Favorite fruiting mulberry cultivars
 

My mulberry trees are starting ripen their fruit and I wondered what kind of mulberry trees and fruit do any the people here like? What cultivars do the best for you and what pests and diseases are issues?

Re: Favorite fruiting mulberry cultivars
 

I know there are all sorts of exotic mulberries, mostly in more temperate climes, but the one I grow and like is IE, Illinois Everbearing. It has a big tasty fruit for a long season, and no trouble except trimming back to size most years. They go nuts. This is in Iowa.

Re: Favorite fruiting mulberry cultivars
 

I have what were sold as IL everbearing. They really took off growing and then I decided to transplant them some where else and finally this year there are some berries starting out on them. These trees seem to send out long shallow, yellow roots that can be quite large seeking out nutrition. Glad to know that the IL everbearing is a good cultivar.

Re: Favorite fruiting mulberry cultivars
 

There used to be a mulberry tree on the lot I bought two years ago. That was many years ago and the neighborhood kids would bend the branches down till they broke. Sometime ago it dissappeared. I guess the kids worried it to death.

Re: Favorite fruiting mulberry cultivars
 

Phil's White

Re: Favorite fruiting mulberry cultivars
 

I wonder if it is anything like this cultivar:
SHAHTOOT which in Farsi means king berry is a word used on some parts of the indian continent for mulberry.
I year so ago I planted one that died during a drought when I was very busy. I want to go for ripe white berries since the birds my not be so attracted to them as they might for darker berries.

Re: Favorite fruiting mulberry cultivars
 

Here's an article I wrote 3 years ago about Mulberries:

Morus The Mulberry

Re: Favorite fruiting mulberry cultivars
 

Great article

I will have to find out more about

Re: Favorite fruiting mulberry cultivars
 

I have one, but all I know about it is that it was labeled R. Mulberry. I don't know how to ID. But it grows faster then weeds! It went from a cutting to full tree in 1 year. I would compare its growth rate to Papaya.

Re: Favorite fruiting mulberry cultivars
 

I have Dwarf Black Beauty, a Morus nigra cultivar. It makes very tasty fruit and if you have limited space like I do, it has the advantage of staying small. It suffered a bit last year with some fungal disease of the foliage, which is a common problem for lots of my plants (e.g., stone fruit) in my damp, coastal climate. But it looks just fine now, just coming out of dormancy and putting out fruit.

Re: Favorite fruiting mulberry cultivars
 

In the article, I left out Morus rubra (Red Mulberry) which is native to eastern Canada and the U.S., roughly from Ontario down through eastern Texas and over to the Atlantic Ocean. The fruit is red. Historically in the U.S. it was an important food source for both birds and people. Here in southern California it is less popular than Morus alba -- mainly because it grows to an enormous size in our more temperate climate.

Re: Favorite fruiting mulberry cultivars
 

It is my understanding that many of the wild mulberry trees are hybrids M. rubra to either M. alba or M. nigra. Hybrids these days of various cultivars are occuring. Apparently besides the mulberries, the flowering pears are crossing with commercial pears and are found feral in places east of the Mississippi.
I would like to get a lot of different mulberrys going. For me it is the first fruit of season to rippen. Some berries are almost as early. It is claimed that some mulberries have harmful affects on children, but then I do not have any so it is not an issue for me.

Re: Favorite fruiting mulberry cultivars
 

Re: Favorite fruiting mulberry cultivars
 

This sounds like the mulberry for me. I am very much space challenged. Will the mulberry grow and fruit as an understory tree?

Is Dwarf Black Beauty naturally small or are there dwarfing rootstocks available for them?

Re: Favorite fruiting mulberry cultivars
 

I think it is naturally small, but if I recall correctly, mine appears to be grafted (it's too dark to check now). Here's a good link:

L.E. Cooke Company - Persian & Black Beauty Fruiting Mulberries

Re: Favorite fruiting mulberry cultivars
 

Not sure how it would do as understory. I'm under the impression that it needs full sun, but I could be wrong.

Grafting Re: Favorite fruiting mulberry cultivars
 

How compatible are the red, white, and black mulberry species for interspecific grafting. I ask because I have a very nice looking mulberry that is growing into a nicely sized tree that will likely be very large. It is derived from a cutting of an old tree from either milton or bagdad, FL. Bagdad, FL an old lumber port about IIRC 1840 had a silk industry and I assume that some trees were planted for it. But I do not believe that mulberry trees live that long. Anyway I was hoping for decent berries on this thriving tree. The berries are tiny and I would like to graft the tree over to something else.
So are mulberry trees compatible with other mulberry species relative to grafting?

Re: Grafting Re: Favorite fruiting mulberry cultivars
 

Sounds like a fun experiment. True Mulberries (Morus) are vigorous plants so its worth a try. For nursery stock, I have cultivars grafted on seedlings of the same species.

This recommendation is for an established tree at least 6' high and wide:
Consider feeding your Mulberry tree "net 1 pound" of Potash over the active growing season this year and see if it improves of the size and quality of the fruit. For example: Potassium sulfate is usually 50% potash (0-0-50) by weight, so 2 pounds of K2SO4 will supply the tree with "net 1 pound". I would sprinkle about 1/2 pound around the canopy drip line each month for the next 4 months.

Re: Grafting Re: Favorite fruiting mulberry cultivars
 

This tree trunk is about 5-6" in diamter now and has a very good natural shape. It is over 15 feet tall. It only briefly has berries that are very small. I have another tree near by that is shaded that bears much larger berries for a longer period of time. Both trees are near the septic trank and field so nutrition is probably not an issue. But it is already some what late to try the potash since the fruiting almost over for this tree. I had hoped as it got bigger it would have bigger berries. It is now a pretty good sized tree. I will assume that it is a white mulberry and will look for white grafting wood.
Using the same species is a good tip.

Re: Grafting Re: Favorite fruiting mulberry cultivars
 

Could be different hybrid, species, or cultivar.

I disagree. The distribution of minerals from septic is not very appropriate for deciduous fruit trees. In particular it is very low in Potash.

This is a misconception. We feed the tree this year for next year's crop. Once the tree starts uptaking the Potash, it will take at least 3 months for processes in the roots to manufacture basic compounds to produce enzymes and carbohydrates. These will be utilized on an as needed basis. The processes for fruit production won't begin until winter begins.