Anyone growing Mulberry trees?

FamilyPhishFigs

FamilyPhishFigs

Well-known member
I have been thinking about trying my hand at mulberries. Anyone in here growing or have grown mulberries? Any favorite varieties or pointers for someone starting from cuttings? I was considering Persian Black, but am thinking I may want a dwarf variety like Gerardi Dwarf or Dwarf Everbearing for spacing purposes.
Any advice or pointers are appreciated.
 
Jan Doolin is where I learned all about mulberries. I got some cuttings from her last year.

www.youtube.com

Jan Doolin

I am a fruit tree addict. I have over 200 trees on an acre Florida zone 9B. I especially collect mulberries, figs and loquats. I have about 50+ varieties of mulberries. I love hunting for our old Florida Morus Rubra hybrid mulberry trees. They have natural root knot nematode resistance too. I...
www.youtube.com www.youtube.com
 
superdave336 said:
Jan Doolin is where I learned all about mulberries. I got some cuttings from her last year.

www.youtube.com

Jan Doolin

I am a fruit tree addict. I have over 200 trees on an acre Florida zone 9B. I especially collect mulberries, figs and loquats. I have about 50+ varieties of mulberries. I love hunting for our old Florida Morus Rubra hybrid mulberry trees. They have natural root knot nematode resistance too. I...
www.youtube.com www.youtube.com
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I’ll have to check her yt out.
What varieties did you pick up? How are they going and growing?
 
dont get me STARTED on this. i have 2 hybrid alba/rubus and someone from the south is sending me some suspected pure rubra scion to graft onto them (i thought mine were pure rubus and bought it as such) I like the fruit but not enough to grow it besides the wildlife value. id eat it if i end up with females.
 
I’ve found some growing wild on our land a couple weeks back. From Jan I purchased cuttings on Pakistan, Valdosta, Tice, Jan’s Best, Maple Leaf and Australian Green. All so far have rooted and survived other than AG. I will purchase again and graft those. I might dig up a wild tree from my work and try planting somewhere desirable. If it lives then that would be a good one to graft on.
 
Morus Nigra is best in taste, but it is usually very difficult to root(if possible). You need to graft it or buy a grafted tree. Black Persian is one of the Nigra. Black Persian tends to be more vigorous and easier to root among the Nigras. In general, the Nigras are slow growers(with the exception of Persian). I had grown Black Persian, Black Beauty and King James. I was told BB is shy in fruiting but I think it depends on the tree.

Having said that, M Nigra is not cold hardy(down to 9 I think and starts having problem in 8) and need to grow in pots in 7a. I remember it has fungus issue in wet areas but didn't experience it personally.

Gerardi is a slow, compact grower, best for small yard. It is very hardy so no need for protection.

Kokuso is another cold hardy, more carefree variety.

We have wild seedlings sprouted all over the place each year. I used them as rootstocks to graft other varieties on. Their roots are invasive so don't plant them too close to any structures.
 
Yeah, Gerardi needs to be grafted too. BTW, I know people spell it differently. Good that there is only one mulberry with similar spelling. :D

Some say Morus Nigra can be grown in 7 (not sure in pots or in ground). I grew it originally in 10b but I have grown it in pots in 6b/7a as well. I also tried Noir de Spain but didn't spend enough time with it.

Black Prince is another hardy one that is tasty. (Ukraine origin). Kokuso was from Korea. Shangri-La was from Florida but it is cold tolerant. I was told Shangri-la need to be fully ripen or it would be sour. It is too sweet for me when it is fully ripe.

DMOR9 is another big and tasty one but it is cold sensitive. It was almost completely killed last spring on cold snap in the teens.
 
Grew up surrounded by mulberry trees, so naturally I thought, “why not bring the chaos back?” 😅

This year I’ve got a first-year Pakistan, a Shangri-La, and a contorted mulberry.

The mealybugs have declared the Shangri-La their all-inclusive resort, so that’s going great.

Still need to test how winter-hardy these are. For now, they’re all staying in pots - no way I’m letting those roots go full coup d'etat on my yard.
 
vjmax said:
Grew up surrounded by mulberry trees, so naturally I thought, “why not bring the chaos back?” 😅

This year I’ve got a first-year Pakistan, a Shangri-La, and a contorted mulberry.

The mealybugs have declared the Shangri-La their all-inclusive resort, so that’s going great.

Still need to test how winter-hardy these are. For now, they’re all staying in pots - no way I’m letting those roots go full coup d'etat on my yard.
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My family has grown big Mulberry trees in the ground up here since I was young. The trees get massive. No protection. I have no idea what variety but they seem to have zero issue in Z6
 
I don't think Pakistan is cold hardy. I have seen it listed for 7 and 8b. And people had complained about its cold hardiness.

Both Shangri-la and Contorted are cold hardy up to 6 at least.
 
grasshopper said:
I don't think Pakistan is cold hardy. I have seen it listed for 7 and 8b. And people had complained about its cold hardiness.

Both Shangri-la and Contorted are cold hardy up to 6 at least.
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I have two Pakistan's, one gifted to me by somebody in this group, and one I forgot I had that has rooted through the pot and into the ground and is becomming big.....I'm in East TN, so it's been cold hardy for me. No fruit yet though.
 
Smokymist said:
I have two Pakistan's, one gifted to me by somebody in this group, and one I forgot I had that has rooted through the pot and into the ground and is becomming big.....I'm in East TN, so it's been cold hardy for me. No fruit yet though.
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That is good to know. Which zone are you in? How old are these trees? Did you do any protection? It sounds like at least they survived last winter. Do you remember how cold it was down to? Sorry for all the questions. I see conflicting info from 2 reputable sellers. Also, it is not clear if that meant it survives a top kill or it has minimal damage when one of them indicates zone 7.

I have a Himalayas DMOR9. Its fruit is slightly bigger than Pakistani (with similar taste) but it is only cold hardy to 9. I am growing it in z8 and it is fruiting fine even after a serious dieback in winter. But there is little doubt it can be killed easily if I don't intervene.
 
grasshopper said:
That is good to know. Which zone are you in? How old are these trees? Did you do any protection? It sounds like at least they survived last winter. Do you remember how cold it was down to? Sorry for all the questions. I see conflicting info from 2 reputable sellers. Also, it is not clear if that meant it survives a top kill or it has minimal damage when one of them indicates zone 7.

I have a Himalayas DMOR9. Its fruit is slightly bigger than Pakistani (with similar taste) but it is only cold hardy to 9. I am growing it in z8 and it is fruiting fine even after a serious dieback in winter. But there is little doubt it can be killed easily if I don't intervene.
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We are in zone 7b. As I forgot I had it, I can't tell you how old the bigger tree is, but probably 3-4 years old, and potted . I can't remember how cold it got last year either, but Tennessee is all over the place with temps. Like a high tomorrow of 70, and highs next week in the low 40's :(
 
Smokymist said:
We are in zone 7b. As I forgot I had it, I can't tell you how old the bigger tree is, but probably 3-4 years old, and potted . I can't remember how cold it got last year either, but Tennessee is all over the place with temps. Like a high tomorrow of 70, and highs next week in the low 40's :(
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Sounds like Oklahoma lol
 
Smokymist said:
We are in zone 7b. As I forgot I had it, I can't tell you how old the bigger tree is, but probably 3-4 years old, and potted . I can't remember how cold it got last year either, but Tennessee is all over the place with temps. Like a high tomorrow of 70, and highs next week in the low 40's :(
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Thanks for the reply. How big is the older tree? Do you prune it back each season? And how do you fertilize it?

I found mulberry need pruning to be productive.
 
grasshopper said:
Morus Nigra is best in taste, but it is usually very difficult to root(if possible). You need to graft it or buy a grafted tree. Black Persian is one of the Nigra. Black Persian tends to be more vigorous and easier to root among the Nigras. In general, the Nigras are slow growers(with the exception of Persian). I had grown Black Persian, Black Beauty and King James. I was told BB is shy in fruiting but I think it depends on the tree.

Having said that, M Nigra is not cold hardy(down to 9 I think and starts having problem in 8) and need to grow in pots in 7a. I remember it has fungus issue in wet areas but didn't experience it personally.

Gerardi is a slow, compact grower, best for small yard. It is very hardy so no need for protection.

Kokuso is another cold hardy, more carefree variety.

We have wild seedlings sprouted all over the place each year. I used them as rootstocks to graft other varieties on. Their roots are invasive so don't plant them too close to any structures.
Click to expand...
A fig friend of mine AIR-LAYERED a black Pakistani mulberry for me that had fruit on it when I got it: VERY yummy (and pretty big) indeed!
 
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