Plant Database / Fruit & Berries / Goji Berry
Fruit & Berries

Goji Berry

Lycium barbarum
Solanaceae (Nightshade)

A tough, sprawling nightshade shrub that fruits in heat and poor soil. Dry the red berries for the famous superfood.

EdiblePerennialDrought-tough
Goji Berry (Lycium barbarum) illustration — Texas Roots plant database, by Jordan Polasek
Sun
Full sun
Water
Low — drought-tough
Soil
Tolerant, even poor
pH
6.5–8.0
Hardiness
Hardy shrub
Height
3–8 ft
Spacing
3–5 ft
Days to harvest
2–3 yr to bear

What it is

Goji Berry (Lycium barbarum) is in the Solanaceae (Nightshade) family. A tough, sprawling nightshade shrub that fruits in heat and poor soil. Dry the red berries for the famous superfood.

How to grow it

It wants full sun, water it low — drought-tough, and give it tolerant, even poor soil. Target a soil pH around 6.5–8.0. Space plants about 3–5 ft apart. Expect roughly 2–3 yr to bear. Hardy shrub.

How it's used

Goji Berry is used: fresh or dried berries.

🔎 How to identify it

  • Narrow gray-green leaves
  • Arching thorny stems
  • Small purple flowers

Edibility

PartsRipe fruit
UsesFresh or dried berries
CautionEat only the ripe red berries.
🌤 Before you plant: check the live 7-day garden weather to time it right for frost and heat.

Part of the free Texas Roots plant database, compiled by Jordan Polasek from his greenhouse in El Campo, Texas. Free to read and share. If it helped, the best thanks is to grow something.