Growing medicinal goji berries in your garden

Goji berries - a popular superfood. Someone considers them as a means for losing weight, someone as a source of health and longevity. In any case, these small red berries are an expensive treat. The good news is that this magical tool can be grown on your own in the garden.

In the article we will look at what goji berries are, the features of their self-cultivation and care, which is required for this.

Goji berry: description and species

Goji berries appear on a tree shrub (with proper care can be a height of 3.5 m and above) Chinese tree truss or common wolfberry.

If the Chinese plant species in our latitudes is not very common, then wolfberry is common. quite accessible and well rooted and growing. Goji plant is a deciduous shrub with a spreading crown. The leaves are oval, fleshy, small, located along the entire length of thin branches. The roots are powerful and deep, give a lot of shoots.

In addition to useful berries, the plant is also beautifully decorative. The shrub blooms with lilac or purple-pink flowers. Flowering begins in May and lasts until September.

Fruits in the third year. Fruits - bright red oblong berries. Harvest can be collected all summer, but the most valuable berries collected in August.

Is independent cultivation possible?

Dereza ordinary, planting and care of some of which is discussed in the article, is well grown in household plots and even in room conditions.Shrub unpretentious, frost resistant. It can be used as a hedge both around the perimeter and inside the site.

You can grow shrubs as seeds and cuttings. Seeds can be obtained from soaked dry berries. Cuttings can be obtained from an adult plant.

Growth conditions

Shrub worm does not require special care and attention. But still when planting plants should take into account some points.

Location selection

Dereza is a fast-growing plant with strong roots. Plant it as a hedge or on empty plots.

The shrub will grow well in a small shade and in the sun. Resistant to urban conditions. You can even grow at home, but requires special conditions when wintering at home.

Soil requirements

Because of its durability, it does not impose any particular requirements on the soil. It grows well on neutral and alkaline soils. On sour develops a little worse.

Dislikes dereza stagnant water. So try to plant a bush in places with stony soil.

How to plant goji berry, reproduction of a useful plant

As already mentioned, there is two ways of breeding this plant:

• seeds;
• cuttings.

Of course, it is easier to plant cuttings. But if you wish, it is possible to get a young plant and with the help of seeds.

From seed

Seeds can be obtained from dried berries. To do this, soak the berries and wait for them to soften. Now the seeds can be easily removed. For better germination, soak the seeds in the seed growth stimulator solution, after which they are ready for sowing. Sowing is carried out in a container filled with a mixture of peat and ordinary soil (ratio of approximately 2: 1). Sowing depth - 2-3 mm.

To increase the humidity in the tank, cover it with a film and put it in a dark warm place. After the appearance of the first shoots, bring the container to the light. Keep away from drafts and hypothermia. The treatment of young plants is carried out with a spray gun in order not to damage the growth. After a week you can remove the film.

After the appearance of 3-4 leaves of the plant can be subjected to pickling and landed in individual pots. The receptacle must be deep.Goji roots develop rapidly and grow down, not in breadth. When transplanting, hook the seedling as low as possible and plant it together with the earth clod.

Dump in open ground in early summer or spring, after the termination of frosts.

Cuttings

Planting seedlings wench produce spring. In the fall, you can carry out planting in warm regions.

Prepare pits with a depth and width of about half a meter, where in two weeks you will plant cuttings. The bottom of the pit is filled with drainage (stones, sand), a mixture of soil and compost, and fertilizers are added - superphosphate, potassium, ash. Put the seedling so that the root neck is at ground level. Fall asleep and watered. Pristvolny circle better to mulch. Tie a young bush to a support or immediately install a trellis.

Small seedlings of goji berries, grown independently, are planted in holes 20 x 20 cm, filled with earth and humus, this method of planting will provide good care for them.

Basic rules of care

Young goji plants require attention in the first year of growth.

Watering

Bush wolf not bad withstand drought. Watering in the first year is required no more than 2 times a week. In the future, it is possible and less, depending on the dry weather.

Top dressing and fertilizer

Feed should be only young plants. As a fertilizer, you can use humus, superphosphate. In the future, the shrub needs no feeding. Goji feels good even on poor soils.

Pruning shrubs

Goji bush is growing very actively and aggressively. Therefore, pruning is an important operation. Shrub tolerates pruning. New shoots grow back quickly. Therefore, the trees are well formed and will be useful in ornamental gardening. You can cut both manually and mechanical brush cutters.

A little bit about the beneficial properties of berries

Goji berries are rich in vitamins and microelements. Often they are called the cure for thousands of diseases. Useful for:

• anemia;
• diabetes;
• insomnia

Berries contain a large amount of protein. They have tonic properties. Proved anti-aging properties of goji.

But in any case, goji is not a "magic pill." With all their benefits, the berries are only an aid and will not help themselves.