Hi Greg, welcome to the forum!
I’ve continued the discussion about my project in this thread:
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How would you rank your varieties for taste and productivity? or maybe your top 5?
Thanks
Scott,
How is your morus nigra doing in Zone 6? Any updates? and do you believe it truly is a nigra?
Thanks
I have noticed that Morus Alba Tatarica, also known as Russian Mulberry, is used as a rootstock in the nursery trade. It is described as tough and drought tolerant. I’m wondering how it compares particularly in terms of drought tolerance to other Morus Alba or Morus Alba x Rubra.
Anyone can chime on this question. @Mikatani and @Livinginawe perhaps you’ve looked at this before?
@SteadyStan
In plant taxonomy, “Russian Mulberry” is a common name for the species Morus alba. The mulberry “Tatarica” is a cultivar of Morus alba.
P.S.
When using latin binomials to name species, the first word (the Genus) is capitalized and what follows is always lowercase, e.g. Morus alba x rubra.
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Morus alba tatarica is described as a separate species, subspecies or variety depending on the authority that you consult. But actually it would be much more acurate to say that it is a phenotype of Morus alba. A species that has adapted to certain climatic conditions. Morus alba, as a species, has a very wide distribution range. Morus alba is present in tropical, subtropical , warm temperate, cool temperate, cool to almost subarctic areas. The species is still Morus alba but it has adapted to specific climatic conditions. Morus alba “tatarica” is still just Morus alba in every aspect but it is much more hardy and less vigorous than the phenotypes that grow in warmer climatic zones. However, one aspect remains the same: even the very hardy Morus alba tatarica is prone to spring frost damage because it starts to leaf out as soon as the temperature rises. In its natural growing range in Asia this is not so much of a problem because when spring arrives temperatures rise very quickly and there is no more frost as opposed to the greater part of central and northern Europe and a large part (especially coastal areas) of eastern united States where spring temperatures can rise and then plummet again. Morus rubra (and hybrids) are different in that respect because they leaf out much later than Morus alba and as such do not often suffer from spring frost.
Unfortunately this late budding aspect is of no use when used as a rootstock. It does not influence the variety grafted onto it: it does not delay budding of the grafted variety. I tried both Morus nigra and Illinois Everbearing (rubra x alba) as a rootstock to force Morus macroura (“pakistan”) to leaf out later but it made no difference at all…
About drought tolerance: tatarica is no more drought tolerant than any other Morus alba…
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Every species has some measure of drought tolerance in its native environment. For example, the native plants of Borneo can get by on 2 meters of annual rain instead of the usual 3.5.
A different question is whether a specimen will be water frugal in your environment.
I have a potted, verified morus nigra that I’ve had for years (12 or so) and it fruits well for me each year. By well I mean I get a couple dozen fruit.
The other one, the Okois Tree Crops nigra will go into the ground next spring, with my fingers crossed. Leaves seem to indicate it is a nigra, whether it proves hardy is anyone’s guess. I looked at it for years before buying it and I’m glad I did as Oikos closed last fall.
Ken Asmus seemed pretty sure of it being a nigra and claims it survives his zone 5 area.
Scott
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Thank you! This is very helpful.
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Sorry for the delay rubus. I moved to a new property so setting up a new hobby orchard. Just on the edge 6a.
Currently trialing around 40 varieties of mulberry here.
At the last property I had complete dieback with Grover’s Best, Miss Kim, Tehama, Maui, and Italian.
Will know more in a year 
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