I purchased a IE mulberry from OGW a few years back… it fruited this spring for 2-3 weeks… but the berries were white… a little sweet, but no real flavor.
Obviously not a IE Mulberry…
It has grown well. Going whack it off about 1 ft and to try and graft Girerdi dwarf on it.
I am in SE … plan to add a silk hope too.
TNHunter
How has your nigra fared in zone 6/5b? Is it growing or did you have to pot it?
Ps… I did graft gerardi on that white mulberry stump this spring…
It has grown over 6 ft this year.
Hopefully we get to try some gerardi mulberries next spring.
Rootstock fruited?
It was a seedling and still is growing in a pot. 10 gallon for now. I will increase to 20 soon, maybe next spring. I hope to graft or air layer at second plant. I wanted to do it this year but I was very busy and never got around to it. That second plant I will plant out. See how it does.
@jrd51 … i ordered a Illinois Everbearing from OGW… and when it fruited… the mulberries were white and very bland… a little sweet. Obviously not IE.
So that was my first graft attempt… and it has gone very well.
Last winter I traded someone here apple scions for gerardi scions.
I tried to root some of those same gerardi cuttings… treated them just like my fig cuttings… (where 5 of 6 made it).
The gerardi cuttings sent out top growth… even fruit… but no roots developed.
Silk Hope, Pakistan, and one large leaf Florida. So far, I like Silk Hope the best, maybe it’s the only mulberry I get a lot of fruit so far. Nothing from Pakistan.
Two things:
It seems that your rootstock fruited. Usually the mulberry rootstock used in the northern U.S. is a white mulberry. Leaves are good for silkworms but berries are usually inferior. IE is red / violet / black depending on ripeness. It’s very good. Best thing is that it gives a crop continuously over much of the summer. Here I picked from late June to mid August.
I’ve tried rooting cuttings from mulberries with zero success. Usually, buds pop but no roots form. I think grafting is the way to go. For that you need some hardy seedlings. Sometimes you can find them growing wild.
How has the black prince alba done? Any feedback?
Thanks
The Black Prince we grew out this year (in a pot and in a hoophouse) did well. It did fine over winter but we’re zone 8b and lows reached only 20F for a few days last winter. It goes out into the orchard this winter. Black Prince doesn’t seem to be as aggressive a grower as some of our other mulberries and the fruit wasn’t abundant but it was quite good. We found Black Prince to be similar to Rupp’s. We haven’t had any success rooting it yet but I know others have and we will try again this winter.
Here are some of the photos we gathered this year. We hope to get more photos next year.
Thanks, Mark
do you have a list of what you grow in ground and what mulberry you have potted/in greenhouse? there are quite some interesting mulberries you have. thank you!
Can I ask you the same question? do you have a list of what you grow in ground and what is potted/in greenhouse?
thanks
Currently I grow in ground:
Illinois Everbearing
Beautiful Day
Honeydrops
Varaha
Madhava
Taylor #1
Rupp’s Romanian
Silk Hope
Geraldi Dwarf
Jan’s Best
Maple Leaf
Black Prince
Miss Kim
Collier
Nikita’s White
And, an amazing white variety from Turkey we plan on releasing
Used to grow Thai Dwarf and World’s Best but they die out in KY zone 6.
Some have not fruited yet, some are getting quite large. Illinois is still the very best but as we have more fruiting and maturing we will see!
Currently i grow:
Oscar
Shangri la
Several sources of pakistan, they are all a bit different between them
Several sources of himalayan red, they also seem to be different between them
Taiwan long
Maple leaf
Neapoli
Yugoslavia
King james morus nigra
Aalst morus nigra
Jerusalem morus nigra
Several Portuguese and german morus nigras
(All nigras seem to be similar)
Moldova pink
Madeira mulberry
Charlotte Russe/ mojo berry
Rups Roumanian
Shandong
White pakistan/saharanpur
Pink
Purple from turkey
Weeping/pendula
Clone 10 pakistan
Wellington
4 seasons
Worlds best
Several unnamed white fruiting and dark fruiting from several portuguese sources
Shelly
Sangue e latte
Illinois everbearing
Portugal
Yediveren/austraturkey
Might be all… not sure lol
@Blake … I see you are somewhat near me 6b KY… and I am in 7a south central TN.
Jans Best works great for Jan down there in 9b central Florida… and I have been wondering if it might work for me.
My location is bad about warming up in late March or early April and then getting a good frost… not every year but quite often that happens.
Just wondering how Jans Best has done in your location ? and specifically if it does get frosted early spring… does it come back later and bud and fruit again ? Or is it done for the year ?
I know from her vids that hers fruits… then she prunes it and it grows more and fruits again. Seems like she repeats that two or three times each season.
Does it do that for you up there in KY ?
If Jans Best is a flop for you… probably would be for me to.
I am interested in dwarf trees similar to Jans Best… that can be pruned to keep low enough for picking from the ground or small step ladder.
Prefer sweet/tart juicy berries with good flavor and size.
I have a gerardi dwarf now… plan to add a silk hope soon… would like to have a few more varieties.
Ps… that Varaha… looked awesome… but looks like a larger tree? Do you know the normal mature size of it ?
Thanks
TNHunter
@Marco
. The 1st of all no doubts is ANY good sized mature fruiting morus nigra (any named nigra as they are all the same lol)
. Maple leaf is quite good also
. Neapoli is great also
. Taiwan long / himalayans / pakistan also excellent
. Saharanpur/white pakistan excellent
They are my tops i think lol… so difficult for me to give you a reply because some might be better other seasons lol
. Portugal/austraturkey very nice also… they might be the same variety but with different names lol
I forgot to list some others i have lol…
I remember now also the one called gelso nero also gives me huge plump sweet berries (it translates as black mulberry in italian), its an alba or hibrid
Also have gelso rosso (pink mulberry) and gelso bianco (white mulberry) lol
Ahh … gerardi dwarf also have a few of those. They are quite good also lol
Trev.
I had a terrific M.rubra selection that I found near Auburn AL - on the zone 7/8 interface. Grafted it 3 different times, but it never survived more than a couple of years before ‘waking up dead’. Ortet was dead the last time I went back for more. I’m not sure if it was just not zone 6 hardy, or long-term incompatible with M.alba rootstock; I had a friend in zone 6 NJ who had similar experience with it.
So… while I’m all about pushing the envelope, I’ll caution you not to be surprised if ‘Jan’s Best’ doesn’t survive for you - but if you give it a shot, I’d recommend either getting it on its own roots or planting with the graft union below grade so that it can re-grow if it winter-kills.
