Contents
Mulberry, mulberry or mulberry, is a deciduous crop, belongs to the Mulberry family, with about 17 species. Under natural conditions, such a plant can be found in Asia, North America and Africa. In Our Country, mulberry became known during the reign of Ivan the Terrible. Today you will learn what conditions for planting and growing mulberry require in the middle lane, which varieties are best to choose, how to properly propagate and fertilize the crop, and help it fight diseases.
Varieties and varieties
Tasty and healthy berries in our time can really be grown on the territory of the Nizhny Novgorod, Moscow region, in the Middle Volga region, in the Stavropol region and the Krasnodar Territory. Even the ancient Chinese adapted to make paper from its bast. Currently, musical instruments, cooperage products and various crafts are made from wood. Berries are suitable for making delicious juices, vinegar, jelly, wine and even vodka. They are usually added to the dough in dried form. And the leaves are needed as food for the silkworm, the chrysalis of which gives a person valuable silk.
About 17 species of mulberry are known. On the territory of our country, it is customary to grow white and black mulberries. They differ in the color of the bark. White is considered more frost-resistant. Black berries have excellent taste characteristics.
Since the culture is unpretentious in terms of care, it grows normally even in the presence of high environmental pollution, it is simple in terms of shaping and has excellent decorative effect, beautiful hedges are made from it, entire alleys are created. For these purposes, such types of crops as weeping, golden, large-leaved, spherical, dissected-leaved, pyramidal are often used.
For central Our Country, it is recommended to choose such frost-resistant varieties as Staromoskovskaya, Korolevskaya, Vladimirskaya, Belaya Medovaya. For example, the Old Moscow mulberry has an unusual spherical crown. Its cultivation can be carried out in the form of a weeping form. The berries of this variety are distinguished by high sweetness, are black in color and grow up to 3 cm in length. Such a culture does not need the immediate vicinity of pollinating plants, as it is self-fertile.
Video “Description”
From the video you will learn the description of the fruit tree.
Landing
Before planting seedlings, you should responsibly approach the choice of a suitable piece of land. It should be a well-lit sunny place, best on a hill (so that there is no moisture stagnation), also protected from wind and drafts. Before planting, you need to dig a hole, the width of which will be about 0 meters, and the length – about 8 meters. It is required to prepare a certain composition of the soil. It usually consists of 0 bucket of rotted manure, 5 grams of superphosphate and 1 grams of potassium salt.
Further, mandatory watering of the tree is required. Still can not do without the creation of mulch. She needs a boost. The layer of mulch in the root circle should be about 5 cm. In early autumn, it is necessary to pinch young green shoots. This procedure aims to stop their subsequent growth. It is recommended to create a tree on an existing one and a half meter trunk. To do this, unbend the branches and support them with pruning. Then the care of the crown will be simplified, and when harvesting the fruits will be at a normal height.
Fertilizers and top dressing
A young seedling is usually enough of those useful elements that were introduced into the soil during the planting. But during the fruiting period, the tree needs enhanced nutrition. So it’s time to feed. Such an event is especially relevant in the presence of sandy soil. When the ground thaws normally, fertilizers with a high nitrogen content should be applied.
Nitrophoska, bird droppings and mullein showed themselves well in practice. The consumption of nitrophoska per square meter is about 50 grams. This top dressing can be re-applied if necessary. This should be done at the beginning of June. In autumn, fertilizers with an optimal content of phosphorus and potassium give excellent results.
Reproduction
On your own site, it is realistic to get a new specimen grown from seeds, root shoots, layering, cuttings, or a cultivar by grafting.
To obtain a rootstock of varietal seedlings, breeders use seeds. Most often, white mulberry is propagated in this way. Before sowing, the material needs to be stratified. It is recommended to plant seedlings for permanent residence in a few years.
And a year later, it is permissible to regraft them with a cutting from that tree that can please the owner with tasty fruits and a high degree of productivity.
Another reproduction of this culture is carried out by grafting. To do this, it is customary to plant varieties on stamps of 1 or 2-meter seedlings, which can then be formed as a ball or as a tree with a weeping crown. You can also create trees that have several varieties on one bole as a result of grafting.
Own-rooted seedlings can be obtained by propagating the culture with green cuttings. But in practice, this is not so easy to do, so gardeners often seek to reproduce by layering. Remember that propagating mulberry with lignified cuttings is still an art.
To propagate the plant by layering, the mother culture must be cut into a stump, and a well-developed growth for the next year bends down to the surface of the earth in a horizontal position and digs in. During the summer period, it is necessary to carry out hilling of vertical growth. This is done a couple of times. With the onset of autumn, ready-made seedlings must be planted. If normally mulberry enters the fruiting period for 7-10 years, then grafted seedlings are able to do this a little earlier.
Diseases and pests
Diseases of this culture are usually divided into those that are viral and fungal in nature. These are root rot, powdery mildew, tinder fungus (a fungus that feeds on wood), curly small-leaved (cause of appearance – sucking insects), brown spotting, bacteriosis. The causes of these diseases may be the introduction of nitrogen in large quantities, the lack of nutrients, excessive thickening of the crown. Pests such as a bear, wireworm, larvae of the May beetle and white American butterfly, spider mites, and comstock worms can annoy the culture.
Because of the caterpillars of the American butterfly, the tree can lose its leaves. Branches with nests, when pests are detected, are subject to immediate cutting and burning. Chlorophos is used for protection. It also helps against mulberry moth. Such a caterpillar appears during the swelling of the kidneys. If a characteristic cobweb is found on the back of the leaf, a spider mite is interested in your tree. Since it tends to suck the juice from the culture, the result of the vital activity of the parasite is the staining of the foliage in a brown color and its subsequent fall.
Measures should be taken quickly, as the tick multiplies rapidly. Spraying the culture with thiophos is considered effective. For young plants, damage to the roots is dangerous, which is often caused by a bear, wireworm and beetle. Through the resulting wounds, pathogens of various infections also penetrate into the culture. Mulberries are of great interest to birds who love to feast on them. For protection, a special agrofibre or mesh with small cells helps.
Video “Landing and care”
From the video you will learn how to properly plant and care for a mulberry tree.
