Shrub · Solanaceae
Goji Berry
Lycium barbarum
Give it full sun, lean alkaline soil, and room to sprawl, and this tough nightshade pays you in superfood berries.
Full sun
Every 7–14 days
USDA 4–7
3–12 ft · 0.9–3.7 m
Overview
Goji berry is a hardy nightshade shrub grown for the bright red superfood berries you'll know from health-food shelves. It hails from China, where it has been cultivated for centuries, and it is tougher than its delicate reputation suggests. The plant takes the cold down to -20°F (-29°C) and laughs off summer heat, drought, and poor ground.
What it brings is a sprawling, thorny habit. Long arching canes reach 3 to 12 feet (91 cm to 3.7 m) and want to lean, root, and sucker wherever they touch down. Purple flowers open in late spring, and the berries ripen about 35 days later, carrying on from midsummer into late fall.
This is an easy plant to grow and a hard one to contain. It fruits with almost no fuss once it settles, but it suckers freely and self-seeds, so it has gone weedy in some regions. Give it a spot where its spread won't become a problem, and it rewards you for years.
Care
The short version: full sun, lean and slightly alkaline well-drained soil, about an inch of water a week, and a yearly prune to keep the thorny, suckering canes in check.
Light
Goji wants full sun, the more the better, and it fruits and resists disease best in hot, bright spots. It will take some partial shade, but light shade trades away berries and invites mildew onto crowded leaves.
Water
Give about 1 inch of water a week and let the top half of the soil dry between drinks. New transplants need steady watering to settle in, while established plants handle drought well. What it won't tolerate is waterlogged ground or wild swings from soaked to bone dry.
Soil
Plant in well-drained light loam, though goji takes a wide range of ground. It prefers things on the alkaline side, a pH of 6.8 to 8.2, which is the opposite of most berries and a key reason it struggles in acidic soil.
Temperature
This is a genuinely tough shrub, hardy from -20°F to 100°F (-29°C to 38°C). It rides out hard winters and brutal summers alike, which is part of why it naturalizes so readily once it's in the ground.
Humidity
Goji likes it on the dry side, around 20% to 50% humidity, in keeping with its hot, arid homeland. Damp, still air is what brings on powdery mildew, so airflow does more good here than any effort to raise the moisture.
Feeding
Feed with a balanced 16-16-16 fertilizer through spring and summer, timed to budbreak, flowering, and fruit ripening. Roughly 4 to 5 tablespoons per 10 square feet a year, split into three feedings, is plenty for a plant this undemanding.
Pruning
Leave the plant alone its first year. After that, prune during dormancy to cut out weak or damaged branches and shorten the laterals 6 to 18 inches, then pinch the terminals back 2 to 3 inches in early summer to push branching and keep the thorny, sprawling canes under control.
Repotting
Goji is a ground plant, not a container one, so repotting rarely comes up. If you do grow it in a pot, move it up when you see roots circling, water running straight through, or top growth that has stalled.
Size & spacing
Expect a big, arching shrub from 3 to 12 feet (91 cm to 3.7 m) tall with an even wider sprawl of 4 to 8 feet (120 to 244 cm). Give it that much room from the start, because the canes lean, sucker, and fill space fast.
When to plant
Goji is a cold-hardy perennial shrub for zones 4 to 7. Start seeds indoors in late winter or set out plants after the last spring frost once the soil has warmed, and look for purple flowers in late spring and ripe berries from midsummer into late fall.
Northern hemisphere
Southern hemisphere
Typical months for a temperate climate: start earlier in warm zones, later where spring frosts linger.
- Sow: 8 to 10 weeks before last frost (seed); or propagate from cuttings or suckers
- Plant: after last spring frost once soil has warmed
- Harvest: purple flowers in late spring; berries ripen mid-summer to late fall, about 35 days after full bloom
Hardiness
USDA hardiness zones: 4–7
Temperature: down to -34°C
Troubleshooting
Goji is a rugged plant with few real troubles, and most of what does show up lands on the leaves. Learn the handful of pests and the one common disease below, and you can step in early. Match what you see, then act before it spreads through the bush.
Warty blisters and puckered, curling leaves
This is the work of the goji gall mite, a pest too small to see that feeds inside the leaf tissue. The mites raise green to yellow wart-like galls and leave the foliage thickened and distorted. Prune out the worst growth and burn it, then hit the buds with horticultural oil or sulfur as they break in spring.
Fix:
- Prune out and destroy heavily galled growth
- Apply horticultural oil or sulfur per label as buds break
- Remove and dispose of fallen infested leaves
A white, dusty film on leaves and shoots
Powdery mildew settles in when the weather turns cool and humid, coating the leaves in a dusty white film that rubs off under a finger. Goji shrugs it off in hot, dry sun, so the fix is mostly about airflow. Thin out crowded stems, water at the base, and reach for a labeled fungicide only if it spreads.
Fix:
- Improve air circulation by thinning crowded stems
- Avoid overhead watering
- Apply a labeled fungicide or sulfur if severe
Sticky, curling new growth crawling with tiny insects
Sticky leaves and curled tips usually mean aphids are massing on the soft new shoots, though spider mites and potato leafhoppers cause much the same look. Check the undersides for soft-bodied insects, honeydew, or fine webbing. Blast them off with a hard jet of water, follow up with insecticidal soap, and let the ladybugs finish the job.
Fix:
- Dislodge with a strong jet of water
- Apply insecticidal soap or horticultural oil to affected growth
- Encourage natural predators such as ladybugs
Toxicity
The ripe berries are a famous superfood, safe to eat fresh, cooked, or dried, so there's no worry there. The catch is the foliage: as a nightshade, the leaves and unripe parts carry trace alkaloids that make them a mild caution for cats, dogs, horses, and other animals that graze. Watch the sharp thorns on the stems too.
Toxic to
Cats · Dogs · Horses · Rabbits · Livestock · Birds
Safe for
People
Cats Mild
The ripe berries are harmless, but the foliage carries trace nightshade alkaloids. A cat that nibbles the leaves may drool a little or get a mild upset stomach, so it's worth steering them off the plant.
Dogs Mild
A dog that crunches the fallen berries is fine, yet chewing the leaves or green stems can leave it with mild drooling or a touch of digestive upset. Keep grazing to a minimum.
Horses Mild
Horses face only a low risk from the foliage, where the trace alkaloids may cause some mild stomach discomfort if they browse the bush. The berries themselves are not a concern.
Rabbits Mild
Offer ripe berries freely, but the leaves and unripe parts hold the same trace alkaloids and can unsettle a rabbit's sensitive gut. Treat the foliage as something to nibble sparingly at most.
Livestock Mild
Cattle, goats, and sheep can browse around goji without much trouble, though heavy grazing on the foliage may bring on mild digestive upset from the nightshade alkaloids in the leaves.
Birds Mild
Birds eat the ripe fruit with no harm and help spread the seed. The leaves carry trace alkaloids, so the only real caution is around the foliage rather than the berries.
People Ripe fruit safe
Ripe goji berries are a well-known superfood, eaten fresh, cooked, or dried with no concern. Skip the leaves and unripe parts, which hold trace alkaloids, and mind the sharp thorns on the stems.
Stems carry sharp thorns that can scratch people and pets, and the leaves and unripe parts contain only trace solanaceous alkaloids, so discourage pets from grazing foliage.
Helpline numbers
United States
ASPCA Animal Poison Control: (888) 426-4435 (fee applies)
Poison Control: (800) 222-1222
Canada
Poison Centres: 1-844-764-7669
Varieties
Goji is sold under a handful of named cultivars, and a known name buys you predictable fruit that seed-grown plants can't promise. These are the ones you'll come across most.
Crimson Star (Ningxia #1)
A widely grown cultivar that starts bearing 1 to 2 years after planting and hits full production in 3 to 5 years.
Phoenix Tears
A productive selection prized for its heavy crop of fruit.
Wolfberry Agrodevco
A named cultivar offered for home gardens and small-scale planting.
How to propagate
Goji multiplies several ways, from slow seed to free suckers, and the method you pick decides how soon you pick berries and whether the plant comes true to its parent.
SeedEasy
Start indoors in late winter to spring · 2 years to first fruit, full production in 3 to 5 years
Goji grows easily from seed started indoors in late winter or spring, but the seedlings come up variable and you wait about 2 years for the first fruit and 3 to 5 years for a full crop. If you want a known cultivar and predictable berries, start with a named plant instead.
Stem cuttingsModerate
Softwood cuttings in early summer or hardwood cuttings during dormancy · Several weeks to root, fruiting within a couple of years
Take softwood cuttings in early summer or hardwood cuttings during dormancy and they root over several weeks, then fruit within a couple of years. Cuttings come true to type, so this is the way to keep a cultivar's traits.
DivisionEasy
Dig and transplant suckers in dormancy · Establishes quickly once moved
A mature plant throws up suckers freely after about 3 years, and the easiest new plants come from lifting those rooted suckers during dormancy. Dig and move them then and they settle in fast.
Myths
Goji berries are poisonous because the plant is a nightshade.
The ripe berries are eaten the world over as a superfood, fresh, cooked, or dried. Only the leaves and unripe parts hold trace solanaceous alkaloids, and even those are a mild caution rather than a real danger. The fruit is safe to eat.
Goji needs rich, acidic soil to thrive.
It comes from slightly alkaline ground and is happiest at a pH of 7 to 8. Acidic soil actually holds it back, so don't reach for the soil acidifier you'd use on blueberries.