Lifeberry® Goji Berry Plant Collection

I want to preface this by saying i had these berry plants for almost 3 years now (this is my third summer). These plants will grow in just about any soil you can find out there, but what i slowly discovered is they dont always fruit in any soil conditions. I live in NE pa and my yard has clay soil with red shale not far from the surface (on top of a big hill). I planted the Goji's and they grew quite well till latte july and august. they would slow down and leaves would yellow and slowly fall off, even if i kept up with watering. I also was wondering when i was going to get berries cause every where i read about them the small purple flowers will start mid spring and the berries will start to pop soon after. 3 years and nothing. Fertilizer, micro nutrients, mulching to keep moisture in and everything. Finall i went to drastic measures and dug 6 inches deep in a 2 foot radius around the plant leaving the majority of the roots around the base of the plant in tact (not dormant so didnt want to shock the plant) and put in Tree and shrub soil from home depot. I also did this to a hardy Kiwi right next to it with just as much trouble and with in about 2-3 weeks both sprang to life. And i mean they just exploded. I have hundreds of berries all of a sudden and my hardy Kiwi si groing like mad. SO.... if you have this experience it is your soil and now you know what to do!

I called it a tough berry plant, because despite the CRAPPY soil it was in, it never died off.

Have planted plants were bearing fruit first season this season growing like weeds no fruit yet but lots of blossoms so surely the fruit will come.I would recomend this to anyone keep in mind they require some work.

I bought one Goji from a local garden center. The berries are small and the branches are thorny. The ones I bought from Stark are much better. The berries are big, sweeter, easier to pick, and the branches are thornless. It also seems to be spreading fast. Will dig up the other one and plant this variety instead. Fruits the second year!

These arrived well, with tiny leaves and small blossoms. I am still in the phase of adjusting them to outdoors, but am looking forward to getting them in the ground and seeing how well they adapt to the real world.

both goji made it and produced so much fruit and did not die over the winter

I was not expecting to have goji berries the first year, but I did, in fact enough to dry and keep for later! The bush weathered the winter just fine here in zone 5, with no need for extra protection.

Thrilled with this collection. The plants are doing well in shade and sun. One is standing up the other one seems to grow on the ground some. The one that is growing on the ground some fruited last year. The fruit did not taste like the yummy fruit that I buy dried. I'm hopeful that it will improve in taste as it ages. Still pleased. Thank you.

I purchased a Goji berry plant to add to my Berry field. I has done fantastic. I is planted near my Blueberry bushes and my Chokecherry tree. It grew by leaps and bounds and produced an abundance of berries last year and is covered in flowers this year. I will probably invest in more as I open up more ground in the berry area.

This plant produces hundreds of berries every season.

If you live in North Central Kansas in the flint hills and want something that will survive very non-acidic soil... go with goji berries... they love it here... produced fruit the first season and are coming back strong.

I planted it fall 2014. First it grown vigorously when it touched the soil. It gave a lot of leaves and branches. It produced some goji first year. The winter cold days not really bothered it much at first but the moisture staying on the leaves appeared give it some trouble. Some fungus had developed on the leaves. I trimmed it off. This spring it grown back healthy again and doing o.k. Thank you!

Planted Stark's "Big Lifeberry" and "Sweet Lifeberry."

In their 2nd season in Chicago soil, both are doing well and producing fruit, but the "Big Lifeberry" absolutely exploded in growth. 14 foot canes I ran up a 6 foot trellis and then back down to the ground. This thing is a monster! Pruning (which I'll do more of next year) definitely promotes flowering/fruiting and side growth.

Great plants, but "sweet" should not be in the title - misleading! I tried putting them in yogurt with blueberries and blackberries and they definitely do NOT blend in to that flavor profile. Save them for your savory dishes - their like a slightly bitter tomato.

I purchased two goji plants in 2015 and got about three berries from one of them.
They both survived the winter in Rochester, NY and are green and growing (but very slowly - maybe an inch or two). No blossoms yet, so not sure if I will have berries this year. I'm hopeful!

This is my first experience with Goji berries, but it has held up to Virginia summer and under several feet of hard-packed snow pile in winter

These plants truly are hardy. We have dry, hot summers here in the South and have experienced some nights in the teens in the winter. They are all doing very well, but in their third season, the smaller variety is producing great, but it's larger cousin has few berries. Maybe time will improve.

I got both varieties in 2015. Both are still alive and fruit very prolifically. I do not care much for the favor of goji berries. They also send out underground runners and tend to be weedy. I am thinking of just keeping one. The fruits that fall to the ground will seed very easily the following year.

Here in Fayetteville NC the gogi berries have done very poorly so far. They're yellowish leaves and almost no berries. The ones that are one are bitter and don't taste like goji berries that I've bought at all. I've added lime since we have acid soil, but doesn't seem to help.

I purchased the Goji berry collection last spring and they produced healthy berries the first year. They've grown well. I give them 5 stars even though I won't be here long enough to fully enjoy them. My family and I are moving, so the new owners will enjoy them longer than I was able to. I will be ordering this collection again for my new house next spring.

Outside of Oklahoma City they have made it for over a year and are still doing great. The taste is great and the plants are really healthy.

Initialy i planted into pots but after they showed signs of surviving I replanted into the ground and they are growing very tall and last year I had a few berries before frost.

Both bore fruit the year I planted them (and every year since), and my biggest challenge is keeping them under control; they seem to have a "world domination" gene.... Turns out we're not huge fans of the fruit's taste, however; best when dipped in dark chocolate.

I planted two of these Goji Berry plants. If you don't love to trim, find another berry plant for your yard. These plants need tending and so plant them where you have easy access to them. They will reward you with sweet little berries to eat while you do your garden chores. My dogs love the berries too.

Growed great the first year and had several berries. Starting off even better 2nd year and looking like going to have great crop 2nd year. Love the berries for a snack.

Lots of growth lots of fruit,no one seems to like the taste of them .

I'm not sure how to review this product. On the one hand, it arrived healthy and has grown like crazy in my climate (eastern NC). On the other hand, only one of them produced fruit last year. So far no flowers on either this year, but it's still early. Maybe this is for the best because I found that I don't really like fresh gogi berries. I am going to give it another couple years because I have heard that some plants make inferior fruit until they get their roots well established. To me, they tasted a little too much like a green pepper. Kinda bitter, actually... very bitter. I was hoping for more sweetness like the dried ones you buy in the healthfood store. Maybe it will improve. Maybe I will learn to like them, or sweeten and dry them. Maybe I will dig them up and gift them to someone else. This is a personal thing, and not Stark's fault at all.

Plants were healthy looking when received. Both goji berries bushes grew well, and one was loaded with berries.
Just have to figure out, at what point to eat them.

Interesting fruit. I am not one for tomatoes but these have a tomato like flavor and slightly metallic. The plants are starting their second season so time will tell.

Vigorous growth, may be rather invasive. Thorny. Produce large amount of fruits over a long period, too bad that they do not taste very good. Hopefully birds will enjoy them in late Winter.

After hard weather they are looking really healthy this year. Should see fruit this year.

I own about 45 acres, so if it won't grow without my attention it doesn't last long. I tossed these small (3") potted plants into a row with red raspberries, no mulch, maybe watered once?, put up a tomato cage, and pulled/flattened weeds twice just to make sure they were still there. one had about 6 tiny berries and was 18" tall when I removed the weeds the 2nd time. The other was about 9" tall. I plan to mulch them this year, and see if they meet my expectation - 4' tall and starting to spread (new plants), berries would be nice, but with only the two plants, I'm not going to sweat that part.

We purchased 2 goji plants they are still alive after 2 full seasons but have yet to produce any fruit. They have grown about 2ft during this time but this year turned yellow mid summer and now do not look the best. Just hoping they are still alive and make it until next season.

I thought the plants were very small for the price and they didn't do very well at first. Things got better after I got the plants away from the slugs, moved them into larger pots and fertilized them. I did get a few berries the first year. This is year two and the plants are pretty big now and happy.

Planted both according to instructions. Year 1 both showed adaptation to soil and produced leaves. Year two one thrived, one died. Same soil, planted about 2' apart.

The plant is very pretty; I've trained it with 2 canopies and working on the third. The flowers and fruits are pretty. But don't expect "sweet" fruit! We found out why they usually dunk them in chocolate: they are bitter! I note that most reviewers have not tasted any of them yet. I hope you aren't surprised.

Not sweet at all, and they left you with a bad after taste. The initial flavor is like a bell pepper, so not really bad but not sweet like a berry. The after taste is very bitter and persists for a while. I killed it after it's second season because the flavor just did not work for me. It grew very well though.

These plants are apparently not adapted for Middle Tennessee. They have languished and are barely sticks despite being established last fall. I am not sure if it is too hot or what but we have had plenty of rain for them this year. These will be going to the compost pile soon.