Just got my Shangri La cuttings I bought on ebay from katerina941.

I was very apprehensive buying any after hearing horror stories about some people losing all their mulberry cuttings. I have to say, these came (more than indicated in the auction) wrapped right and already forming root initials. Should I just treat them like figs?

Does anyone have a persian mulberry they would like to swap cuttings for? I have fig cuttings.

Treat them as fig cuttings with Cup pot and Cup cover method,  like a green house. until you see roots reaching the Cup walls.

 

IL Everbearing, Beautiful Day, and Shangri La rooted. along with Wonderful pom... tho.. my Noir de Spain is now having hard time out there. too much heat or too much water.. not sure which. or it's getting diseased.. don't know a thing about growing mulberry. figs do so much better with no worries at all.

Pete, I think it may be the Noir de Spain that's the problem, not you. I bought a 2 foot plant from Burnt Ridge and they shipped it dormant. (3 weeks ago) Come to find out, it was dead above ground so I have new start coming from the roots. We'll see what happens as it grows, if it does much.

I am hoping to find some Persian that are the same genus but a different variety to see if there is a difference.

I ordered 2 Persians, and 2 Black Beauties from Willis Orchard.   They all came bare root.  I wasn't exactly sure where I was going to plant them ( I'm still clearing land and dead trees from drought) so I potted them.  All started budding, but the Persians budded much quicker, and grew more vigorously.

I planted the Black Beauties first, thinking this would stimulate them, but they never progressed beyond beginning buds.  I now think they bit the dust.  I guess I disturbed the new roots before they could get going or something like that, I'll try again next year.

The Persians I planted after they had 6" of growth, now they have about 18" of growth.  Same with the Pakistan I got from Ison's where the new growth is coming from the bottom not the above ground 4' trunk, it even had a few 4" green berries before the pillbugs got them. 

You are more than welcome to some cuttings from them when they go dormant.  I'm not sure when to take them (Winter vs Spring), but I do know dormant from my experience this year with 5 cuttings from a "wild" one in my yard in which only one cutting so far has leafed out.

Good Luck with your Shangri La!

Hey Don,

I was so excited to see your post and went straight to Willis Orchard to see that they will not start shipping again until October :(

I also wanted to let you know I got several of the Shangri La so if they do well I would be happy to share if you would like one.

At least in my limited experience, I have found that mulberries (and poms) need a lot more humidity than figs when rooting. I used the moss and baggie method. It was practically raining in the bag. If premature berries form (and they usually do), just snip them off. Once you have some roots, pot up in soil and place in the shade.

Good luck with your mullberry cuttings.  I got 12 fresh Pakistan Mulberry cuttings from a local friend, and planted them in ground (like he said to do) the day they were cut.  Three, in ground are leafing out and seem fine.  I put one in a pot, and it's thriving.  The rest didn't make it.

Suzi

Go Suzi! I would love for you to post pictures if you wouldn't mind.

Here is the one in the pot.  There were two (which is why this is not in the center of the pot) but the other didn't make it.  This one gets morning sun, and shade the rest of the day.  I'll get photos of the ones in ground tomorrow.  Too hot right now to go down the hill.  They are in full blazing 100 degree sun.  All I need is one tree, so if they don't live through the sum mer, this one will for sure.

 

That's awesome, thank you for the pictures. Looks like it's doing great.

Java,

I'm sorry to hear that, I didn't mean to get your hopes up.  I almost didn't order from Willis because I've read bad things, but this was my second order in 3 years and I've been happy every time.  Can't beat the price, 4' trees for 17 dollars.  First time I got some huge blueberries that were on sale, this time Mulberries, and Chickasaw plums.  I won't blame the death of the Black Beauties on them, I'm pretty sure it was my fault.

I was wrong about the growth of the Persians.  They have both grown over 2 feet since getting them in early March.  Beautiful dark green foliage, hopefully I'll get that 10 feet of growth in one year I read about.  I never found straight information, lots of contradictions on hardiness.  (I'm going to protect mine at least this winter to be on the safe side)

You got me to thinking (and researching) about airlayers.  I have never done one, but it looks pretty easy.  I have some pencil sized branches I think would make excellent candidates.
I hate to count my chickens before they hatch....but I'll gladly trade you one for a Shangri-La.  Give me some time to get it going.  

I know you like pictures, I'll take some pictures this weekend when I can get my wife to bring the camera home from work.



 

Don,
e-mail sent. :)

I am embarrassed to post these pictures.  But these are the ones thriving down the hill.  It's over 100 degrees today, dry, and they don't seem to mind.  The variety is Pakistan, and they originate from really hot dry climates.  I read that they are drought and heat resistant.  I apologize for the lack of mulch.  They are on drip for 1 hour every other day to encourage deep roots, and have been in ground since November.  I can't check for roots, but I have to think there are some.  I could not believe how hot it was down there in our Sahara Desert!!  Hopefully some day they will provide some nice shade.

They are planted on a slope and have some plastic thingy to keep the ground level where they are.  The big one is in a gopher basket.  The one next to it is unprotected, but 2 have good growth.
 

This one is with the second bunch, and it's looking alive too.

 

Whichever of these survive the hot summer, we'll keep two and put them in tree size gopher baskets.

Remind me in January, and I'll bare root a rooted extra for you IF your research shows the Pakistan variety will grow in your zone.  The dude I got them from is in San Diego near Jon.  I'm in a micro-climate zone 9b, and wine grapes, figs, macadamias, and all things Mediterranean thrive here.  Hot summers, cool breezy nights.  Winters rarely drop below freezing for 3 days or none.  Our soil is well drained.

There is one small one at the end of the cutting row that has swelling buds.  I'll keep an eye on it, but we only want 2 trees.  Enough fruit is enough!! 

I'm already making pie crusts (not fun) for the onslaught of Anna Apples we anticipate in June.

Mulberry cuttings will grow, and I truly think the failures (there are many) happen when the cuttings aren't planted fresh the day they are cut. 

Suzi

Thank you Suzi, I LOVE the pictures, you have nothing to be embarassed about. You live in the desert and these look great just where they are.

I absolutely can grow just about any mulberries. I am in 9a/9b depending on the year. We rarely freeze and if we do it's a couple of hours not days. The only difference between us is the humidity. We have the air you can wear. :) Those are going to do so well for you!

I have IL Everbearing, Shangri La and Beautiful Day from Edible Landscaping. So far, the Beautiful Day is disappointing. Doesn't seem much different than other white mulberries growing wild, and the fruit seems small. It could be the conditions, the plant is in an area where the drainage is not great. This year, it seems that most fruits of this plant were damaged by a late freeze. The IE is a vary tasty mulberry, so far the fruits are not that big on them either. The Shangri La is growing best, lush growth, big leaves, and large fruit. The taste can be good, more of a mild, sweet fruit compared to the sweet-tart of the IE. We have wild mulberries everywhere, some are pretty good. One is a Morus rubra, and I like it a lot. Long reddish black fruit that are a more raspberry like flavor. I took cuttings while still dormant and put them in the ground in an area with rich soil and lots of soil life. They have leafed out, but probably no roots yet. I also have scion to try grafting it to some of the less desirable wild mulberries. My past attempts to root mulberries in pots with a humidity tent has not been successful. I planted my mulberries in the chicken yard to give them some other fruit to eat. They are free range and will eat everything, including my figs.

I wish I could grow the black mulberry, never tasted one, but I understand they don't do well on this coast. I hope you have success with your Noir de Spain Pete, keep us updated.

Mike in Hanover, VA

   So I think, I compressed the photos correctly...

Took these this morning.  My Pakistan has much larger leaves, the other two are Persians.

 Not sure why all 3 didn't post at same time.  Still learning.

Those are wonderful Don, looks like they're really happy where they are!

I was surprised by one mulberry cutting (and some apricot scion---not sure what I was planning when I ordered) in my UC Davis package last week. I had forgotten that I'd ordered any. Talk about pressure! One cutting LOL. It was a bonus, so I won't be disappointed if it doesn't make it. I'm thinking of putting an add on the local craigslist to see if anyone has a sucker or something that can be dug up.