Dwarf Mulberries

[Chills]

I know where there is a warmer zone 6 nearby, Drew…lol

Let me know how it goes for you. I’ve been watching your posts on this particular plant carefully…

Scott

[Drew51]

This year it grew well. I have a 2nd plant, but it didn’t grow at all, just sat there at 2 inches high. It is now going on 3rd leaf and it is 2 inches high! Very strange! Well i was not around much. Probably was stressed all summer. My other plant is over 2 feet tall. Slow growth compared to alba seedlings. I can spare a cutting for you. I plan to cut the central leader back and it’s about 8 inches, I think I can get 2 cuttings from that? Short but should each have three nodes. I only need one.

[pileta]

I only need one.

I wish You good luck! Only keep in mind that dozens of enthusiasts failed with propagating this mulberry in Vratza (grafting or budding onto morus alba). So better make several attempts.

[Drew51]

So better make several attempts.

Yeah, OK, well what I will also do is make an air layer,see if that works? Then plant it on it’s own roots. Air layers can work with about anything, even peach trees if you follow some specific methods for attracting hormones to the area.

[carot]

Airlayering is the next method I will try next year. I had a hard time this year to propagate morus nigra by grafting/budding onto morus alba rootstock. Budding didn’t work at all. Grafting did with low success rates. For me the “best” results came from veneer grafting in summer. I hardly managed to get one graft going of each tree I brought scions. And I had plenty of wood to work with I can tell you.

Fingers crossed you get better results. My advice would be, to not risk the health of your mother plant by taking too much wood from it. Better play it safe, since your seedlings might have very special genes to it. Pileta generously provided me with seeds of the mother tree too. But I wasn’t able to keep the seedlings alive.

[Drew51]

My advice would be, to not risk the health of your mother plant

I agree, it is now in a garage that never goes below 25F, it was overwintered there last year and did well. With my fig and pomegranate trees. The smaller one is alive, just will not grow? Anyway the main mother plant has wood I want to remove anyway as I don’t want a central leader tree to keep height lower.
On the rootstock I developed two main leaders. One is for nigra, and the other is for Oscar, which I like best so far of the alba’s that are hardy here. I have no plans to try again. The tree will be Oscar. I may put another alba in the place of nigra if it fails.

Air layer should work. Works well on figs which is in the same family as mulberries.
I’m not a huge fan of grafting, but it has it’s place. I would rather have stuff on it’s own roots. Even stone fruit trees.

I consulted Lee Reich’s “The Pruning Book” and he states mulberries have a very high tolerance to pruning. So a small job is no big deal. I take that to mean you can cut more than the standard 1/3 off and be fine. I’m not coming close to that.

[Drew51]

Only keep in mind that dozens of enthusiasts failed with propagating this mulberry in Vratza (grafting or budding onto morus alba). So better make several attempts.

I wanted to revisit this. I talked to a lot of growers in the last few days and it should graft on alba.

Fingers crossed you get better results.

Last year I had some 1 and 2 year grafts fail because the trees were aborting a lot of branches and some young grafts fell victim. Man was I pissed I lost about 10 cultivars.
Conditions here were terrible last year. So hopefully better this spring.

@jujubemulberry

Hey can you suggest any pointers for success? Time of year etc.

[Chills]

Ive pollarded my Illinois Everbearing mulberry. It sulked and didnt fruit well the next year, but it boinced right back.

The thickest limbs i pruned were 2-3 inches in diameter ( or maybe a little bigger)

Scott

[jujubemulberry]

can you suggest any pointers for success? Time of year etc.

i probably don’t do anything different where am at. Here in vegas, we typically graft when the rootstock shows signs of leafing out. And can’t really say am an expert since it is probably easier to graft mulberries here than in colder regions where late-frosts can damage branches(which already leafed out.) I could surmise grafting later in spring or early summer would increase chances of success in areas prone to cold nights/late frosts . Anyway, here, bark-grafting seems to have the highest rates of success with use of short budwood(two nodes at the most). We use paraffin as first layer, since it is more tacky, then cling plastic wrap for stability and to minimize sap bleed

[pileta]

Only keep in mind that dozens of enthusiasts failed with propagating this mulberry in Vratza (grafting or budding onto morus alba). So better make several attempts.

I wanted to revisit this. I talked to a lot of growers in the last few days and it should graft on alba.

I know in Turkey they graft nigra mainly over alba. Probably also In the USA (you must know better than me). I only say, that THIS nigra is very very difficult to propagate. I only know for two success graftings, and they failed the next year. I make many bark grafts, buddings, chip buddings and one root graft without success. On the other hand grafting IE this year was without problems.
I think grafting over another nigra will be more successful.

[Drew51]

I think grafting over another nigra will be more successful.

They are slow to grow compared to alba. I notice grafts on alba heal fast. I would think it would not work either. I will find a way to propagate this tree, it may take some time, but I will.

[danzeb]

Ive pollarded my Illinois Everbearing mulberry. It sulked and didnt fruit well the next year, but it boinced right back

I’ve pollarded my Illinois Everberring the last few years and it has grown 8 ft and fruited each time. Maybe difference in local temperatures or other growing conditions such as my sandy soil. Mine is extremely vigorous. I prune late winter and twice in the summer.