DallasFigShop
Well-known member
I bought Worlds Best and Jan's Best a couple of years back. Both croaked following late frosts last year and the year before... they tried to hold on but didn't...I had a berry or two grow on each of the newly rooted starts ... and so I managed to save some seeds after a taste... Worlds best did seem to do okay in a pot but I didn't have second year fruits at all on JB... it's possible that its croaked the year before but I recall them tasting like the one I think is Black Pakistan or a relative, with the less acidic'Grape Jelly' flavor
I was not impressed with Worlds best they are more of a tart berry but they do sweeten, though only a short window before they look wrinkly ... and when they first turn black they are still really tart. With many berries in a tree it's hard to tell what is sweet unless you wait for them to look wrinkly...
Not to knock it completley it has its place.. a very healthy berry and higher production than all the others I've known... and from the first year berries I have managed to raise three seedlings, which are now past the three year mark.
While Mulberries can take up to 7 years to sex, according to the "GrowingMulberries' site...these three have fruited just after second and third year and from cups that hold approximately one gallon... I recently potted these into 3 gallon pots after fruit formation...
Last year they handled the frost pattern outdoors, even in the cups! We had late frosts and freezes both years following days that get into the mid 80s and high 70s.. which made several of my varieties lost alot of wood or to croak...
This year I had them in a crate with fig starts and they overwintered under plastic in a hoophkuse near an oil heater during freezes... and so they woke up and fruited sooner. It wasn't to protect them as they already work well with the pattern here without help... it was for convenience
The first one was the only to fruit last year, at the two year mark... it made 3 berries lasr spring... that I was pleasantly surprised by!
The traits for Mulberries tend to be:, Sweet and grassy or
Sweet and not grassy or
more towards tart...
My selections have been either or... Valdosta and Oscar both being the sweet and not grassy type.. also some from Dwarf Everbearing and the other dwarf makes decent less grassy berries ...
Last year the first of the seedlings made only three berries... I caught up to two of them before birds... I saw one darkening yesterday and a bird beat me to it and maybe another but I have 38 left and so I hid the tree from birds under plastic again.. so that i can taste most of them
To my surprise last year this first one turned out to be an in-between on flavor ... it was sweet... and tart... non-grassy... but not so tart that they weren't likeable... and so they were... " sweet-tart " ... I can't wait to taste more!
Should be any day now...
They are larger this year than they were last year and productive ... close to 40 berries, swoosh... strong signals!
The second girl made two or three berries this year
I expect that they will get larger and more productive next year as the other did and peobably more now that they have more space for their roots
But that's not all... from nature i got a bonus... this third one made mostly male flowers.. but also three of these
One of those white berries with reddish purple hints...
I've seen it insinuated by someone who has bred Mulberries that seedlings will sometimes make a few of the opposite sex in their first year or so and then go on to express their trait... but possibly I have a Hermie...there is one popular strain that makes a few male flowers on younger starts according to posts. I have another dearf male that made a few female berries the first year i had it and now only male flowers
But hopefully this one turns put to be a male with nice traits, to pass on productivity and smaller sized trees... nice looking berriew and fingers crossed for excellent taste... im already liking the way the berries appear, a littler fatter drupes than most... Juicy
and judging by the way the other did the berries should be at least twice the size next year...
My main girl already making nicer sized berries than what Dwarf Everbearing is making on a large sized tree... and so far these are thin branches so im guessing once it can support more nutrient travel they will be able to express at a much larger size... hopes are high!
I encourage anyone who grows out seedlings out to experiment with Worlds Best, aka Thai Dwarf...even though it's considered a lousy berry.... It is also ultra productive and the seedlings come into fruting very quickly...and this is rewarding.. they can be kept warm to wake them up early so as to cross with selected males before large males wake and pollinate everything and everybody...
............
Good result so far! One of my own seedlings is possibly a keeper...and perhaps with a name soon? I'm thinking Williams Sweet-Tart... but I need to see how these compare when they ripen soon...
update coming any day now
I was not impressed with Worlds best they are more of a tart berry but they do sweeten, though only a short window before they look wrinkly ... and when they first turn black they are still really tart. With many berries in a tree it's hard to tell what is sweet unless you wait for them to look wrinkly...
Not to knock it completley it has its place.. a very healthy berry and higher production than all the others I've known... and from the first year berries I have managed to raise three seedlings, which are now past the three year mark.
While Mulberries can take up to 7 years to sex, according to the "GrowingMulberries' site...these three have fruited just after second and third year and from cups that hold approximately one gallon... I recently potted these into 3 gallon pots after fruit formation...
Last year they handled the frost pattern outdoors, even in the cups! We had late frosts and freezes both years following days that get into the mid 80s and high 70s.. which made several of my varieties lost alot of wood or to croak...
This year I had them in a crate with fig starts and they overwintered under plastic in a hoophkuse near an oil heater during freezes... and so they woke up and fruited sooner. It wasn't to protect them as they already work well with the pattern here without help... it was for convenience
The first one was the only to fruit last year, at the two year mark... it made 3 berries lasr spring... that I was pleasantly surprised by!
The traits for Mulberries tend to be:, Sweet and grassy or
Sweet and not grassy or
more towards tart...
My selections have been either or... Valdosta and Oscar both being the sweet and not grassy type.. also some from Dwarf Everbearing and the other dwarf makes decent less grassy berries ...
Last year the first of the seedlings made only three berries... I caught up to two of them before birds... I saw one darkening yesterday and a bird beat me to it and maybe another but I have 38 left and so I hid the tree from birds under plastic again.. so that i can taste most of them
To my surprise last year this first one turned out to be an in-between on flavor ... it was sweet... and tart... non-grassy... but not so tart that they weren't likeable... and so they were... " sweet-tart " ... I can't wait to taste more!
Should be any day now...
They are larger this year than they were last year and productive ... close to 40 berries, swoosh... strong signals!
The second girl made two or three berries this year
I expect that they will get larger and more productive next year as the other did and peobably more now that they have more space for their roots
But that's not all... from nature i got a bonus... this third one made mostly male flowers.. but also three of these
One of those white berries with reddish purple hints...
I've seen it insinuated by someone who has bred Mulberries that seedlings will sometimes make a few of the opposite sex in their first year or so and then go on to express their trait... but possibly I have a Hermie...there is one popular strain that makes a few male flowers on younger starts according to posts. I have another dearf male that made a few female berries the first year i had it and now only male flowers
But hopefully this one turns put to be a male with nice traits, to pass on productivity and smaller sized trees... nice looking berriew and fingers crossed for excellent taste... im already liking the way the berries appear, a littler fatter drupes than most... Juicy
and judging by the way the other did the berries should be at least twice the size next year...
My main girl already making nicer sized berries than what Dwarf Everbearing is making on a large sized tree... and so far these are thin branches so im guessing once it can support more nutrient travel they will be able to express at a much larger size... hopes are high!
I encourage anyone who grows out seedlings out to experiment with Worlds Best, aka Thai Dwarf...even though it's considered a lousy berry.... It is also ultra productive and the seedlings come into fruting very quickly...and this is rewarding.. they can be kept warm to wake them up early so as to cross with selected males before large males wake and pollinate everything and everybody...
............
Good result so far! One of my own seedlings is possibly a keeper...and perhaps with a name soon? I'm thinking Williams Sweet-Tart... but I need to see how these compare when they ripen soon...
update coming any day now
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