Sounds to me like the easiest way to tell Morus alba from other varieties is the unusually short berries, I wonder if any other mulberry tree has such short berries.
I am not sure how accurate this is yet this states that Black Mulberry (Morus nigra?) starts ripening later than other varieties When Do Mulberries Get Ripe? | Home Guides | SF Gate
That is correct, excluding the everbearing varieties
My first sighting in Miami, Florida zone 10B. These are my own actually:wink:
These I got a year and a half ago. They are about 5’ tall. No pesticides. Notice the dark brown/black buds, hence their designation as “black mulberry”, of course not for their black fruit, because as discussed before, white mulberries can have black fruit. The leaves are thick and velvety, very fig-like, and not glossy like the other kinds of mulberry. These haven’t fruited yet. I have to be patient. They are grafted on what I think is M. alba rootstock.
They look very healthy! Hasn’t Miami been experiencing the daily rain, like the northern part of the state? What have you been doing for them? Last summer was just as rainy as this year and by July my nigra was totally inundated by fungal leaf spot and dropped all its leaves. That is when I initiated a fungal spray program and it regrew its leaves. This year I kept it sprayed whenever the temperature and humidity were high (basically since mid May) and it hasn’t lost a leaf. My hope is that it will acclimate to conditions here and one day I will be able to drop, or at least reduce the spray program. Just wishful thinking perhaps, but I have seen fig trees struggle when young, but when fully mature seem indestructible.
It’s been raining consistently in a typical summer pattern. At one point, there were mealybugs, but these guys kept going with no pesticides. I mulch freely, and I use an organic fertilizer sparingly. The first few years will no doubt be arduous, but like you said, once they gain some girth and a few years under their belts, I think they’ll be fine, I hope…
first time i have seen coconut palms in the company of morus nigra’s.
ferns and opuntia’s make a striking cocktail as well !
have a bad case of wandering eyes, my wife always says 
also tend to rubber-neck when driving and chance upon an ‘out-of-zone’ tree on someone’s yard.
Speaking of…I know where a huge eucalyptus tree is … in Mint Hill (Charlotte) NC.
I live very close to Norfolk and am curious to see if I can grow them here. What problems do Morus Nigra face in East Coast climates?
Anything above zone 7 is good for Morus nigra (Especially if given a little protection on the coldest winter nights). The main problem is their susceptibility to disease pathogens in their first few years (Typically severe leaf-spot fungi). Just in speculation, I believe the establishment of specific root mycorrhiza fungi is of extreme importance to the disease tolerance of Morus nigra in humid east-coast climates (There is actually a research paper on this topic concerning mulberries). My “Persian” Morus nigra suffered greatly in its first couple years and required many fungicide sprays (especially after a heavy rain) just to keep it somewhat healthy. I wound up resorting to Captan because more environmentally friendly sprays just didn’t “cut the mustard”. Now, it is as healthy as any mulberry that I have, and I haven’t sprayed in five years. I also believe that Morus nigra benefits greatly from a good layer of mulch (I use bags of leaves that are free to the taking). Immature nigra plants seem to struggle more than if a larger plant was purchased… So, I recommend you purchase as large a plant as you can afford. “Bare-rooted” would be my first pick, since it is more likely to already have beneficial mycorrhiza fungi on its roots than a potted plant.
Wow beautiful tree, thanks for all the information! What state are you located in? I’m trying to figure out what mulberry I want to plant. I like very sweet fruits but I also like sweet tart as long as it’s more sweet than tart. Do you have any suggestions?
Sorry…I forgot to mention that I live in Gainesville, Florida.
Morus nigra cultivars have a very intense flavor of very sweet and tart. The downsides of Morus nigra are that it takes so long to get a good-sized crop (This year was the first prolific year for my seven-year-old tree). Also, the fruit does not pick easily because they are often firmly attached to the stems, and they “smash” when you try to pick them. Lastly, over-ripe fruit can stay on the tree, and it has a very disagreable taste if eaten by mistake.
Estero Giant or Tice are my favorite for taste when I want to gorge on fresh mulberries. They are fairly large and quite sweet with just a hint of tartness. They break bud very early in the spring, so that can be a concern if your area sees two weeks or so of warm weather (above 75 degrees) before all the hard freezes are finished (Once they bud out they will take 30 for several hours).
Illinois Everbearing, Silk Hope, or Varaha (sold by Peaceful Heritage Nursery)) are also excellent choices, and have no problem with late freezes. Jan Cloud Doolin (You can find her through her many YouTube videos or on FigBid) is trying to get propagations going of a unknown find that she claimed is the sweetest and best flavored mulberry she has ever tasted (She has over fifty different varieties)… But it may be a few years before she has plants available. I may be overlooking some prime candidates, so you might want to ask her opinion (I don’t think she is a GrowingFruit forum member).
I’m sure late freezes will be most of my issues with mulberries, thank you for the suggestions! I’m going to look into silk hope.
My Nigra has substantial leaf spot problems in the fall here, and will easily suffer frost damage in the winter. I had it too close to the garage door one year and it lost some growth while in the garage, although it’s neither specifically insulated nor heated.
Yes, young mulberries are challenging to keep healthy. That is why I tell people to purchase the largest plant they can afford. All young mulberry plants are not very cold tolerant, and Morus nigra is no exception. I also believe it is better to purchase a “field grown” nigra, because you are insured that it has some beneficial mycorrhizal fungi attached (even if it is bare-rooted). Potted nigra plants may be lacking in these arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal species. I have airlayered my Morus nigra and potted it in commercial potting soil and it eventually died, even though it had a good root system. I now am comparing the survivability of airlayered nigras with, and without, some soil taken around the mother plant. I will update everyone on the results.
I’m in Zone 6b Kentucky. I bought a mulberry labeled as “Black Mulberry” morus nigra. I’m not sure why it was sold here if true though. The company I believe also sells “Everbearing Mulberry” which they also list as a black mulberry . Does this look like a morus nigra?
It doesn’t look like a Morus nigra to me, even though it may produce black mulberries. The leaves look too large, thin and glossy. Nigra leaves are more like fig leaves, thicker, not glossy and slightly fuzzy. A closeup on the buds would be helpful
Can You provide a link to this research. I lost allmost all nigra seedlings and searching for solution.
