Goji Berry Plants

[Gary350]

Man came to the house today we talking about gardening. He & wife grow Red color Goli berry plant from Thailand. He says small berries are tart like cherries. Plants grow about 2 lbs of berries each. He said, they eat them on cereal & eat them raw right from the plant. He said, they are very hardy plants we never water them even when it is 100 degrees & little rain for 3 months they do good.

Online shows they come in Red & Black color berries.

Is anyone growing Goji berries?

No seeds for sale online. I wonder how easy they are to grow from seeds.

I found plants on Ebay 3 live plants $15.

Are these good for, pies, jam, cobbler, wine. ?

[imafan26]

I have had goji berries. There was a plant in the medicinal herb garden until the water got turned off for too long. They are very rich in antioxidants, but I did not have a lot of luck growing them. I found them hard to propagate. The plant we had though was under a lot of stress from the less than ideal growing conditions.
The plant we had (it is also called Chinese matrimonial vine), may have been a sub species more tolerant to hotter conditions.

https://extension.psu.edu/goji-berry-culture

[!potatoes!]

I have a couple plants. they're pretty tough and I don't do much to keep them going...and I get maybe four berries a year. maybe that's down to the cultivar? I don't know the origin of my plants.

[applestar]

!potatoes! Doesn’t that mean this is type that needs a second, genetically different plant to cross pollinate?

I always had the impression they are easy to root from summer cuttings. I don’t have one growing yet though.


....[unsalted] —WHY does this say unsalted? — UNRELATED — but... !potatoes! I should have planted them already, but the spicebush seedlings from seeds you gave me have survived the winter in their pots and I WILL be planting them this season. Thanks again!

[imafan26]

They are related to the solanaceous plants so they should be easy to propagate, I just never had any luck. It did have a few fruit but I never tried seeds and it never volunteered.

[SQWIB]

There are 3 that I know of
Lyceum barbarum, Lyceum ferocissimum and Lyceum Chinese.

Lyceum barbarum is supposedly the sweetest one.
I planted last year and had a few Berries in early winter.
I tasted them and was shocked, I thought I was poisoned, it was the most bitter, nastiest thing I ever tasted.
I decided to give it another season and the plant has taken off.

I'll try them again when they fruit but if it tastes nasty like before, I'll tear out the plant, stomp on it, toss it in the fire, stomp on it again then toss in the trash.

[applestar]

ha. It’s a solanacea? goes to show I had not even basic researched this plant since it was not on my radar yet for actually planting. A quick look and it is also known as wolf berry as I thought.

so then why the taste issue? it’s a chinese medicine plant — not always known for pleasant taste. also I’ve only used it in dried raisin like form (I liked it best cooked into rice for curry....). quick search confirms late maturing and fruiting in the season so maybe need longer growing season than we have in the north to fully ripen?

...also wondering — there is a solanacea wild type that is known to be widely used by native americans — black fruits ... wonderberries? — and it has been confirmed that this fruit is mildly toxic for people who do not have genetic immunity. nasty-bitter flavor is how a body is warned it’s bad for you.....

!potatoes! — this begs the question whether my speculation about needing cross pollination — a wild guess — was completely off the mark. I’m at comparing characteristics of tomatoes/peppers/eggplants vs. tomatillos and possibly potatoes (though non-fruiting potatoes are usually said to have ability bred out of them.....).....

[!potatoes!]

I suspect they need a long warm period late in the season to really sweeten up as they ripen. pollination maybe also be an issue. really, I guess we all need a tutorial from gary's friend.

glad to hear about the spicebush seedlings, applestar! we have been making a lot of acorn spicebush cookies in quarantine. my seedlings are also up and moving. also, there are blooms this year on the 3-year old calycanthas you sent me seed for, so thank you too!

[SQWIB]

The following quote is from Simply healthy family website and the only reason I am trying them one more year.

If you are planning to eat these goji berries fresh, then I am very sorry to disillusion you. Fresh goji berries are more bitter than sweet, and very few people likes eating them fresh. This is probably one of those fruits that can definitely scare kids away.

Dried goji berries on the other hand are way better. Once the goji berries are dried, they lose most of the bitter taste and would be close to cranberries and cherries in terms of flavor.

They are not that awful they just aren’t that delicious, either. This is a really awesome fruit for your kidney so keep that in mind whenever you eat them. Adding them to soups and smoothies will be a great way to make them more palatable.