Goji Berry Wolfberry (Lycium Chinense) 50 seeds (#804)

Interesting ornamental landscape shrub which can also be grown for harvest of leaves, berries, young shoots and roots for culinary purposes.
The plant is used in traditional Chinese medicine for the treatment of nightsweats, pneumonia, cough, hematemesis, inflammation, and diabetes mellitus.
Growing conditions: Informal hedges, shrub borders, dry/sandy banks or slopes. Spreads rapidly.
Grow in moderately fertile, medium moisture, well-drained soils in full sun. Plants tolerate some light shade. Established plants tolerate some drought. May be grown from seed. Where winter hardy, this shrub will naturalize by self seeding (sometimes aggressively) and by suckering. Stems may be pruned back to 2' tall in late winter each year to keep plants at a reasonable size with less sprawling. If grown for fruit production, branches may be attached to a trellis to facilitate harvest.
Information source: missouribotanicalgarden.org.

Genus - Lycium
Species - Chinense
Common name - Goji Berry Wolfberry
Pre-Treatment - Required
Hardiness zones - 6 - 9
Height - 3-6' / 1 - 1.80 m
Spread - 3-10' / 1 - 3 m
Plant type - Shrub
Vegetation type - Deciduous
Exposure - Full Sun
Growth rate - Medium
Soil PH - Acidic, Neutral, Alkaline
Soil type - Light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils, prefers well-drained
Water requirements - Average water needs. Water regularly, do not overwater
Landscape uses - Medicinal plant.for woodland gardens, sunny edges, hedges
Bloom season - May to August
Leaf / Flower color - Green / Light Purple

GERMINATION INSTRUCTIONS
1. Mix sand and goji seeds together. Place in airtight bag and stratify cold moist for 15 days (mixed with sterile sand or vermiculite).
2. After the prepteartment, soak for a few hours.
3. Sow on the surface. Cover with clear plastic or grass. Keep moist and in very warm (+25-28C) temperature for germination.
4. An alkaline soil of pH 8.2 to 8.6 is the natural habitat of wolfberry.
5. Germinated berries should be planted about half an inch down in the starter pots, a lot deeper for the larger ones. An actual seed of wolfberry is smaller than that of tomato. In our experience, it will take 10-14 days for them to start coming up. The first green shoots will be tiny leaves that you have to look after them carefully. There is no doubt that once the plant sprouts, it will live. However, they grow slowly during the first few months.
The time seedlings have outgrown their starter pots, you can put your small Goji shrubs in buckets of 5 gallon, with drain holes punched at the bottom.