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| I am disappointed in the crops I've gotten from my Illinois Everbearing. It produces so few and then they are not all ripe at the same time. The birds are probably getting them before I do, but still, there are not many. Any suggestions for top-working my tree to something that is hardy in zone 5 with good taste and an abundant crop? |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| I have IE,Silk Hope,Wellington,Black Beauty,Pakistan and Girardi.They were all planted within the last couple of years. Right now the dwarf Girardi outproduces them all. Brady |
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- Posted by milehighgirl CO USDA 5B/Sunset 2B (My Page) on Wed, Sep 3, 14 at 22:52
| How does the taste of Girardi compare with your others? |
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| It's similar to Wellington and Illinois Everbearing. Silk Hope took awhile to get going and now has exploded in growth this year,but no fruit.Next year most likely. IE grew a lot also and had a few fruit. I've had Wellington the longest and produces fairly well over about a month and has good flavor.The ants like the real ripe ones. Pakistan has fruited the last two years,but dropped all the fruit when green. Black Beauty has a flavor all it's own. If wanted,I could send some scions next Spring.I'm going to be pruning most of them to keep their size down. Brady |
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- Posted by milehighgirl CO USDA 5B/Sunset 2B (My Page) on Thu, Sep 4, 14 at 0:30
| Brady, Wow, Black Beauty is listed for zone 4. When you say, "a flavor all it's own", I am assuming that's a good flavor???? Yes, I would love to trade some scion next winter. I probably have something you would be interested in. Would you, or anyone else, know if Black Beauty is a heavy cropper? The thing I didn't realize about an "everbearing" is that there's never a real crop that's ripe to harvest all at the same time. If there were more of a crop I would probably get some along with the birds. Anyone else have more experience with IE? |
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- Posted by fabaceae_native (My Page) on Thu, Sep 4, 14 at 11:48
| I've had Black Beauty for a number of years now here near Santa Fe, NM. It is definitely quite hardy in this climate, having survived our record cold (-23F at my house) a few years ago. It is a really neat tree that waits until after the last freak frosts in spring to get growing. The taste blows every other mulberry, and in my opinion every other berry, clear out of the water…. BUT, it is not what I would call a heavy cropper because the crop is spread out over a longer season even than IE (I just ate the last ripe one I could find two days ago). It is also very difficult to find the ripe berries, due to the large thick leaves hiding them so well. While this seems to limit problems from birds, it makes picking very time consuming. Still, a row of these, perhaps grafted low as bushes, would be much more valuable than a row of blackberry bushes in my opinion. |
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| milehighgirl I have been searching for a descent variety as well and it's difficult to find it seems. Many of the ones that produce large fruit due so in small quantity. The wild mulberries are small 1/2 inch or so here but we throw tarps under a tree and shake it and harvest a gallon in a few minutes. A larger berry would be nice but ones like the Morus serrate aka Pakistan Mulberry are a zone out of our range for now. I'm sure that will change soon and more varieties will become available. |
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| Mile High Girl- Morus Nigra "Noir de Spain" produces excellent flavor and a very long season. Birds get almost none because the leaves are large and the berries are created under the leaf. It's great for fresh eating. It doesn't produce a huge quantity at one time, so It's not so great for canning, freezing, etc. John S PDX OR |
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- Posted by fabaceae_native (My Page) on Fri, Sep 5, 14 at 11:27
| I've had my eye on one from Rolling River, called "Big White", with the following description: Incredibly heavy producer of large, sweet, white, non-staining fruit that is excellent for fresh eating and drying. Very early ripening variety is great for luring birds away from the cherries. Hardy to -10 degrees. Zone 6-9. My inclination is that M. alba is the way to go, but in general with mulberries the heaviest producers are already large trees, so that may be part of your problem, and also why Girardi Dwarf stands out for some (being more "mature" than others as a small tree). |
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- Posted by milehighgirl CO USDA 5B/Sunset 2B (My Page) on Fri, Sep 5, 14 at 15:36
| Believe me I would love to have Noir de Spain here, but there is no way. Even Big White would probably not make it here. Oddly enough, when I decided to start my orchard, the mulberry tree was the very first I bought. It's older than any other tree here, bought in 2008. I had about 5 berries from it this year. The David Smith Everbearing that Rolling River has looks interesting: Incredibly heavy production of tasty medium sized black fruit over a very long season. Compact super hardy tree comes from the collection of Richard Fahey in Oxnard, NY. Hardy zones 4-9. I already have an established tree that I would just like to graft onto if possible. I guess I could buy it and graft some of it onto my established tree. I'd have to check on a patent though. |
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| My Illinois Everbearing was planted this May and is a stick about 4 ft tall and I still got 10 or so berries this year, there are three still ripening on it. I think mine will give good crops once it gets bigger? The birds must be getting a lot of yours. But yes I can see the advantages of a big crop all at once. |
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- Posted by milehighgirl CO USDA 5B/Sunset 2B (My Page) on Fri, Sep 5, 14 at 18:30
| Is rooting mulberries difficult? Anyone have success? How does it compare to rooting figs? |
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- Posted by northshore3 5 (My Page) on Fri, Sep 5, 14 at 22:08
| Milehigh girl you might consider Kokuso. It has given me 1'' berries consistantly for the last 5 years. I just put a tarp under each branch every 3-4 days during the 2 week season and shake. I'll gather 1 1/2-2 gallons and leave the rest for the birds. I also grow Illinois everbearing but I never even bother to harvest them due to their smaller size light crops and extended season of harvest.-also a named white that was pulled years ago-small berries no taste. |
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- Posted by milehighgirl CO USDA 5B/Sunset 2B (My Page) on Sat, Sep 6, 14 at 4:38
| I've been looking at Kokuso on Rolling River. I am glad to hear a second opinion on it. I sounds like a winner to me. Too bad I wasted so much time with the Illinois Everbearing. |
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| Rooting out softwood cuttings of mulberries is fairly easy using hormone, mist and bottom heat. Or covering your container with damped burlap and keeping it moist. I know of an IE tree here in Maine that is a mature specimen, quite productive over a 3-4month span. 30' tall. |
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- Posted by fabaceae_native (My Page) on Sat, Sep 6, 14 at 18:18
| My experience rooting mulberry has been boom or bust: most will fail completely, and then you'll happen on a good branch from a good tree that will give you 100% success. I'm still attempting to graft my Black Beauty onto M. alba seedlings, and after two years I just may be seeing some success (t-budding in late August). M. alba to M. alba should be easier…? |
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