I have some trees in growbags which were started as a cutting (Pakistan Mulberry) or as bareroot (various persimmons).
The mulberry has been in the growbag a couple of years, always facing the same direction. The tree is sort of lopsided as a result. Branches grow on one side of the trunk, not so much on the other. Not to mention, it leans a bit in the direction of the growth.
I thought maybe to rotate it 180° when putting it in the ground, and maybe even to tilt it a little to counteract the leaning. Is this something I can do without any concern, or can it cause problems? Sunburn, maybe?
Likewise, the persimmons have been in growbags for a year or so, never rotated. Since they were oriented without consideration when planted as bareroots (how can one know how they were formerly oriented purely based on appearance?) and it seemed to have no ill effect on them-- they are growing well-- I suspect it makes little difference if they get turned around when putting them in the ground.
Somewhat related, if you know of a good video or two, or maybe a blog post which shows a proper transplant of a tree from growbag to the ground, please consider sharing.
A few species are geomagnetically fixed, meaning if you rotate them they will not grow properly for several years. One such species is Jojoba. I’ve never seen anything suggesting mulberries have this concern.
Sometimes a good pruning job is better for the tree than any amount of digging holes and rotating plants.
I would say the full day sun exposure is the most important criteria for mulberry and persimmons. You mulberry should be grown the first few years such that you have at least 4-5 scaffolds growing out from the main trunk at a height about 7’-8’. At some point you need to train those to fill in the full circle so and not allowing a lot of vertical shoots that shade lower limbs, which mulberries are prone to grow. Tying those scaffolds down to promote radial growth at a 45 degree angle will produce a tree that you can easily pick fruit from while on the ground provided you train the scaffolds correctly. Since you will be picking those fruits repeatedly throughout the season, it’s imperative to not have to be on a ladder. So your uninhibited growing space should be about a 25’-30’ radius from the trunk. My Illinois Everbearing has a spread of about 45’ now and each year it tends to grow outward even more. This pic is after I pruned it this fall just before leaf fall.I tip prune it each fall to about chest high, then once foliage drops, I go back to again tie down or prune out stray verticals so that sunlight can reach all fruit producing limbs. Before pruning every scaffold had grown to touch the ground. Mulberries also love mulch, my woodchip bed is about 10” deep on the drip line. Each year it produces about 60-70 days and must be picked daily! A days production is about 4-6 lb during peak season.
Good luck
Dennis
Kent, wa
I’ve said it before, but that is really spectacular work, Dennis.
Do you think you might be able to put some more pics up showing what it looks like under the canopy and where your scaffolds emerge? I’d also love to see what it looks like after leaf fall.
This winter, I’m going to take the saw to my Silk Hope to try to make it look like your IE. I just wish I had left it with a 30 foot radius around it — it has 20 feet at most.
Hi Marten
Here are understory pics
Notice in this pic the spread to the N E. Because when I finally topped it I had to remove scaffolds on the SE side due to verticillium wilt. The cuts had to go back to the trunk to assure I had removed everything that was affected.
When you top your tree if you do it early enough you should be able to prevent painful cuts like these. Make sure your cuts are healing before the cut wounds dry out and crack allowing water infiltration and even rot. Last spring I had to take my chainsaw and remove quite a bit of rotting heartwood until I had fresh green cambium exposed around this rather large wound. Then I sealed it with latex paint out to the fresh bark. Notice I had to make it drain to avoid future rot. This is an excellent example of how not to top your tree! Many members will tell you not to seal your pruning cuts, but if I had not sealed this one I think the rot would have destroyed it’s structure
