MULBERRIES what are you growing?!

Keep the soil moist even if they loose their leaves and appear dead. Mulberry trees are very tough.
I have transplanted many of them that size in the hottest part of summer, most will pull through.

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Hi y’all

This is my Tice, it was a cutting from Jan planted in February of 2025. Gorgeous

These are some of my Jan’s best, also cuttings from Jan planted in February

I really hope these do well and produce lots of berries for us in East Texas (8b)

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Picked some Silk Hope today as they’ve just started ripening.
Still my favorite for flavor. Even after having added so many new varieties in the past few years.

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When does your El Dorado ripen and how has it been performing so far @chadspur

I haven’t heard you talking about your Everloving aka twisted tree recently @Lucky_P does it ripen later than most of your other varieties?

The birds think this too at my place. Haven’t been able to get 1 out of all my mulberries

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Do you think growing mulberries would ultimately protect your other fruit (I’ve heard a lot of birds prefer mulberries to other fruit) or attract more birds who will eat your other fruit (raspberries, strawberries, etc.)

I had the same problem rooting Illinois ever bearing cutttings, lots of top grow to but no roots. Some people on this forum sent me cuttings of Pakistani and another type of dwarf mulberry, and those rooted up with 90% success.

I think it’s both a nutrition thing (higher sugars and proteins compared to Rubus, great for migrating and a foraging parent) and the fact that the birds can be higher and safer while eating compared to other berry types

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Hi. I’ve got dozens of mulberry and cherry trees co-located in the same area of our orchard. I’ve heard that birds prefer mulberries over cherries as well but my birds (specifically Robins) haven’t received the memo. They go straight for the cherries and leave the mulberries. That said, I think it depends a lot on local bird culture and what their parents taught them to eat. Our cherry trees pre-date our mulberry trees. So maybe if you plant cherry trees among long-established mulberry trees, that strategy might work? Good luck! - Mark

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That’s an excellent point. I better graft the mulberries asap :joy::saluting_face:

I wish that were true because mulberries don’t grow naturally here (i could be wrong) and they’ve even gone after the bags to get to them on my end. They won’t do it for anything else. Also the birds can smell my pink popcorn blueberries… they also don’t grow naturally here but of all things, they’ve been all over my bush and if you didn’t know what to look for, you couldn’t even tell that they’re ripe since they ripen yellow. But they won’t touch my currants or other things i want them to. Only my high valued berries :sob: I’ve even left a whole raspberry bush for them and they’ve completely ignored it

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I picked my first ripe berries from Lawson Dawson on May 16… checked it today July 7… and there were still a few red ripening berries on.

I just grafted it late last spring… it is just a bit over 1 year old.

Very tasty berries despite it’s immaturity.

TNHunter

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I’ve been growing mulberries for years and FINALLY had enough fully ripe quantity to pass around for taste tests and eat handfuls during my tests :wink:. And this morning I compared Kip Parker, Lawson Dawson, Illinois Everbearing, and Noire de Spain in one sitting. I typically don’t talk about taste but they are all so darn good. I’ve got sixty KP cuttings and 14 LD cuttings in my propagation tent to build out the orchard! - Mark


From left to right. Noire de Spain, Illinois Everbearing, Lawson Dawson, Kip Parker.


Propagating Kip Parker and Lawson Dawson

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@dingdongsgarden Could you show us your full set up for mulberry propogation?

Sure, it’s a four shelf rack with a humidity tent draped over it. On the top I have 5-6 LED shop lamps shining down (only using the top shelf at the moment). I don’t use heat mats under the cuttings but I do have a heat mat under a tub of water on the lower shelf in order to encourage evaporation and higher humidity.

9 inch pots, 2-3 cuttings per pot, cheapest promix I can find, add water to mix until damp but when squeezed no dripping, cuttings dipped in powdered rooting hormone. I leave a small leaf or two on each cutting.

Traditionally I have propagated in the winter because I’m so darn busy in the summer. But I have seen some success propagating live cuttings in the summer so I’m giving it a shot with mulberries. As always with propagation… fingers crossed!

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Wow! That is a very unique set up, I’ve never considered a heat mat over a tub of water, thats a great idea! And you have no mold issues without any airflow?

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No mold on the first batch of summer cuttings. But we’ll see how it goes later in the summer when I pack the rack with more cuttings. :crossed_fingers: :crossed_fingers: :crossed_fingers:

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