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Post by macmex on Jun 3, 2017 5:51:01 GMT -6
A couple of years ago we planted an Illinois Everbearing Mulberry Tree. It has grown very rapidly. This year, it is producing a LOT of really large, delicious fruit! It's a pleasure to go stand under that tree and eat the berries!
I'd like to know if anyone here has experience propagating mulberries. The trees are either male or female. Hence, not all trees bear fruit, and they do not come true to seed. I'd like to propagate my tree. The berries are easily three to four times the size of our local mulberries.
I believe mulberries have a good deal of potential for our area and for those who want to produce more of their own food. First of all, mulberries love our climate! A lot of the fruit trees I've tried are struggling to tolerate our climate. Secondly, they are basically pest free, requiring almost not attention. Thirdly, the berries are delicious and usable for preserves, pies and eating out of hand. Finally, a mulberry tree provides both nectar for bees and dropped fruit to feed free range poultry.
Anyone else have observations on mulberries?
George
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Post by john on Jun 21, 2017 4:52:00 GMT -6
George when I was a kid my aunt had a mulberry tree that littered the yard with delicious fruit in the summer. I loved the fruit and was surprised that more people don't grow them to eat. What I have learned is that mulberries vary greatly in sweetness from tree to tree. So if you have a good one you are wise to propagate it assexually. (from cuttings) I pulled out my propagation manual and it looks like they don't root well from hardwood cuttings. So, rthey need to be done in season after the wood hardens a little. I built a propagation system (that uses intermittent mist) and it is super addictive to be able to grow roots on just about anything you can imagine. (So I warn you about building one for yourself. LOL) You might be able to root some in the shade, and hand mist periodically through out the day. There are lots of simple low tech ways you could try, I would do a google search.
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Post by macmex on Jun 22, 2017 5:23:30 GMT -6
I bet it would be addictive! You wouldn't happen to be able to point me to an instructional on building one of these? I am experimenting, using a salad container from the supermarket, peat moss and rootone. I set them on my sun porch, which at this time of year, receives no direct sunlight, yet is fairly bright. The lid on the box is sealed shut and has no holes. I open it about once a day. Do you think I should still mist it?
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Post by john on Jun 25, 2017 18:11:27 GMT -6
Hi George I like this guys videos. He is very smart and he just started posting these this year. The cuttings don't need to be re-misted if they are staying (turgid) nice and straight without a lot of wilting.
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Post by john on Jun 25, 2017 18:22:57 GMT -6
I like this guy too. He is very smart and generous with info. Years ago this information was tightly held because propagators don't like to give up their secrets. (it's job security) The internet has changed everything!
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Post by john on Jun 25, 2017 18:23:25 GMT -6
Oops I forgot to post the link.
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Post by macmex on Jun 29, 2017 11:48:39 GMT -6
John, thanks! Those are wonderful videos! I used milled peat in my little box. I think I'll leave it as is and do another with the dishpan, etc. This is an exciting area to learn about!
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Aug 24, 2017 10:11:57 GMT -6
Thanks, George, for posting this and getting such a good conversation going about propagating cuttings from fruit trees. I've always enjoyed mulberries. There were a lot of mulberry trees around when I was growing up but most of them were male trees. It's hard to find a female. Dad had 210 acres and there was always one tree that had great fruit but it was so far from the house that some years I'd miss the fruit ripening. I loved that tree. It was short enough that I could pick the fruit from the back of the tractor or from horse back or from the back of a pickup truck.
The only mulberry trees I have here that produce fruit, are so tall that I have to have an 8-foot ladder in the back of a truck to reach the fruit.
This year, for Father's Day I put in a request for a dwarf mulberry tree. My Wife and kids bought me one that is only about 2 feet tall right now. I'll have to wait several years to know if it's male or female. If it bears fruit it's supposed to be low enough that you can pick it from the ground with out a ladder. That would be great!
Mulberry trees are very resilient and do love our growing conditions in Green Country. I have one that I cut down several years ago. It comes back from the root every year. The deer browse it heavily and it is a 'go to' spot to harvest Weiner sticks near our campground. They are good trees for our climate and also have medicinal value.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Aug 24, 2017 10:29:49 GMT -6
Thanks, John for posting the videos. You've inspired me to try this technique with some blueberry cuttings. I've got a variety that loves our climate and ripens in July. I picked them for several weeks this year and want to share some cuttings with George if I can get them to take root.
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Post by hmoosek on Mar 2, 2018 23:59:35 GMT -6
I grew up eating them. I probably ate my share of bird poop right along with the Mulberries too. LAUGHING
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Post by macmex on Mar 3, 2018 21:05:41 GMT -6
Well, those cuttings didn't take: not one. Today, I noticed that the tree is getting ready to bud. I had a brainstorm. I dug about 10' from the base of the tree and found a couple of roots, slightly smaller than a pencil in diameter. I then cut a couple of twigs from the tree and grafted them onto their own roots. Then, I dug up a wild mulberry tree, which I had planted over by our chicken coop a couple of years ago. That tree has remained stunted and never grown. But that's because of where I planted it. A couple times a summer the goats get into the yard and MOW it! So, I dug that tree, cut it and tried grafting an Illinois Everbearing Mulberry twig into it. Then, I moved it away from the pasture gate and planted it. We'll see!
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Mar 11, 2018 18:09:36 GMT -6
My Wife and kids bought me a dwarf mulberry tree for Father's Day last year. I planted it right away. I'm anxious to see what it does this season. Last year, it never grew more than a couple feet tall. I think it was a dog whiz magnet. Every time the neighbor's dogs would walk by they would water it for me. They just about killed it. Maybe, this Winter they'll get out of the habit and leave it alone?
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Apr 16, 2018 10:39:03 GMT -6
I saw George's Mulberry grafts yesterday. They looked very promising. That was a good experiment, George. Keep up the good work.
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Post by zeedman on Apr 30, 2018 21:06:08 GMT -6
I love mulberries, plenty of them growing in my area... some wild. As a kid, I knew the location of every mulberry tree within blocks, and had the stained fingers to prove it. Funny thing here, most people who have fruiting mulberries, let the fruit go to waste; so if you want to pick some, usually all you need to do is ask. The trees up here have very small berries, though, nothing like those further South. When I visited the BIL in Kansas, their tree had berries as wide as my pinky finger, and about half as long. Unfortunately, the large-fruited cultivars are not winter hardy here. There is a large male mulberry tree on a corner of my property, it probably pollinates all of my neighbors' trees. Between the fact that it gets no fruit, and has aggressive roots that stretch everywhere (including under the vegetable garden), I plan on taking it down this year. My daughter has a tree large enough to keep me supplied with berries, glad to see the grandson enjoying them too... although mama is none too happy about the inevitable stains.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on May 9, 2018 19:22:45 GMT -6
Nearly all my wild mulberries have died in the past two years, must be some kind of disease going around, they all had a while mildew growing on their bark when they died.
Yesterday, I let my youngest Son mow the yard with my 27 hp, Z445 mower. When I went out to the yard this morning, the dwarf mulberry I planted last year was no longer there.
Oh well, I didn't really like that location anyhow. Next time I'll have to mark my seedlings with a tee post.
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