Anyone around zone 6B growing Jan’s Best mulberry?
This is a Jans Best mulberry I topped last year now I’m training 4 scaffolding branches. I’m going to put it in ground next year zone 6B. I was wondering if anyone around zone 6B is growing Jans Best mulberry?
I talked to Jan quite a bit… technically no it wont. Bryce claimed that world’s best would also… i think a few folks have proven that wrong. Jan has taken over most of the ‘tropical varieties’ as well as Bryce’s. Bryce did get a couple of years growth out of his trees at his parents house… I think they live in Delaware or somewhere of that sort…but it died one winter.
I said technically… which means that you maybe can. You might get lucky wrapping it in burlap and straw baling it… but i think the early wakeup of that cultivar will keep u from it.
If you really want to grow good mulberries here in WV its probably best to talk to Lucille at Whitmans Farm. She has some good ones and will get u going.
Let Jan handle the folks in the tropical and arid climates.
FYI… if u think u can bring it inside and do it that way… it breaks dormancy really early… like in Jan or Feb…so u get to watch it die or have to baby it for months…if u have an indoor or well heated greenhouse…maybe.
Thats the best advice i can give u. No harm in trying though.
@krismoriah
Thank you. Does Jan’s Best wake from dormancy the same time as Worlds Best?
Im looking for a mulberry variety that doesn’t get big an can handle winter in ground unprotected in zone 6b. I have a spot but only room for a dwarf. I have a Jans Best in a pot i was going to plant in ground but i dont want to take the chance of it dieing in ground during winter.
Is Gerardi the only small variety that can be grown in zone 6B in ground unprotected do you know of any others¿?
I dont remember.but im going to say similar. I had them in pots in a room that stayed around 50 degrees all winter and they broke dormancy in Feb for me then i moved them to another indoors spot and they got out of control and i got tired of babying them. So if u want to fool with them for 4 months then try to plant them in ground thats up to you.
Ross Raddi lives in a similar zone to you…and he gives some pretty good advice.
I’m in zone 9 pensacola Fl and pulled my World’s Best because it would not get sweet. Nice looking tree with large fruit and plenty of it but no sweetness. After 4 years of fruit production i pulled it. I hear Jans Best is a good grower, sweet, and heavily produces.
Black Prince is a very productive intense flavored berry fruiting later the most. It’s very sweet with some acidity. Highly frost tolerant, originally from Ukraine. The berries also have a better storage life than other mulberries. I planted multiple trees of this cultivar as I think it has a commercial potential for local fruit sales.
@krismoriah . That black prince does look good.
The dude from djngdongs garden reviewed it. Not a lot of details on the taste… he simply said taste great.
He reviews lots of mulberries… including kip parker… and lawson dawson.
He said kip parker has a very special taste… and he commented that lawson dawson was his favorite.
Bearing fruit later than other varieties… would sure be a plus.
Do you have any details on that… for example how black prince compares to gerardi, silk hope, oscar, etc… on when the fruit ripens ?
I am grafting kip parker and lawson dawson to russian mulberry rootstock from BRN this week.
If all 4 take… I may have a couple trees to trade.
I will just plant one of each.
Jan shows that one too… it does not always fruit for her in central FL… her loc only gets like 100 chill hours. When she has a colder than normal winter it fruits.
Sounds like it needs to be further north.
Nice long pretty berry… she describes as delicious… but ahe says that about most of them.
I wonder how it does in locations like mine… spring warm ups early March… followed a few weeks later with hard frost.
I have found worlds best to taste better after several days of hang time after the fruit darkens. Like maybe more than a week. It’s hard to tell because of the birds lol.
Before that, they are very bland, but they do take on a lot more flavor when they fall off with a small tug or light touch on the berry.