MULBERRIES what are you growing?!

No I rooted it in a 1 gallon with all the sticks and separated them but when I separated them I stuck this one right in the ground. It’s at least triple the size of the other two

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Well, now that I have committed myself to learning to graft, and have even spent a little bit of money on grafting tools (spending money, however little it may be, takes it from just a dream to becoming a reality), I noticed myself looking at everything while mowing today. I was specifically looking to see if I could find any wild mulberries at the edges of the woods.
I did find what I believe to be a mulberry while mowing inside the chicken yard (no chickens at present) growing up through the chicken yard fence. It is about 7 feet tall and has a rough upper surface of the leaves. Not glossy at all. I will need to cut a piece and compare to my dwarf everbearing mulberry and also get out my field guide to trees. Leaves are alternate on stem. I am not sure if there are other trees here that look very similar to mulberries. If it is a mulberry, I might try to root some cuttings to eventually graft to and also to see what the fruit is like. This particular tree is fairly heavily shaded by the forest canopy growing right behind the chicken yard.
I also spotted a couple of callery pears coming up in my little wildflower meadows which I mow down every fall after all seeds have matured. Normally I grumble about all those crazy pears popping up everywhere, but now I see rootstock to graft some good pears onto. Funny how one’s perspective can change overnight!
Brambleberry Farm, a nice little permaculture/edible landscaping nursery outside of Paoli Indiana about 20 minutes from me, has some grafted Girardi mulberries for sale in pots right now, so I think I will pick up one for fall planting. Plus, Darren, one of the owners, is very knowledgeable and interesting to talk to and will let you sample anything that is ripe when you walk through. It seems they have mature specimens of most things they sell all around the place. And a peacock and a tubby dog who patrol the grounds for extra ambiance. :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

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You could also just take a photo and post it here, I’m sure you’d get an accurate ID right away.

I will try to do that. Have not posted any pictures here yet. Thanks!

@Jujumama … keep your eyes out for persimmon seedlings (or root shoots)… they pop up and grow in my fields like crazy…

I have grafted 9 different americans and hybrids to them.

I also have callery all around my fields… i have transplanted two into my orchard and have kieffer, bell and improved kieffer grafted to them.

I have one callery along our driveway that gets nice sun… i grafted orient scion to it a couple years ago and it has grown into a very nice little pear tree.

I transplanted one of my wild persimmons to my daughters placeback in January… and grafted Kasandra hybrid persimmon to it in April. It is doing very well.

She had a wild callery in her front yard… and this spring I grafted it over to improved kieffer.

Right now at my daughter (and grand daughters place)… i have provided them thru grafting… or rooting… a chicago hardy fig… kasandra persimmon, improved kieffer pear and a kip parker mulberry.

A good start for their homestead.

PS… here are what wild american persimmons look like. Very easy to graft to.

Below are a couple I selected this spring, mulched them protected them from mowing… i let them grow one full season then graft them the next spring.


I kept the side branching pruned off of these to force them to grow taller. I like to have my graft at between 36 and 48 inches high.

TNHunter

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Yes, I do have lots of those wild persimmon coming up in my field. I will select a few to graft to in spring and protect the graft and trees from deer and mowing. I think I will try the graft at 48” so as to get the branching area above deer browse range sooner. Glad to hear persimmons are pretty easy to graft. I am looking forward to it.
I do see those callery pear everywhere and plan to graft to a couple out in my wildflower meadow. One will definitely be a Kieffer or Improved Kieffer, even though some feel it is not the best tasting pear. I like the idea of a workhorse pear that puts food on the table and fills dehydrators and canning jars even when other things may not do so well that year. I make cinnamon pear sauce and like it just as much as applesauce. And I find that when you dehydrate fruits the sweetness and flavor is concentrated. Times may be coming in this country where we will be glad for a bounty of any pear at all. I will also graft a couple of other pears that are thought to be better tasting, maybe Drippin Honey Asian pear and Harrow Sweet. Not sure yet.
Anyway, thanks for the information and pictures.
Sandra

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Deer can knock over any fencing cages without sturdy posts. Cattle gate fencing might be strong enough without posts. I’ve not tried that. Never underestimate what a deer can do.

You can’t negotiate with terrorists. I have an alba with eleven varieties grafted so far. Mulberries seem to be more forgiving than everything else I’ve tried to graft. Good luck.

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Well said PaulMtree. You certainly can’t negotiate with those winged terrorists, as I found out.
And thanks for the well wishes and encouragement on grafting. I can hardly wait to try, :blush:.
Sandra

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Still producing fruit into September. Behaving like
an everbearing.

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And you didn’t do any summer pruning to induce a dormancy so it would continue to fruit?

There is a guy in the Philippines who has a crop of IE every 45 days doing that; it doesn’t freeze there so he induces dormancy but cutting “every branch by 50%” and he strips the leaves also, I think

A guy in Canada has something called Snow White, an everbearing white alba

I would love to try that here

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I didn’t use summer pruning to induce fruit set. All fruit was set in early spring. Ripening window for this variety has been mid June till now. I assume the ripening window would be earlier in warmer climates. When does your Illinois Everbearing stop producing?

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After 8 months of continuous harvest, Siam Jumbo is still putting out berries like this. And the tree is still loaded with fruit.

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Will you be selling or trading any scions from your Siam Jumbo this winter?

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Trading, yes. Hit me up in December or I’ll put out a trade list. Be aware that it comes out of dormancy at the first hint of a warm day. It had leaves in spring before anything else had swollen buds. It will need a freeze free or light freezes only environment. 10A probably 9A maybe. I guess the first growth getting set back might only slow it down. A light freeze in spring might just be like a tipping back that I’ve done all summer.

I know it would be killed outright outdoors here in 7B/8A.

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Those things are HUGE. How’s the flavor? And is yours rooted or grafted? I told myself I had enough mulberries, but maybe I should add one more… we’re probably borderline here for winter survival, but maybe it’ll survive and just develop a short bushy form.

The one I just added on Saturday was Wellington, which was an impulse purchase from Fruitwood. The leaves are definitely different from alba, I’m guessing it’s a rubra dominant hybrid? I haven’t even googled it… Lol

Sounds good, I will reach out around December! Thank you! I am in 9a, but usually hit the freezing temps a handful of times for only an hour or two, then frost free by the end of February.

Mine is a rooted cutting. The flavor is sweet. No tartness when fully ripe. It’s not great tasting. Nothing like a M. nigra but I prefer this over the much better tasting nigra because of the long bearing season and much easier to harvest. I’m looking for healthy fruits. This is purple all the way though. Must be healthy.

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Got some trees from Lucille Whitman earlier this year. Primarily focusing on mulberries that will do well in Zone 6b / Cincinnati area.

  1. Kokuso
  2. Silk Hope
  3. El Dorado
  4. Illinois Everbearing
  5. Gerardi Dwarf

Other varieties that anyone can recommend? Looking for great taste and low maintenance.

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I’ve had poor luck with tropical mulberries surviving the long Seattle winters and insufficiently warm summers.
I lost so many varieties including Taiwan Long, Skinner, Worlds greatest, even white Pakistan aka Saharanpur long.

Regular Pakistan, Himalayan(Dmor9) and all Nigras do fine here. I highly doubt any variety will have a 6 month or even 4 month long season here.

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