HelpfulGardener.com

Hi,



I recently bought a goji berry shrub and planted it into a 12 gallon tote. I punched a bunch of holes into it and added soil. My mix was about 1/2 organic potting soil, 1/4 compost 1/4 clay dirt from my backyard. I also sprinkled a little azomite, eggs shells, coffee grounds, and an organic fertilizer on top. I have had it maybe 2 weeks now and shows a little growth, some flowers coming in and a few berries forming.

Anyway, I have some straw available and would it be a good idea to mulch it? How many inches?

Thanks in advance.

I would almost always recommend mulching as it helps keep the moisture in the top of the soil. If the soil dries out it can form a crust which impedes the passage of water, and it also decreases microbial action in the top of the soil which leads to decreased fertility.

I usually do at least 2-3 inches of mulch, just make sure you keep it away from the base of the plant.

From your location I guess you are going into winter now. My goji was just planted last year and it lost all its leaves over winter. I expected it to be evergreen so it was a bit of a shock - I thought I had killed it! But it is coming back well now though as we move into spring in the southern hemisphere.

So with the potting mixture I used you advise to use mulch?? I read to let the soil dray out for the goji shrub before watering again. So you follow this? I also hear they like some shade? Mine gets a lot of direct sun and was barely getting any shade so I moved it and now gets maybe 1-2 hours of shade.

Mulching, or top dressing as some may call it, will work great to reinvigorate the soil with nutrients. One can even mulch with beneficial compost, I have used worm castings as a top dressing before. Also if you haven't used any organic seaweed/marine based fertilizer for your tree I would start using soon. These fertilizers have been known in the Goji grower community to help supply the "right stuff" to the root zone. A company named Fox Farm sells Marine Cuisine which I have found to be awesome stuff; not just for Goji's. I used it on my vegetable garden and had superb results with everything; I liked it because it is time released.

I have some hydrolyzed fish and seaweed fertilizer. I have already spray the leaves with it once. But I plan to use it regularly.

Mulch on the top of the pot is a great idea. Regular fertilising is a good idea also, especially with pot grown fruit.