Mulberry Tree (Morus spp.)

English/Malay

"...mulberry tree is not fussy"

Mulberry tree is quite popular in Malaysia. I got to know about this plant through a gardening group. Out of curiosity, I bought mulberry cuttings and tried to grow them.

How to Grow Mulberry Cuttings?

Mulberry cutting can be grown into mulberry tree by;

1. Plant it straight into the soil, or
2. Put it into a glass of water. Change the water everyday until new leaf emerged. Then, plant it in the soil.

My first batch of Mulberry cuttings

What is the Best Way to Grow Mulberry Cutting? 

Not all cuttings developed new leaves but I noticed that higher number of cuttings developed into mulberry trees when I soaked them in a glass of water.

My second batch of Mulberry cuttings

How to Care for Mulberry Tree?

Now that your mulberry cutting has grown into a new tree, what's next?

1. Plant it. You can plant it in a pot, or directly into the ground. The best size to plant mulberry in a container is in 1-gallon pot. Filled the pot with commercial potting soil or any variety of garden soil, providing the drainage is good, since mulberry tree is not a fussy plant. Mulberry tree can be grown under partial to full sun.

2. Maintain it. Water the mulberry tree to keep the soil moist (not wet, nor puddled). Fertilize it with mature composts, organic fertilizers, or NPK value of 10-10-10, or fertilizers that contain iron, zinc, manganese, magnesium, molybdenum, copper and boron. Fertilizer requirements for mulberry tree is not as much as other plants such as tomato. Additionally, it is also recommended to periodically prune your mulberry tree, especially in the presence of dead leaves in order to prevent disease, as well as to improve air circulation around the tree. However, do not prune while your tree is developing fruits.

3. Harvest it. Based on experience, mulberry tree yielded its first fruits quite fast. However, it is recommended to pinch off the first group of fruits to ensure that all the energy at that time focusing on root development.

How to Make my Mulberry Tree to Develop More Fruits?

1. Water. A mulberry tree will drop its fruits before they are fully ripened if the roots become dry.

2. Pruning. A popular tip among mulberry enthusiasts in Malaysia is to remove all the leaves after fruiting to promote fruiting the next group. Many has vouched for this so I'm gonna give it a try and any progress will be updated in Laman Lily's Facebook Page.

Why Pruning Promote Fruit Development?

Mulberries can be monoecious (male and female flowers grow on different trees), or dioecious (male and female on the same tree). They will also sometimes change from one to the other when stressed which could be the reason why a fruitless mulberry (male) may suddenly develop fruit after heavy pruning.

Reference

1. How to Start Growing a Mulberry Tree From Another Tree.
2. Growing Mulberry Plants from Cuttings.
3. Mulberries (Morus nigra).
4. How to Care for a Mulberry Tree.
5. How to Get More Fruit from a Mulberry Tree.
6. Mulberry Pruning and the Bearing of Fruit.
7. Mulberry breeding, cultivation and utilization in Japan.