Goji Berry troubles

These were here in the garden when property was purchased.  I added some compost and they get super happy and green and then this happens every time. What is eating or killing the leaves?  I did get a few berries once  but they looked kind of sad. What’s the issue here? Thanks for the help!
Sorry for the blurry photos. Windy day.

Betty Garnett wrote:These were here in the garden when property was purchased.  I added some compost and they get super happy and green and then this happens every time. I did get a few berries once  but they looked kind of sad. What’s the issue here? Thanks for the help!
Sorry for the blurry photos. Windy day.

I bought a couple of plants and they seemed to grow well, but then produced only a very few berries and they were sweet/sour, but very heavy on the sour. I think these are more adapted to the Western states than around the East or MidWest.

I opted to go for Currants and have a couple of plants of those out growing well, with a few more coming this Spring.

Betty Garnett wrote:These were here in the garden when property was purchased.

Betty, what zone are you located in? Could be gall mites, but hard to tell from photo.

Hello, hope we are all thriving, as best we can.
Goji plants, I have planted in front of my terrace, having been informed that they were modest-ish bushes. Well they are not. i dug out the plants + roots and replanted in what I arrogantly took to be a better location. Well no! The replanted plants are struggling and the dug out plants have regrown, in front of the terrace, looking for world domination, a familiar theme I think. They grow huge ‘vines/branches’, have lovely tiny flowers reminiscent of aubergine, their cousins, followed by mildew, leaf drop, leaf regrowth, and very few fruit.
Wow, that was tiring.
I have put chicken wire around them in an attempt to control their enthusiasm. They have had lots of coffee grounds and bicarbs recently administered. It’s only the beginning of April, they get seriously pruned, and they appear to have bushier growth than in previous years. We are communicating and happy comes to mind.
Blessings and smiles and joy and laughter to us all
M-H looking at the Vercors mountains in France

C St.John wrote:

Betty Garnett wrote:These were here in the garden when property was purchased.

Betty, what zone are you located in? Could be gall mites, but hard to tell from photo.

Zone 8a. I don’t see any bumps. It’s more like thinning the leaves, browning and curling them.  

Here is a close up. Looks like a miner of some sort.

Betty Garnett wrote:

C St.John wrote:

Betty Garnett wrote:These were here in the garden when property was purchased.

Betty, what zone are you located in? Could be gall mites, but hard to tell from photo.

Zone 8a. I don’t see any bumps. It’s more like thinning the leaves, browning and curling them.  

Here is a close up. Looks like a miner of some sort.

Hi Betty,

It probably is a leaf miner damage. The UC Integreated Pest Management website has a plant diagnosis section. I couldn’t fine your exact issue because they don’t cover goji berries, but they do have a lot of good pictures and descriptions.

https://ipm.ucanr.edu/home-and-landscape/plant-problem-diagnostic-tool/results.cfm?plantTypeKeyList=2&plantNameKeyList=&plantPartKeyList=3&plantDamageTypeKeyList=32#

Betty,

I am in Zone 8a and I grow Goji Berries "I think" very successfully. I typically have way more than I can handle.

I am in Isle of Wight County Virginia and if you are in the area you are welcome to visit. I have no clue what it going on with yours. My understanding is they are virtually pest free and disease resistant. I do not do anything to fertilize or nurture them, not sure if treating them harshly may work better. I planted them against my fence, and the plants seem to be spreading out along it. I like the Gogi Berries raw, they taste like a cross between a tomato and a pepper and look like little Christmas ornaments. Well let me know if I can help somehow.

Thanks for the clearer photo. I would agree with Tina that this is leaf miner damage.

Perhaps your soil is a little too heavy or acidic - gojis prefer slightly alkaline soil and light loam, from what I have read.

We have two that were planted about 10 years ago,  moved once,  zone 5b, partial shade.   They are about 4 foot tall,  leaf nicely with no apparent pest issues, but have never fruited.  I would take them out,  but they have a small footprint and aren't hurting anybody.   😂

They look over-fertilized to me. Bugs love eating plants that have lots of nitrogen.

My internal idea about how the world works, goes something like this:

During the entire history of earth, lack of nitrogen has limited plant growth.

Therefore, plants didn't develop defenses to keep themselves from absorbing too much nitrogen.

Therefore, when plants get exposed to too much nitrogen, they absorb all that they possibly can.

The plants poison themselves with excess free amino acids.

They beg the ecosystem for help, so she provides insects to suck away the excess nitrogen.

Joseph Lofthouse wrote:They look over-fertilized to me. Bugs love eating plants that have lots of nitrogen.

My internal idea about how the world works, goes something like this:

During the entire history of earth, lack of nitrogen has limited plant growth.

Therefore, plants didn't develop defenses to keep themselves from absorbing too much nitrogen.

Therefore, when plants get exposed to too much nitrogen, they absorb all that they possibly can.

The plants poison themselves with excess free amino acids.

They beg the ecosystem for help, so she provides insects to suck away the excess nitrogen.

Hmm. Last season there was no fertilizer. They did same thing. So not sure.

did you ever figure out what this was?  my goji berry was very happy in its container, then i planted it because it started losing all of its leaves and getting rusty brown spots. there was a bad ant colony in the container so maybe they were farming aphids? if so, they are too small to see! i hope the plant comes back next year... i'll have to add some ash to its soil as ours is quite acidic.