Illinois Everbearing Mulberry

[mamuang]

Thanks. Probably will consider tge dwarf one instead, Geraldi or something like that.

[pileta]

@Chills

My Kokuso is about 6 or so years old and is under 20 feet tall. There are easily dozens of growing fruit on every branch. (IE’s branches have less than 1/4th of the developing fruit on it at this point)

Is Kokuso ripen over an extended period like IE?

[Drew51]

@Chills

Drew, I can let you know when my Kokuso is ripe and let you try some if you’d like.

I have it, and it is fruiting.

[jessica4b]

It does look like a full time job pruning and training all of that… The good thing is: mulberry leaves are edible ! Haha! So eat what you trim… or make nice tea out of it.

[cis4elk]

Can anyone comment on mulberries and SWD? Seems like the type of fruit the little beasterds would love. I’m trying to manage my berries over to summer bearing and sort of limit the berry availability during late summer/fall in an attempt to keep the SWD numbers down for when the black berries come in. Then hopefully I can get back to having some black berries again that aren’t just little maggot bags.

[zendog]

For my Gerardi, the fruit is quite early and well before any SWD issues. Now birds, they love them. And as someone else mentioned the dear love the leaves. This year the birds seemed distracted by the wild mulb at the back of my property, so I got a couple handfuls which were very good. If netted and protected successfully, I’d expect I might get 3 quarts from my 7 foot tall tree/bush.

I posted a picture over in the berry thread when they were ripening:

Berry plant and harvest report 2019

Gerardi mulberries are delicious as always. Not really enough ripe at once to do much with, but a good snack fresh or on some vanilla ice cream. I can’t believe the birds haven’t gotten these! [IMG_20190601_090033891] Time to get picking some prelude raspberries. [IMG_20190601_090041665] I have a few flowers on some Josephine floricanes and I’m really looking forward to trying those. I had a few primocane berries after planting last year and they were great.

[zazlev]

@Drew51 and @Chills how was your mulberry tree status through 2019? I have added Kokuso to IE and thinking about adding sweet lavender.

[Drew51]

I had some fruit. All of mine are grafted. What I wanted to do is see what works well for me and has a good taste. I will know more next year. Oscar has been growing the most vigorous. I was looking for that for one at my cottage. I put a rootstock in last year, and Oscar going to go on it. Growing conditions are terrible on the island and only the toughest plants make it. I don’t have IE as I lost my grafts. A tree branch fell and hit both grafts and ripped them off. Not sure how many I will keep? I need another year to decide.
I find the plants easy to grow, and the grafts take very well. I like working with something simple for once!

[moose71]

i tried a few illni grafts on my russian tree last spring. neither took. I’m not that good at grafting so it might be my error.

[Drew51]

Mine took, but that darn branch! Somehow hitting both too! Grafting is tricky at times. I’m not that good at it either.

[zazlev]

Mulberries are one of my easiest to grow and don’t bother to get hammered by disease (just deer). I may have to add one more to winners I have. Thinking of the sweet lavender. @Drew51 if you need some IE wood I can certainly send some your way.

[Drew51]

I would like to replace the grafts. I still have the rootstock. I have Sweet Lavender. I’m not that fond of the whites so far, but need more time. I will PM you later.

[Seattlefigs]

i have two IE one has more dieback its been two years since i had it. the other one is fine. it seems to have more prone to dieback than my other even smaller mulberry varieties.

[Chills]

My IE fruits heavily. I’m a bigger fan of the Kokuso fruit and it also fruits well.

Sweet Lavender died on me. Beautiful Day is a nice enough mulberry (there is a white nearby whose fruit are as good or better, though smaller in size). The lighter colored fruit seem to be much better dried (at least in my opinion).

@Drew51

I put in 3 rooted cuttings of WB last summer. (I have a couple more still potted up) and I’m hoping to see how they do next spring. Given the super mild winter I’ve had thus far, the in ground ones should be fine (and I covered them with a rose-cone back in November anyway).

Scott

[Robert]

@Chills Was sweet lavender and beautiful day worth buying? I am looking for a pure white and those two are the most common. Trying to figure out if they are worth the extra money over a plain old no name white. I do like the fact that they are actually white though.

[IL847]

If you want to try IE again. Let me know.i I can send you some scions

[moose71]

thank you Annie! i wanted to try again but didn’t want to impose.

[IL847]

Not a problem. I will let you know when I send it out. Don’t graft too early in the season. The taken rate seems increased when the tree has big size leaf.

[moose71]

thank you. thats good to know. i think i was grafting too early then. been doing it at bud break.

[Chills]

I think Sweet Lavender was a little better than Beautiful Day. I also think that a white in my best friend’s yard is just as good, though not as large.

I like them for drying. You must pick them carefully because unripe ones have a grassy flavor and over-ripe ones are just insipid or worse.

Scott