I hope these Siam Jumbo mulberries taste half as good as they look. This little tree was an unrooted stick five months ago. Now it has mulberries as big as 2.5 x 0.75 inch. So far just a mildly sweet taste. If I could dry the tree out a bit they should be sweeter. On a mature tree they should be sweeter. In FL they are reported to have a sweet/tart taste, just what I’d hope for.
My issue growing mulberries is they freeze outside and grow rampantly in the greenhouse. I may need to try both potted and in-ground in the GH.
Thanks cool. I will keep with my figs. Black Prince is another I want to try. I have Oscar growing outside here. And others in containers. Thanks for showing these.
Curious if you were able to keep them growing outside in your zone or if you have to keep them in the greenhouse? Also has the flavor improved since your original post? Seems like this one has huge potential!
Most mulberries here freeze back outside in winter and in spring. They leaf out too early. So, I’m only growing Siam Jumbo in the greenhouse. So far the fruit has been decent but not great. I don’t know if I can do better. But I’m still trying.
This thread left off in July of 2023. Since then, I’ve learned how to prune this variety for continuous fruiting and I’ve more experience with fruit quality.
The tree was a cutting in April 2022, a 3 gal potted in 2022, a 12 gal potted in 2023. It was planted in ground Dec 15 2023. It fruited continuously from 2-20-24 until 2-1-25. The fruit was sweet and good during all of 2024. The January 2025 fruit was bland. Both winters 23-24 and 24-25 included 45 days of chilling, 55/40. Otherwise, summers were 92/65 and winters 70/40.
The key to continuous fruiting is to tip each shoot after it stops setting fruit. When you do that, the top bud grows and immediately sets about 6 more nodes of fruit. Those fruit mature in ~45 days. Each shoot ends up with about three sets of fruit each at a different age. Fruit size stays large and set didn’t change during 11+ months of fruiting.
The tree was still ripening fruit on 2-1-25. But I wanted to shorten it back down after 6-8 ft total shoot growth in 2024. The following pictures are fruit during 2024 and current fruit set a mere 17 days after total prune back.
I’ve never had another fruit that fruits so young or fruits continuously. I’m going to plant more trees. With two or more trees pruned at the right times I’ll have fruit year around. If I did away with the chill cycle, the fruit would be good all year long.
For a mulberry that fruited 11 straight months the tree was very manageable sized. Total 2024 growth was 6-8 feet on each shoot. The constant tipping limits total growth immensely. This tree could easily be grown in a large pot for year around fruiting.
Awesome photos! I grafted it outdoors in z6b/7a and it grew quickly on established hybrid rootstock. Some of the buds seem to be loose, but others remain tight. Hopefully it wakes up in the spring, but I am prepared for it to wake up dead.
Ideally Id like to cross it with a male weeping mulberry to have a shot at a hardier plant, and retain the large fruit, weeping trait in the offspring would be a plus.
It is easy to root. But be aware that it also starts growing immediately with the slightest warmth. So grafting and rooting times may be somewhat limited. There’s very little dormant season.
I’ll be surprised too!
Mainly did it just to see what happens, I have a feeling it will wake up early and get zapped if any of the buds are still good.
