Mulberry gender issues
 

I understand that it's only the female mulberry bushes that bear fruit.

Since my main interest in mulberries is the fruit - and my growing
space
is limited - I'd quite like to ditch my male seedlings.

That presents me with a problem - mulberries are slow to mature, and it
is
not obvious how to distinguish the male plants from the female ones
without
cultivating both for many years.

Any recommendations would be welcomed.

Mulberry gender issues
 

In message .com,
writes
I understand that it's only the female mulberry bushes that bear fruit.

Since my main interest in mulberries is the fruit - and my growing
space
is limited - I'd quite like to ditch my male seedlings.

That presents me with a problem - mulberries are slow to mature, and it
is
not obvious how to distinguish the male plants from the female ones
without
cultivating both for many years.

Any recommendations would be welcomed.


What kind of mulberry?

Some are monoecious, with separate male and female flowers but on the
same tree. My parent had a red mulberry which fruited despite being
miles from any other, and black mulberries round here seem to fruit
prolifically although planted alone.

Note that if yours is really dioecious and you plant only females, they
won't fruit - you'd need at least one male as a pollinator.

I'd go ahead and plant anyway.

--
Sue ]:(:)

Mulberry gender issues
 

--
-------------------------------------------------------------------

"MadCow" wrote in message
...
In message .com,
writes
I understand that it's only the female mulberry bushes that bear fruit.

Since my main interest in mulberries is the fruit - and my growing
space
is limited - I'd quite like to ditch my male seedlings.

That presents me with a problem - mulberries are slow to mature, and it
is
not obvious how to distinguish the male plants from the female ones
without
cultivating both for many years.

Any recommendations would be welcomed.


What kind of mulberry?

Some are monoecious, with separate male and female flowers but on the
same tree. My parent had a red mulberry which fruited despite being
miles from any other, and black mulberries round here seem to fruit
prolifically although planted alone.

Note that if yours is really dioecious and you plant only females, they
won't fruit - you'd need at least one male as a pollinator.

I'd go ahead and plant anyway.

--
Sue ]:(:)


:-))

There you go Sue, you just cannot do without us males!!

Wonderful things aren't we?

:-)))

It isn't necessarily possible to sex trees grown from seed, other than by waiting until they flower. This is the dilemma for growers of, for example, Monkey Puzzle trees, who might want seed off them, and may have to wait 30-40 years to find out what they have got. From cutting, you know what you have. But if you want fruit, you do need at least one male if it is a dioecious species (one with separate male and female plants).

You don't say where you live, but this is UK forum, so that is my starting point. The mulberries commonly grown in UK are Morus alba (white mulberry - monoecious), M. rubra (red mulberry - dioecious) and M. nigra (black mulberry - moneocious). But all of these are commonly referred to as mulberry trees, not mulberry bushes, so I wonder if it is something else you have, perhaps paper mulberry (see below). Though the childrens' nursery rhyme "mulberry bush" results in some confusion.

If you are most interested in fruit, then of these I recommend you should grow M. nigra (black mulberry), especially if you are in the UK. It is monoecious, ie, no male/female difference, and you only need one tree to get fruit. M. nigra is mainly propagated from cuttings, and you can get a reasonable size tree and crop after about 5 years with a tree bought from a nursery, might take longer from seed. Said to reach peak cropping at about 15 years.

M. alba is also monoecious, but there is some disagreement about how good the fruit are. Some reckon they are as good as M. nigra, and heavier cropping. But there are specific varieties in order to get good fruit crops. From seed, you are taking a risk of not getting a good fruiter. My mother planted one by mistake, and has not been pleased with the fruit, so I have got her a M. nigra so she can be satisfied with a "proper" mulberry. There is a form of M. alba called M. alba multicaulis, may be a separate species, which is more bush-like, and the fruit are reportedly less tasty.

M. rubra is dioecious, so you would need a male as well as some females to get it to fruit. It is reported to take 10 years to get fruit, and peak cropping from 30 years on. It does not fruit as well in the UK as in its native eastern north America (Florida to Texas to Dakota to Quebec).

It is possible that you are actually referring to the paper mulberry, which is not Morus at all, rather it is Broussonetia papyrifera. This is the one used for feeding silk worms. It is dioecious, so you would need male and female to get fruit. It is hardy to "zone 8", so only suitable for milder parts of the UK. This will provide edible fruit, reportedly very tasty. But it isn't the raspberry-like compound berry of the black mulberry, rather it has a large inedible core with very small berries sticking out.

Mulberry gender issues
 

Some more information about my seedlings:

I'm in Bristol. I have seedlings derived from
the trees at Bristol University. The trees
in question are in the botanical gardens and
the Royal Fort Gardens. (Are there other
mulberries in Bristol - apart from Pat's and
mine?)

There are photographs of these trees; their
leaves; their berries; and my own seedlings at:

http://timtyler.org/fruit/mulberry/

The trees (and also their corresponding seedlings)
seem rather different from one another.

I /suspect/ the botanical gardens tree is a
Morus rubra - and the Royal Fort Gardens
tree is a Morus nigra - but I'm open to
more knowledgable suggestions on this front.

I also have a single specimin of Morus alba
(which I believe is silkworm fodder).

I think both trees are Morus nigra.

This is what Morus rubra looks like:
http://www.duke.edu/~cwcook/trees/moru.html

The second seedling isn't a Morus at all, it is a weed.

Mulberry gender issues
 

what do mulberries taste like? have often wondered.

--
Hayley
(gardening on well drained, alkaline clay in Somerset)

Mulberry gender issues
 

echinosum writes

Wrote:
Some more information about my seedlings:
There are photographs of these trees; their
leaves; their berries; and my own seedlings at:

http://timtyler.org/fruit/mulberry/

The trees (and also their corresponding seedlings)
seem rather different from one another.

I /suspect/ the botanical gardens tree is a
Morus rubra - and the Royal Fort Gardens
tree is a Morus nigra - but I'm open to
more knowledgable suggestions on this front.

I also have a single specimin of Morus alba
(which I believe is silkworm fodder).

I think both trees are Morus nigra.

This is what Morus rubra looks like:
http://tinyurl.com/f9esg

The second seedling isn't a Morus at all, it is a weed.


The seedling picture I saw looked remarkably like an elderberry

--
Kay

Mulberry gender issues
 

H Ryder writes
what do mulberries taste like? have often wondered.

Wen fully ripe, very warm and full flavoured, probably nearest to a
smooth rich flavoured port.
--
Kay

Mulberry gender issues
 

echinosum wrote:

I think both trees are Morus nigra.

After looking into it a bit, I reckon you are right.

The second seedling isn't a Morus at all, it is a weed.

Thanks!

In that case I have seventeen Morus Nigra seedlings - and seven
"weeds".

Regarding the possibility that the weeds are elderberry seedlings -
there /is/ a large elderberry tree in my garden - and contamination
through the soil is a definite possibility.

I've grown elderberries from that tree from cuttings - and these look
pretty different - they have leaves grouped in collections of five,
rather than three and one in the seedlings - but maybe they'll start
producing fives as they get bigger.

Regarding taste - mulberries are a gourmet berry - however they are
both
messy and easily damaged, and so they rarely reach the shop shelves:
you
have to get them off the tree. Mulberry leaves are pretty good too.

Mulberry gender issues