Mulberries hanging around!

Last month I trim down the mulberry plants! Here is the rewards of the trimming section. I can see many berries hanging around!

I shall prepare juice with the berries since they go rotten very fast once plucked from the bush! They are packed with high content of vitamin C!

mulberry

The Haze situation have become bad over the weekend. The API index stands at 190. Very unhealthy level. I heard it was due to Gunung Lokan jungle on fire in Indonesia on top of existing plantation burn down activities! Altogether we are breathing very bad air at the moment! Schools are closed today. It rains yesterday but not enough to bring down the thick haze.....

Plants don't mind haze! Mulberry plant have produce a lot of fruits after trimming section!

This is my harvest last Saturday. Bowl full of berries and few lemons. Most of them ripen . We stay indoor most of the time to avoid haze so I have overlooked the fruits. We can't finish it fast, so I decided to do Mulberry juice.

Combination of lemon and mulberry! Yummy taste of juice!

A bottle of thick mulberry cordial. Just mix with water and you have nice juice to drink without flavoring, colouring and preservative. The bottle was half full by evening when I took this photo!

fruits of mulberry

It's mulberry season in the garden!

Every time I trim them down, they bounce back with handful of fruits! The mulberry fruits have sweet and juicy taste.

I saw some eggs left on the leaves. I'm not sure the owner of the eggs but hopefully they are friendly to the garden!

Do you know who they are?

Mulberry

2 months back I trim down my mulberry plant. I could not resist to plant back the stems even though there were no space available to grow them at that moment. I decided to plant them outside the garden along the walkway of house. The soil here is hard and full of stones. Not so good place for planting.

Anyway I tried my luck. The mulberry must have struggle very hard here. They don't really grow well after 2 months . Nevertheless the produce some juicy fruit for us! What a survivor!

I shall buy some soils to rectify the problem.

Mulberry

Mulberry is very juicy fruit. It has a sweet taste when ripen. Usually the plant provide some fruits now and then.

Last month I trim them down. They look so leggy at that time. It sent out a lot of young shoots.

Little that I realize that there were hidden fruits on below them! If you see just like that, you won't see the fruits!

Last week I thought of doing some weeding and this is what I found! There were so much  of fruits! all ripen and some already drop down. I got a bowl full of mulberry fruits! It's my first time to harvest this much fruits!

I decided to make mulberry juice! such a tasty juice especially during this dry and hot season!

Mulberry

The mullberry plants were getting very tall. The fruit gets reduced and they get leggy too. I decided to trim them down 2 weeks back.

This is how they look now! They look more fresh with the new look. I can see few unripe fruits too!

Mullberry fruits!

 

The mulberry plants are producing many fruits now! It's not enough for preparing juice but enough for my son to have it! At the moment many flowering plants have take over mulberry plant area! Soon I need to transfer them!

little fingers ready to pluck the harvest!

 

I guess this is the only fruit tree that has minimum attack by pest. Once in the while bird share it with us! We don't mind since they are not greedy enough to finish it off! ;)

 

mulberry - fruiting

Mulberry plants have started to produce a lot of berries!

they are Delicious and nutritious fruit to have in the garden!

Mulberries can be used in baking cakes , jams and juices! At the moment, I only have enough berries to pluck and eat! :) I will try to propagate more of this plant!

mulberry ripening!

The mulberry fruits in the pot have started to ripe!

I was hesitant to transfer the cutting since it have a lot of fruits. I'm worried that the transfer will cause some transplant shock and all the fruit will drop. I will transplant them to the ground once the fruit are plucked!

Those are precious mulberries I'm waiting eagerly to pluck!

Mulberry update

Mulberry is very precious plant in my garden. I was very reluctant to trim down the plant. It was growing tall. I was worried  that if I trim down, it will dry off. After read through few articles and websites by websites, finally I gain my confidence to propagate them.

I was really amazed! It start to produce leaves and fruits too in very short time! I didn't know this plant is very easy growing plant! Currently it's still in the pots. I need to think where should I plant them out.

The fruits are really juicy and packed with vitamins!

Mulberry is fruiting again!

Mulberry is fruiting again after few months. Previosly it fighting space with Zinnia. I have transplanted most of the Zinnia to flower bed. It gave Mulberry plants more space and it rewards me with some fruits!

This is what I get from CRFG website on the Mulberry culture:

Location:
Mulberries need full sun and also adequate space. The distance between trees should be at least 15 ft. The trees should not be planted near a sidewalk. The fallen fruit will not only stain the walkway, but are likely to be tracked indoors. The trees are quite wind-resistant with some cultivars used as windbreaks in the Great Plains region.



Soil:
Mulberries like a warm, well-drained soil, preferably a deep loam. Shallow soils such as those frequently found on chalk or gravel are not recommended.


Irrigation:
Although somewhat drought-resistant, mulberries need to be watered in dry seasons. If the roots become too dry during drought, the fruit is likely to drop before it has fully ripened.


Fertilization:
Mulberries generally thrive with minimal fertilization. An annual application of a balanced fertilizer such as 10:10:10 NPK will maintain satisfactory growth. In California mulberries usually need only nitrogen.






Pruning:
No special pruning techniques are needed after the branches have been trained to a sturdy framework, except to remove dead or overcrowded wood. A mulberry tree can be kept to a tidy form by developing a set of main branches, and then pruning laterals to 6 leaves in July in order to develop spurs near the main branches. It is not advisable to prune the trees heavily since the plant is inclined to bleed at the cuts. Cuts of more than two inches in diameter generally do not heal and should be avoided at all cost. The bleeding will be less severe if the tree is pruned while it is dormant.




Propagation:
Mulberries can be grown from seed, although the plants can take 10 years or more to bear. Seed should be sown as soon as extracted from the fruit, although white mulberry seeds germinate better after stratifying one to three months before planting.

Sprig budding is the most common method for grafting mulberries. A T-cut is made in the rootstock and a smooth, sloping cut is made on the lower end of the scion. The scion is then inserted into the T and wrapped and sealed. Other types of grafts are also usually successful, although there may be incompatibility between white and black mulberries. Hardwood, softwood and root cuttings also are suitable methods for propagating mulberries. Softwood cuttings of white mulberries root easily when taken in midsummer and treated with rooting hormone. Red mulberries are less easily rooted. Black mulberries are also somewhat difficult to propagate since they tend to bleed a lot.


Pests and Diseases:
Mulberries are generally free of pests and diseases, although cankers and dieback can occur. In some areas "popcorn disease" is an occasional problem, in which fruits swell to resemble popped corn. M. alba/M. rubra hybrids are particularly prone to this condition. The disease carries on from one season to the next, so collecting and burning infected fruits help control it. The ripe fruit is very attractive to birds, but there is usually enough fruit left over for harvesting.


Harvest:
White and red mulberry fruits (and hybrid fruits) are ready for harvest in late spring. The fruit of black mulberries ripen in summer to late summer. The fruits of white mulberries are often harvested by spreading a sheet on the ground and shaking the limbs. A surprising quantity can be gathered from a comparatively small and young tree. Black mulberry fruits are more difficult to pick. As the berries are squeezed to pull them loose, they tend to collapse, staining the hands (and clothing) with blood red juice. Unwashed the berries will keep several days in a refrigerator in a covered container. The ripe fruits of the black mulberry contain about 9% sugar with malic and citric acid. The berries can be eaten out of hand or used in any way that other berries are used, such as in pies, tarts, puddings or sweetened and pureed as a sauce. Slightly unripe fruits are best for making pies and tarts. Mulberries blend well with other fruits, especially pears and apples. They can also be made into wine and make an excellent dried fruit, especially the black varieties.

Mulberry and Zinnia

Mulberry shrubs in my garden grow very slowly. It have to fight space with Zinnia which have terrorize the area!

I'm a bit busy nowadays. I seldom tend the garden beside watering the plant. I can see Zinnia everywhere surrounding the Mulberry plants. I have to remove the Zinnia somewhere so that Mulberries can grow. May be i should slot this work in my weekend activity!

Can you identify the Mulberry ?

Mulberries

This is my first time to taste the fresh mulberries right from the garden. It's so juicy!

 The plant is so young but have started to produce berries!

Mulberries!

I had a sweet surprise yesterday when i went back home! It's been a while since i check the Mulberry plants. The last went i saw they were still small and mealy bug have their colony on them! Somehow once i chase away the pest, they start to bounce back. I never expect them to produce fruits!

 Out of 4 plants, 3 have started to produce fruits! The another one is still recuperating from the terrible pest attack! I hope it can recover! It's really suprising gift for me as it's very small plant!

Mulberry

Mulberry plants were given to me by Shida month ago. Not much growth at the moment but i think they are trying to strenghten their roots. The soil here is clay type. I have mix some potting soil before planting them. May be Mulberry roots having hard time to penetrate the soil! The other day i saw young shot on one of the plant which i thought have died! I'm waiting for more shoots and fruits now!