I’ve only ever grafted to actively-growing mulberry stocks. I have no idea if grafting dormant scions onto dormant rootstock - like bench-grafting apples - without a hot callus pipe setup will work.
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The russian mulberry rootstocks I got from BRN .. a few were 1/4 inch and I potted them up early and let them leaf out then grafted successfully 2 kip parker and 1 lawson dawson.
Some of them were smaller diameter.. smaller than my scion wood.
On those it may be best to plant them and let them grow a year then graft them the next spring.
TNHunter
Last year I grafted dormant (purchased) scions of Oscar and Silk Hope onto dormant (purchased) rootstock. All W&T grafts. It was exactly like bench-grafting apples or pears. There was 100% (5 of 5) success.
Two notes, however: (1) It was early April, as I recall, and I kept the grafts in a garage that probably averaged 50 F, which is too cold for mulberries (or persimmons, which I did at the same time). And so I used a hot callus pipe to keep the grafts warm. (2) I put the scions in tall narrow pots immediately after grafting, so they could begin to grow at once. I tilted the pots on their sides so the grafts could be inserted into the pipe, which was on the floor.
I had only tried field grafts before on mulberries, and I never had 100% success.
So it is definitely possible to graft dormant on dormant, but I would not try it without some assurance that the graft can stay warm.
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I think I had 70-80 degree weather around that time and thought why not.
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Ive never deliberately grown mulberries before (but have at least three mulberry trees planted by birds) I was considering just cutting them down but maybe I should leave at least one and try grafting scions from wild mulberries that have desirable fruit. Mulberries trees grow like weeds in my area and their fruit is highly variable so I bet I could find some good ones easily enough. I think most of the wild ones in my area have both red mulberry and white mulberry heritage
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Got my first ripe gerardi mulberries 4/24.
Today is 6/1 and it is still ripening fruit and has a way to go to be finished.
This seems to be true for all mulberries… Once they start ripening.. in about a week the birds start hitting them hard.
If you dont get out there early in the morning to harvest.. the birds will beat you to them.
TNHunter
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I’m getting some from a couple of trees but the flavor is too watery and not very sweet. Sunshine is needed.
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We had some rain a week ago, accompanied by wind, so many of the early berries blew off. Not enough rain to have impacted flavor on those ripening now.
Illinois Everbearing are, again almost a 100% total loss due to Popcorn Disease infection.
Deer have invaded the yard at night, and have browsed off every leaf within reach… making it somewhat easier to find fruit on lower branches.
Silk Hope
Stearns
Corral
Lawson Dawson
Kip Parker
Stearns, Lawson Dawson, Corral (and its unnamed sib across the lane) are pushing their second - and heavier - flush of fruit.
Silk Hope and Kip Parker just now coming in. Kip Parker has an interesting flavor… different (stronger?) from the others, but I can’t really describe exactly how until I eat a few more…this is its first year, here, producing more than a handful of berries.
Hicks Everbearing is putting out a heavier crop than in the past two years - but still far less productive than any of the rubraXalba hybrids above… still makes me wonder why it was so revered as a poultry & pork forage tree in the post-Civil War South… I know pigs & chickens don’t cull much, but really, it’s not very productive. Berries are sweet, but not very tasty.
The pure M.rubra trees here at the house, ‘Harmony Grove’ and ‘HGF Spillway’ are ripening. Good flavor, but as is typical, season will be short, and production less than that of the hybrids.
M.rubra ‘Harmony Grove’
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Do you think it’s possible that the “rediscovered” ‘Hick’s Everbearing’ isn’t the original?
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My gerardi berries are still tasting very good this year.. It has not been hot and dry enough for max flavor.. but still very good.
I ate some Kip Parker and Lawson Dawson today too… Both have very good flavor sweet and tart. A little better than the average gerardi but not by much.
TNHunter
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im getting some interesting looking buds on my i.e. i think i may be able to finally taste mulberries for the 1st time. the tree’s about 6ft. high and wide.
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I picked several ripe Lawson Dawson today just 2 months after making the grafts on a tree. Flowers formed just as soon as the first buds expanded There is new growth 3 feet long from the grafts.
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I think we could breed with that one.
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I’ve had that thought, though David Shields and the late Dr. A.J. Bullard were convinced that it was the ‘real deal’.
Compared to ANY of the named cultivars I grow, and most of the random hybrids I have growing here on the farm - courtesy of the KY Division of Forestry who sold me a bundle of 100 ‘Red Mulberry’ seedlings that contained not a single M.rubra - my graft of ‘Hicks Everbearing’ would be at the very bottom of the productivity scale.
That said, it sometimes takes several years for grafted mulberries to really ‘hit their stride’… so perhaps Hicks will show me something in years to come… but at present, I have no intent to graft another one or collect scionwood for trade/sale unless someone were to request it specifically.
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Looks like it doesn’t put out enough leaves in time to sweeten up all that fruit!
Ancient hybrid in the neighborhood is still dumping large sweet/tart fruit. Looks like there are still green fruits as well.
The birds are finally letting me get a few off the grafted austurkey/siam jumbo at home.
Probably the smallest ones this tree has made so far but nice and fat. Flavor is a bit bland but not bad. I expect theyll sweeten up with the heat of summer. You can see in the background it has huge fruits that are still green, and it is still flowering.
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This young Galicija has really impressed me. It’s earlier than most of my mulberries and it’s quite good. There might be multiple Galicija cultivars distributed around. I had another Galicija that I got rid of because after several years the fruit quality was unimpressive. This one is very abundant, early, with great flavor.
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In the ground I have a Tice which is my largest tree. The Tice is not as large as you would expect it to be though based on size at planting and time passed since. It had a rough first year and a half or so. In a hurricane a couple years ago it sat bent all the way over to the ground and totally covered for a week by a large avocado branch that broke off the neighbor’s tree. Then it got hit pretty hard with some pests but eventually cleared up and has been OK this year after waking up in the spring. The Tice flavor is the best of any of the mulberries I’ve had up to this point.
I also have a few mystery mulberries in the ground in a couple spots. My local native nursery had ordered some native red mulberries from a larger native plant supplier and they were not the native variety but they didn’t know what variety they were exactly. So they put them on deep clearance and I grabbed a few. They make small berries that taste pretty good but not great. I’m keeping them as small bushes along the alley and one tucked under a moringa that I cut back regularly.
Just last week I got some Thai Dwarf cuttings in the mail. Most of them are in pots rooting now and a couple I’m attempting to graft to a branch of my Tice. Soon I should be receiving some scion wood of the Skinner variety. Planning to do the same thing with those and eventually plant out a couple of each and probably share/trade the rest that make it.
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Hi All,
Apologies if I missed this info in the giant thread.
I am zone 8b, Texas hill country. The mulberries I have tried so far (world’s best, pakistani) seem to leaf out too early. Then die to the ground. They have sprouted again, but I don’t think I will ever get fruit this way!
Someone who lives near me has recommended Silk Hope, Wellington, Illinois Everbearing and Kokuso.
I have a few questions.
Any other recommendations for late awakening varieties?
I prefer to grow own root (because I think they are more resilient in my wildly hostile climate) but it sounds like Silk Hope at least does not grow from cuttings. What about the others? I am happy to buy trees or cuttings.
Thanks so much for your help. This thread has been hugely informative.
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If you’re looking for own root trees, these guys are offering very large, tissue cultured mulberries. They are pricey (although there is a volume discount) but a very good product. I received a few kokuso this spring.
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