Topic: Mulberry

[davholla]

I have a Mulberry tree in a pot and I was advised to repot it into a bigger pot.
The current pot is 52 cm diameter 40 cm wide (21 by 16 inches).  I have Wilkinson, Wyevale and Coolings near me,  would I be able to get it from one of those?
Also any advice - repotting something this big sounds quite scary.

[galina]

Is this a miniature or full size mulberry?  It looks like a 2 person job.

There is a huge choice of large plant pots, if you google for "Planter" or "plant trough".  And many of them are very expensive. 

Alternatives may be to use plastic storage boxes, which would need holes drilling in the bottom.  And are usually rectangular.  Wooden planters of the right size could be a DIY project out of scrap wood.  And for really attractive homemade planters, there are several "hyper tufa" projects on youtube.

Wooden barrels cut to size could fit the brief.  I was also thinking of a large Belfast sink, although this may not be much bigger than you have already.

Good luck
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/112814695226
 

[davholla]

Is this a miniature or full size mulberry?  It looks like a 2 person job.

There is a huge choice of large plant pots, if you google for "Planter" or "plant trough".  And many of them are very expensive. 

Alternatives may be to use plastic storage boxes, which would need holes drilling in the bottom.  And are usually rectangular.  Wooden planters of the right size could be a DIY project out of scrap wood.  And for really attractive homemade planters, there are several "hyper tufa" projects on youtube.

Wooden barrels cut to size could fit the brief.  I was also thinking of a large Belfast sink, although this may not be much bigger than you have already.

Good luck
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/112814695226
 

Thank you, I think need luck to be honest I am really bad at DIY so that might not be a great choice

[davholla]

PS I think I might just try replacing the compost, feeding better (any ideas) and making sure the watering is correct.  Repotting looks scary.

[Vinlander]

Alternatives may be to use plastic storage boxes, which would need holes drilling in the bottom.  And are usually rectangular.   

My experience with plastic storage boxes is that they have nearly zero UV tolerance outside the house.

On the other hand, the manufacturers of cold water system tanks can't afford to cut corners by assuming they won't be in the sun (for fear of consequential loss actions) - so they last many decades in full sun.

There are several sizes and they cost less than a very ordinary planter half the size from your local ripoff garden centre ("you get what you pay for" is such arrant nonsense - always was, always will be - you'd think it'd already hit rock-bottom credibility these days - but I doubt it).

I've only ever paid for one CW tank, all my others came pre-drilled from skips. They don't look great, but a bit of cheap fencing fixes that (wood or plastic, maybe zinc etc. for a modern look)  - making them look like an ornamental planter - with the advantage that if the surround rots (or crumbles from UV) you just replace it...

Even better there is always a slight  taper down to the bottom - many planters don't - or even worse have an inward lip at the top  - what a nightmare they are to re-pot if you put a perennial in - you have to cut them away (which is a shame for the fibreglass ones that do last for years - always reserve those for annual crops).

Cheers.

[pumkinlover]

I tasted my first mulberry on Sunday, it was delicious!
It was a fairly large tree in a walled garden. I'd love one and wish I'd known how nice they are when I was younger.

[Vinlander]

I tasted my first mulberry on Sunday, it was delicious!
It was a fairly large tree in a walled garden. I'd love one and wish I'd known how nice they are when I was younger.

There are many mulberry species and crosses - beware of anything except a guaranteed "Black" mulberry sourced from a reputable nursery - the one you tried is 99% certain be this type - all the others give much, much blander berries than the black one - though some can be just as dark, (there is an amusing story as to why so many black mulberries were planted in the early C17 - see PS.).

I wouldn't trust anything from a garden centre unless you buy it while it is fruiting so you can be sure of the flavour you enjoyed.

Even seeds from reputable companies are unreliable - I know this from bitter experience - and it might be decades before you find out either way.

Cheers.

PS. In one of the most famous plant-related Government cockups (until the Groundnut Fiasco of the 1940s), King James 1 (&6) decided that silk was too expensive and there were fortunes to be made by raising silkworms in Britain. He managed to convince landowners to plant thousands of trees whose leaves would feed the worms but all the trees were black mulberry and could not support a profitable business. There are several reasons given for this - the worms preferred the white mulberry that grew better in China (and France), or the silk the worms produced on the wrong leaves was a lower quality - or the white mulberry was the only species that could survive the massive defoliation needed to produce tons of fresh leaves in the spring. I find the latter explanation more convincing.

[Obelixx]

Pumpkinlover - I received seeds for black mulberry from the RHS seeds share scheme a couple of years ago and ended up with 15 very healthy young plants.

I have given away a couple, swapped a couple more and now am left with 10 plants I shal grow on as espaliers along the fence between what we loosely call garden and the pasture on the other side.  No idea how long they'll take to fruit but happy to wait.

Maybe you could find a young plant from a fruit specialist or try seeds yourself.

[Paulh]

The National Plant Collection of mulberry (Morus) is held by the Royal Household at Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace.

I thought that would be about two trees but apparently there are ten species and 32 cultivars.

They went for Morus because of the royal connection - the introduction of the (wrong) mulberry for silkworm cultivation under the Stuarts.

The fruit is made into jam for the royal breakfast table.

[JanG]

I grew mulberries (morus nigra) from seed 20+ years ago.I now have two trees which have started to bear fruit in the last couple of years. The berries are pleasant tasting but very small. I haven’t researched very thoroughly as to whether it’s standard to have such small berries from species trees as opposed to cultivars, but small the fruit certainly is.

I’m happy to have the trees but if space is limited and expectations are high, then after a long wait there might be disappointment!

[Obelixx]

Don't mind if the fruits are small.   Given the droughts we've had here the last couple of years we don't even get brambles in the hedgerows as the fruits are all dried up by mid July.

I shall plant mine as an espaliered hedge so we have some privacy from the pasture on the other side as our farmer neighbour who occasionally puts cows in there is retiring and moving into the village but wants to use some of it as a veg plot.  Turns out 2 other neighbours have been looking for extra land for a veg plot and to keep a few goats so we'll have a chat and they can share it between them - as long as they agree to no pesticides.

[pumkinlover]

I was chatting to someone who said that they hadn't had good results from the "dwarf" mulberry they had purchased.
Luckily the wall garden visit is an annual event (a natural dyeing day) so opportunity to eat some (permission was given) hopefully again.
There was also a laden quince in the garden as opposed to my own barren tree.

Vinlander- one of the spinning group had a go at Silk moths and can verify the voracious appetite. They are very beautiful moths.

[Vinlander]

I grew mulberries (morus nigra) from seed 20+ years ago.I now have two trees which have started to bear fruit in the last couple of years. The berries are pleasant tasting but very small. I haven’t researched very thoroughly as to whether it’s standard to have such small berries from species trees as opposed to cultivars, but small the fruit certainly is.

I’m happy to have the trees but if space is limited and expectations are high, then after a long wait there might be disappointment!

I also have a tiny-fruited black mulberry from seed (I'm lucky compared to friends who got pink ones from theirs). I'd say the flavour is excellent - possibly more concentrated than others I've tried - however the biggest ones are the size of a frozen pea - so there's a lot of searching, picking and stalk-removing before I get a decentmouthful.

It is a bit cramped (mainly because it's taken decades to get anything at all) but I'll try fertiliser & more water next year.

Cheers.

[ACE]

There was a mulberry tree growing wild near us when we were children. You could aways tell who had raided it when they were ripe, You looked like a mass murderer with bloody hands and face and a good whack from mother for ruining your clothes with burgundy stains that would not wash out.

[saddad]

You're not wrong ACE, always say you can't pick Mulberries without looking like an axe-murderer!

[Vinlander]

If you really want to look like an axe (or hammer, dagger etc.) murderer then try juicing berberis berries by hand - the juice 'sets' on your hands like congealing blood and you have to scrape it off to get it into the jar.

It is basically a raw fruit jelly and very good on game etc. (I assume it's just the result of a shedload of pectin but I haven't researched it).

Cheers.