Goji Berries: How to Grow Your Own

Author: MikeSelv

Goji berries are one of natures super foods and growing your own can be a hugely rewarding experience.

Growing Goji berries is not that hard at all and once they are established they hardly need any attention to flourish. Luckily they grow in almost any kind of soil, even in heavy clay soils (like my rather pitiful dirt plot of a garden,) but like most plants, they tend to grow the best and fruit the best in a well-drained yet moderate quality soil.

Goji berries require moderate amounts water and sunlight as too much sunlight might cause them not to germinate properly. Goji berries are amazingly hardy and they can withstand temperatures of -26 degrees Celsius (-15 degrees Fahrenheit) and are fairly tolerant to drought.

It is best to grow Goji berries outside if the climate is suitable but growing them in pots is also fine and If so you should make sure that is has good enough drainage. Transferring Goji berries from pots to the garden is also not that much an problem.

So long as you have the space and decent amounts of sunlight for your Goji plant, you cant go wrong. Up until the seeds germinate the soil needs to be kept moist, then decrease the watering and allow the soil to dry up before you water again. Avoid using any chemicals or pesticides to the plant or to the soil.

Try to use organic fertilizers as much as possible as they contain the nutrients Goji berries need to flourish and by avoiding chemicals and pesticides you will have a more healthy, natural plant which will yield more healthy, natural fruit. Nutrients in = nutrients out.

If your growing in pots, you will need to change some of the soil every year as Goji plants are hungry beasts and tend to gobble up the nutrients in the soil. Don't worry too much about giving them lots of organic materials as it gets most of what it needs to grow and bear fruit just from air and sunlight.

Growing Goji berries is not a quick process, as the shrubs don't usually bear fruit until around the third year. But you can use the leaves in a salad in the mean time. You'll know your Goji shrubs are about to bear fruit as you'll start to get small purple/white flowers from summer until the first freeze.

For more on the benefits of these amazing berries please visit http://www.thebetterbodysite.com

Written by Stuart Rendell, http://www.thebetterbodysite.com

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/goji-berries-how-to-grow-your-own-4718329.html

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