With its long shoots and inconspicuous leaves, the goji berry is visually a rather inconspicuous shrub and is probably planted in most gardens with the aim of harvesting the bright orange-red berries. It is all the more annoying when the so-called buckthorn does not produce any flowers and therefore no fruit.
Why isn't my goji berry blooming?
If a goji berry does not bloom, the reason may be: unsuitable breeding variety, prolonged juvenile phase (young plants only bloom from the 3rd day onwards).year), incorrect location (too little sun and warmth), waterlogging of the soil or improper cutting measures. Adapted care and suitable choice of variety can promote flowering.
Only suitable plant material reliably produces flowers and fruits
The Goji berry is a plant species that has been selected and bred for yield in various Asian growing regions for centuries. However, in Germany, hobby gardeners sometimes propagate offshoots of wild forms, which then produce few or no flowers. So you should make sure to plant a suitable cultivar if you want to harvest and process your own goji berries.
The duration of the juvenile phase depends on the type of reproduction
Goji berries, like many other plant species, can be propagated by sowing seeds or cuttings. It should be noted that seedlings generally have a longer juvenile phase than young plants grown from cuttings. Basically, you have to assume that young goji berry plants will only develop flowers and fruit from around the third year onwards. Specimens in pots sometimes bloom in the second year because their size growth is somewhat limited by the shape of the culture and the plants start fruiting earlier.
Care and location-related reasons for the lack of flowering
It can also be due to one or more of the following factors if the so-called buckthorn bush doesn't want to bloom at all:
- unsuitable location: not sunny enough and warm
- Waterlogging in the ground
- incorrect cutting measures
Some varieties of buckthorn stop blooming if they are cut back too much. However, high-yielding cultivars should be rather insensitive in this regard and react more positively to a training cut.
Tip
Sometimes excessive or incorrect fertilization also contributes to the problem of non-flowering berry bushes. As soon as the soil at a location contains a lot of nitrogen through appropriate measures, many shrubs tend to have very strong shoot and leaf growth. However, this happens at the expense of the flower and fruit set.
