Are these mulberries?

I thought I had mulberries, I still kinda do. But some are growing these hard seeds on the outside of the berry. When the seeds fall off, there’s a normal looking berry under them. I can’t find anything about mulberries mentioning or showing these. Is this normal for mulberries or is the tree something else?

1 Like

I’ve never seen this before …

1 Like

Weird, huh? Here’s one with the seeds fallen and a few normal ones

1 Like

Are they full seeds or husks?

I think I figured out it’s popcorn disease :frowning: they’re hard like seeds

3 Likes

Popcorn disease it is.

3 Likes

I bought copper sulfate and lime today. The combination is supposed to help. It didn’t say whether it was to be added to the base or the leafs. I did both and I’m removing all the infected berries I see. I’m thinking of topping it now and leaving only branches I can be sure are not carrying infected berries. I don’t mind missing 1 years’ yield for overall health. The tree is only 4 years old.

Two 25-yr old Illinois Everbearing trees here, first mulberries we planted. Both get Popcorn disease, but one more severely than the other… they’re planted 25 ft from one another and the most severely-affected tree was budded from the original one we bought.
I find that the early crop seems to be most heavily-infected, but later waves of fruiting are mostly unbothered. I don’t have time or inclination to spray… there’s still enough for our use and to supply all the birds will eat… and there are other selections that I’ve planted through the years… some comparable, some a bit lesser than IE.

3 Likes

Thanks! I did go through and picked all the infected fruit I could see/ reach right after I found out what it was. Then I got mostly good berries. I thought the picking had made a difference but maybe that’s just how it goes naturally.

We got the first tree seemingly out of nowhere. It grew on its own between a pine and an elm. I thought it was a weed and tried to pull it, but it was already two big so I just cut it at the base but it kept growing and getting stronger. So eventually I gave up and let it grow. Now it’s a beauty and full of berries.

We live next to a wooded area and recently noticed older mulberries in the walking trails. That’s where it must have come from. Since then we’ve noticed two more young ones in our yard. We’ll let them grow. We’ve also planted a peach last year that have me 4 preaches this year and a mandarin orange we planned recently and are struggling to keep alive.

2 Likes

1 Like