Mulberry: the king of tree fruits (for pigs)

I have a kukoso#20 …
… 2yrs old
It froze back to the ground last year at 0 deg. F
It has grown 8 + ft this year,
It is on its own roots ,I believe , since it had the same " huge" leafs as the year before.
It has these odd bulges at each node. They look odd . But the tree is healthy looking. I believe it may just be the way it grows ? Higher nodes don’t have these bulges.
Comments ? ?
Anyone growing this zone 6 or colder ?
Winter hardy as it gets older ?
Fruit quality ?
Got Bulges ?

The stem with the bulges is about a inch and half .and dominant .
You can see another shoot( which I will remove )smaller with out bulges. Both grew this year.

My two bark grafted trees from 4 years ago are 15 feet tall and productive. The leaves are huge and pretty. Some tips died of in -18F. The berries are sweet and good.

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Oops you’re right. Mine is on its own roots. Either way, its fruiting young and small.

Awesome tree. I’m trying to loosen up and spend the money on some Mulberries that aren’t grafted.

does anyone happen to have any extra scion of miss kim to trade? it sounds like a great variety to collect! thank you in advance.

Hi Sir. They call me PapaJ down in Homestead Florida rare fruit collector. I am wanting to buy some Chang Mai #60 mulberry cuttings and Miss Kim cuttings from you will you sell me some please.

You certainly live in the right place for Chiang Mai. I’m afraid you are about three weeks late on Chiang Mai…I cut it completely back and it is going to be several months before the new growth grows back and hardens. My two year old Miss Kim is in even worse state, as some local friends wanted it. Cliff of England’s Nursery may have some, but it is hit or miss with trying to root it from cuttings…mostly miss.

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I’ve got Kokuso (from Burnt Ridge I believe, though I could look through my records) and it does not have any weird bulges. It also makes it through my zone 6 winters like a trooper with almost no die back. Its also about 15 feet tall at this point.

Scott

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Ok cool I definitely appreciate you responding back to me. I’d like to check back with you in a few months for the Chang Mai. I’ll contact Clif and see if he has any Kims available.

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I would love to get some cuttings for grafting, can I give you seeds or ? in exchange vickidelph@yahoo.com

Sounds like Illinois Everbearing is my best bet for North Texas, yeah? I am definitely interested in a very low-maintenance tree to offset the others🤣. I also don’t mind if it grows big, it’ll give the kids something to climb. Are there better varieties to look for?

There’s plenty of varieties that work here. I’m growing Silk Hope, Kokuso, El Dorado, Geraldi, and Valdosta. Plant them and let them grow. Man do these things grow fast. :rofl: Well not the Geraldi…

I’d avoid these two as they need to be potted in our area.: White Pakistan, Thai Dwarf.

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Thanks! If you had to pick one (to start), which would you suggest? I’m definitely interested in a fast grower, but obviously don’t want to sacrifice good fruit.

Are there any local nurseries that have them?

I honestly couldn’t tell you which one to pick. I don’t think you could go wrong with any of them, including the IE you named. I never found any named cultivars being sold locally. I ordered mine from Burnt Ridge nursery and Just Fruits and Exotics.

I planted a Kokusu, but it didn’t grow. I have a replacement coming this spring. I hope it survives on edge of zone 4/3. I also have tried three IEs. The present one is alive, but not thriving. Rootstock from one attempt is still alive. Hoping something will survive and perhaps I can exchange grafts between them for a back up for pollination.

I read a little too much on ‘Thai Dwarf’ and someone deep on the mulberry growers group on FB said that they grew both Thai Dwarf and Chiang Mai 60 side by side and said that they were identical. So not sure that is a fact yet… however this guy grows them and he said his climate low temps are 20F which contradicts alot of things i also read. I did a little more research and this video was shot in Lakeland FL. He discusses a hard freeze at 5:30.

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