Article by Kim

Touted as a new health food, Goji berries are nice to have in the garden to grow as plants and the berries are nice little snacks too! Goji plants are generally quite hardy, they survive the cold winter in the U.K, their leaves start budding in Spring when the weather warms up.

Their purple flowers come up in Summer with small red berries shortly after (these ripen in about 2 days). These berries seem to attract ants, so it's best to pick them soon after. (Bearing in mind that plants usually do not bear fruit until their second or third year).

Planting them in deep pots (ours is in a pot of 2ft x 2ft) is best, so as to ensure good drainage, as the plants do not like too much water. They also need lots of sunshine, so somewhere South-facing would be perfect!

If the plant has lots of growth but does not bear much fruit, then it could be because they are doing 'too well'. If that is the case, do not add nitogen-based fertiliser, if you need to add, then tomato fertiliser is a good alternative to encourage flower and fruit. Also, try not to water too much – let the soil dry out before you water again, as these plants can endure droughts in Asia without too much harm.

Keep pruning to a minimum (the plants do not really grow many side branches). If pruning, you can keep branches, planting them in soil, and most of the branches will 'take' as cuttings and will grow into another plant with relative ease.