes. Honeyberry USA has them for $10. the one i got a few days ago was 2ft tall. whats amazing is this plant will grow and fruit from z2-10! I’ve heard there are heat tolerant gooseberries but not sure how tolerant.

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My gogi bushes are the easiest thing I grow, and I grow a lot of different fruits. They are as close to plant it and forget it as you can get.

As long as you don’t expect them to be great for fresh eating, they are a wonderful plant. The berries work well as an additive to smoothies, tea, or clear broth soups. Basically, I treat their berries the way I would treat an herb, not the way I would treat those from, say, a blackberry.

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My Phoenix Tears seems like a very spindly and delicate plant, though they’ve survived with little fuss. They’ve fruited for me, and here’s my verdict…

They’ve decently good. Despite the name, I wouldn’t consider them the same type of flavor as more conventional berries. They’re more similar to other nightshade berries, like S. sisymbriifolium (though I’d argue Gojis are one of the better nightshades). An occasional one turned out bitter, which might be related to maturity or some other factor, but most were sweet. There’s a vague hint of fresh pepper flavor as an aftertaste, but it’s not an objectionable quality. Considering their purported vigor and productivity, I’d argue that Gojis are definitely worth growing, provided you go with L. barbarum (not L. chinense) and that you don’t go in with the same expectations you’d place on conventional berries. Better than a novelty, but not quite a staple. Those are my two cents.

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Good to hear some of the positive reports. Someone at my local CRFG chapter was offering free goji cuttings, so I grabbed a few on a whim. They root very easily. The one I rooted indoors succumbed to wilt (ie it developed something and I didn’t do anything about it.) The one I stuck in an outdoor veggie bed has really taken off. Once it rooted I dug it up and potted it up. It actually produced half a dozen flowers, but no berries. Hopefully next year I will get some to taste!

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I have grown goji for about ten years .i use them as a nutritional add not a tasty fruit . I put a good amount in cereal and oatmeal I don’t like the taste much . I never fertilize and water little with 20 inches of rain and 100 degrees down to - 5 . Birds get most and they are invasive but I keep them

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I found an empty spot in my food forest and decided to give goji berries a try. I am planting “Crimson Star”, “Imperial”, “Golden”, “Stardust”, and still need to find a black variety.

FYI - this is “Stardust”:
image

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To my personal taste, the fresh fruit of Lycium barbarum taste okay enough to snack on. However, due to lack of knowledge I’ve seen more than one nursery selling leaf goji (Lycium chinense) as L. barbarum goji berry. The fruit of leaf goji is in my opinion hard not to spit out. Because nurseries can’t seem to understand the difference between the two species it’s really hard to know which one people have tasted when forming their opinions about it as a fruit. They may have bought it as L. barbarum when it is actually L. chinense.

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I have bought dried goji berries thru a Chinese medicine site (Dragon Herbs) before. They were pretty tasty, had the texture of a raisin, but with a different flavor. Supposed to be a very nutritious food, or a tonic food, in TCM speak. But, they are also expensive, somewhere around $12 for about 8oz. These are Lycium barbarum berries. I was wondering who would be selling this species of plant. If I knew it was a true L. barbarum plant, I might give it a try.

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If you are referring to Stardust, I am assuming it is a cross with Lycium ruthenicum (black goji) based on the color of the spots. The seller says they start off yellowish before they ripen so maybe it is crossed with a yellow goji.

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I have a golden goji berry coming from One Green World. It will be some time till I can comment on fruit quality.

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I have had dehydrated goji berries… back years ago I experimented a lot with smoothies… and a few in a smoothie were Ok. As long as you had banana, pineapple, strawberries… you could sure tolerate a tablespoon of dried goji berries.

I have not planted any goji berry plants here yet… because…

1… They do not taste great… edible, yes, but not something to brag about.
2… I have lots of other stuff (that taste a lot better) ripening when they do.

I have two Goumi bushes… and goumi berries are not my favorite fruit either… but I think they are probably quite a bit better than goji… and the goumi ripen quite early, before my other really good tasting stuff starts ripening.

If goji ripened in March or April…or October, November… I might have to plant one.

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Like aronia goji are best disguised when eating them but are reportedly very good for us.

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I’ve had Frieda dried goji berries and enjoyed them quite a bit.

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Buy Heaven Mountain Goji Berries (air dried they sprout )
I like the taste of those
In A good tasting way It has a slight Oxidized RED dry wine taste ,
but not harsh like a wine in it’s last day before totally being oxidized (second 3rd day)

shopping

These are in the Tomato Family A Humidity dome can work (even bottom heat)
and fan after sprout to prevent from getting leggy with thin stalk
but do not disturb transplants when young move them when they get bigger .

Thanks Orange120od I will try Frieda dried goji they look good
I like these so much I can savor them holding in mouth until they dissolve ,
and separate the seeds after,

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