Here is my “dwarf” after 4.5 months of growing
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Mine wasn’t that bushy when I got it from Walmart, but it hasn’t gotten any bigger. Its only about 2ft tall still, it is starting to bush though. Had it since November.
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Mine did almost nothing the first year or two this year it’s really thriving but still not much fruit. A handful maybe which the birds have all gotten
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I got a decent amount of fruit for its size (like 30 little guys). Probably used up alot of energy, but I’m fine with it being a little shrub. Its the southernmost tree in its row, so staying short will keep the sun shining through.
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Mine were like half that size. Like a pinky nail size at the most. It also has only fruited once and shows no sign of a second crop.
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Prune it, it will flush new fruit on every prune. I cut mine 3 times this year and each time got a new flush of fruit
Edit the first fruit were half this size also. But due to a spring cool wind storm many were damaged and only 1 got close to ripe so I tried it due to excitement
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Got 3 tiny 4in. tall ones of these from Esty in May. they’re pushing 6ft now in my crappy, rocky clay w/ just a mulching and little water. very fast growing. my i.e took 2 years to really start to push growth. grower says z4 hardy. everywhere else says 5. we’ll see.
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Those are tiny fruit … I would graft that over to gerardi… if gerardi works for your Zone.
Gerardi has good sized very tasty berries and they are quite abundant. Very easy to keep 8-10 ft with a little pruning.
Gerardi berries…
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I suspect mine has a nemotode issue. I saw an article from another Florida grower who was having issues with many cultivars not growing, and then they dug them up and they had nemotodes. DE was one of the ones they were having issues with (actually the one with the most issues, but it was a small scale test). My soil is extremely sandy and CFL is known for nemotode issues in general, so it probably isn’t the best rootstock in my area.
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Lowes is selling zone 6 figs on my zone 4… and that’s not even their worst. When it comes to plants they are beyond clueless, not to be trusted, and ideally not to be used as a source.
And they have a Master Gardener ™ on staff… At their request a few people from our fruit growers association with a ton of knowledge on what grows, what doesn’t, and what to experiment with, went to talk to them. Nothing changed.
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I have several varieties of good mulberry varieties but dealing with tall trees don’t fit into my plans. I will keep 2 Gerardi mulberries going forward.
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what a waste! they do the same here. don’t get me started. i watch them throw out beautiful 6ft. peaches/ pears rated for z6. idiots. whomever does the ordering of these trees should be fired for incompetence!
I will push back a lot on the “zone inappropriate sales” my yard is filled with zone inappropriate plants which I wish I could get for $30 from Lowe’s rather than order them from all over for sometimes top dollar and shipping. I do understand most people don’t know zones but I assume everyone here knows what their zone is. Wish I could pick up a soursop from my Lowe’s haha
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i may hit you up for some wood next spring when you prune. Geraldi is z5 im in z4b. might work as goumi does ok here.
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I agree!
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There is nothing dwarf about those. I’ve had them for a while now and one is like close to 20 foot tall. The fruit wasn’t that good to me and I just kind of let it go wild. If you want it to stay short start cutting it a lot while it’s short and get as many branches as possible. The branches don’t spread out, they just go straight up.
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Home Depot does the same thing. Our local store here in Grand Rapids , Mi. (Zone 6) is selling Crotons (landscape bushes) that are for zone 9-12.
Going to be a bunch of mad customers when the first frost hits.
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@steveb4 … I will be glad to send you some gerardi scionwood this winter. I normally collect first week in January. I made a note of this in my 2024/2025 trade book.
Thanks
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thank you. if you would like to try Amethyst purple raspberry, i could send you some cuttings to root in Nov. as trade. krismorah and other nurseries give it high praise for flavor and productivity.
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