Blackberries (actually mulberries)

[redsg]

HI!!!!!
I live in a country where blackberries aren't sold anywhere (crazy!) so I haven't eaten blackberries for over 15 years!!!! always wanted to find them or grow myseld a tree/bush, but as u can guess never found seeds in stores either!

today however I found a blackberry tree near where I live!! it was too high for me to be able to get to some of the ready blackberries but I was able to rip 2 green ones and take them home. now of course I want to plant them somewhere to grow my own!!!
so my question is, where should I start? should I squash the green blackberry to get the seed inside? or do I need to get the seed from a ready (black) blackberry? will it grow if I plant it in a pot with some flower? (I don't have a garden and no knowledge in gardening, but I planted a watermelon and tomato seeds ones in a pot and they grew)

help please!!

[gumbo2176]

If these look like blackberries and are growing on a tree, they are likely Mulberries. Blackberry plants are vining plants, some with thorns, some without.

If you want to grow blackberries, locate a nursery that sells thorn-less blackberry plants and plant those. It will be the next year before you can harvest berries since most produce fruit on 2nd year canes. Once these canes are harvested, they need to be removed so the newer canes will produce fruit next season. I put in 4 berry plants in Jan. 2011 and the growth from last year is full of fruit that will ripen sometime in late June/early July. The newer canes are now up and growing like wildfire among the older canes. After the older canes stop producing fruit, I"ll cut them out and allow the newer canes to take their place.

[redsg]

lol I didn't even know there was such a thing as mulberry..now I guess what I did try many years ago WAS mulberry and not blackberry
so I guess the thread needs renaming now lol.

ok..so should I plant the seeds or a whole branch from the tree I found, if I want to grow the berries as soon as possible?

[!potatoes!]

planting mulberries from seed - you want fruits that are as ripe as possible (falling off the tree of their own accord). my favorite method for seeding them is to take a few fruits and blend them lightly into a slurry with some water...if you prepare a pot, mostly filled with soil/mix, pour the fruit slurry over the top of the soil, and then lightly cover with more soil.

water again as needed. mulberries frequently don't have any fancy germination needs, so you should be getting seedlings later this year. of course, then it will be 6+ years before you get fruit, unless there's grafting involved.

[rainbowgardener]

Yeah, likely the seeds inside a green berry are not mature and won't sprout.

[redsg]

woah! 6 years till I get some fruits?!
hmm so will planting a little branch from the tree that already has fruit work? will it just keep growing? or it'll just die in my pot?

[applestar]

Birds LOVE mulberries and then drop seeds with their poop. So mulberries tend to sprout everywhere in the garden. I'm constantly yanking them out of undesirable places, though I have a couple that I'm letting grow, and a couple more that I'm putting in my bonsai-wannabe collection.

Study the leaves and the bark, then look around and see if you can find a sapling somewhere in the neighborhood of the mother tree. Do be aware of local ordinances and regulations, as well as basic courtesy before attempting to dig any up.

As an example, if anyone spotted an unwanted mulberry tree sapling on my property and asked to dig it up, I would most likely say yes. But if it was a larger specimen, I would appreciate replacement soil for the hole.

[redsg]

haha I'm not planning to dig up a huge tree!! I'm talking about snaping one tiny branch..and it's not on a private property, the question is will the branch keep growing in my pot after I snap it from the tree.. otherwise why even bother..

[applestar]

I know you meant to cut a branch and root it, and it maybe possible. But it will take a long rime for it to grow sufficient roots to support a fruiting tree. Why do that when there may be saplings? (and I'm thinking no more than waist-high for best results so as not to cut off too much of the roots)

You could even try grafting the older fruiting shoot to the sapling if you want to experiment. But you'll need to learn about correct timing and techniques.

If you are willing to grow from something much smaller, I suspect you would be able to find little seedling trees in the area.

[redsg]

I don't know what a saplings is..and how/where do I get it?
is it a part of a tree that has roots?

[gumbo2176]

I don't know what a saplings is..and how/where do I get it?
is it a part of a tree that has roots?

Often you'll see smaller versions of the parent tree growing nearby, these are the saplings of that tree. Think of them as the kids of the parent tree. They will have their own root system and if dug up carefully, they can be transplanted to a more suitable area with proper spacing and light conditions.

[redsg]

ok, thank you, I'll look for them!

[barnhardt9999]

Mulberry trees are much more tolerant of being dug up and moved than most fruit trees. They can sustain a fair amount of root damage and recover quickly. I recently dug up a 5 foot sapling, destroying nearly all of the fine roots in the process, and after potting it, the leaves never even drooped.

Best bet for a fruiting tree quickly is to learn to identify the saplings, which is very easy because of the unique shapes of the highly variable leaves, and dig one up. After you dig one, I would also try and keep the tree in a shady area for a few weeks to heal then relocate to its permanent location. As for picking a spot - more sun = more fruit.

[Gustav]

I live in south africa and here on the farm mulberries grow wild. actually, they are pests here. Under the big trees, there are alot of young ones that I guess grew from the berries that fell on the ground.

We have both the black/purple one as well as the white type. We usually go down with some buckets, fill them up & use it in ice cream etc.

I dug up a young plant & it seems to be growing at one hell of a speed.

[redsg]

hello again everybody! couldn't get a sapling but I planted few seeds from the fruit in a little pot and so far all the sprouts have 2 leafs and I see 2 more tiny ones growing! very happy about it

I wonder how much direct light is needed and how many times to water?

[redsg]

my little mulberries dieddddd

I can't figure out what I did wrong..
I tried to keep them inthe shade, didn't work, I tried to keep them in the sun, didn't work, added water, didn't help..arggh

only got about an inch height, and some not even that, some developed 6 little leafs, some had their first leafs die before the 4th started growing at all.

do u think they didn't grow well because I seeded them in the wrong season and it's just too hot for them in the sun? (it's burning outside, about 95°F), but when I take them out of the sun they maybe didn't get enough light?
I want to get new seeds and try again but I wonna know how to make it work next time..
help?

[!potatoes!]

well, how big was the pot? small enough to dry out too fast when it was in the sun? they need some decent light; full shade won't work. summer is the only time I've had luck, so it's not a seasonal issue...water only when the surface of the soil is drying out a bit.

if the pot was quite small, I could see them getting a little crowded if there were a lot of them and they all advanced to 6 or so true leaves. I tend to separate them out into their own pots when they've all got two true leaves, so competition is reduced when they're real small.

[redsg]

well the pot IS small..and I had 7 sprouts..but they were still so tiny!! what are they fighting for? sun? they aren't shading each other..water, I add a little everytime I see dry soil..
I was planning to move them to a bigger pot once they get a bit bigger but it didn't come to that
I still think the exposure to the sun for longer than an hour was bad..everytime I left them on the sun I'd see the leafs getting yellower a bit..so I was scared they'll burn if I'll leave them all the time and today I did and I got shocked by what happened, all the stems were straight up before that, and after I left them in the sun they got all crooked like they aren't strong enough to stay straight and most of the leaves look dead now..(OOoooops!)
here's a pic of my pot when the 5th leaves started growing
https://i45.tinypic.com/x3h6b8.jpg
and this is now
https://i46.tinypic.com/3500adl.jpg

[rainbowgardener]

They are clearly struggling, but as of the second picture, they definitely don't look dead.

Try to find some balance and quit moving them around so much. If you keep trying different things, they don't have a chance to get adapted to one. I'd try to find either a filtered light spot or a spot with a few hours of morning sun and leave them. Be careful not to over water, let the soil dry out a little in between, as potatoes said.

Don't fertilize or mess with them until they are looking a little healthier, just leave them alone to see if they can pull through.

[gumbo2176]

well the pot IS small..and I had 7 sprouts..but they were still so tiny!! what are they fighting for? sun? they aren't shading each other..water, I add a little everytime I see dry soil..
I was planning to move them to a bigger pot once they get a bit bigger but it didn't come to that
I still think the exposure to the sun for longer than an hour was bad..everytime I left them on the sun I'd see the leafs getting yellower a bit..so I was scared they'll burn if I'll leave them all the time and today I did and I got shocked by what happened, all the stems were straight up before that, and after I left them in the sun they got all crooked like they aren't strong enough to stay straight and most of the leaves look dead now..(OOoooops!)
here's a pic of my pot when the 5th leaves started growing
https://i45.tinypic.com/x3h6b8.jpg
and this is now
https://i46.tinypic.com/3500adl.jpg

One of the most prolific mulberry trees I've ever seen was close to my previous house. It was growing in full sun near waters edge on a little strip of land that jutted out to a bayou in eastern New Orleans.

That thing would produce tons of berries each season and I could pick gallons of berries off it with the help of a 6 ft. ladder to reach where others couldn't.

[redsg]

They are clearly struggling, but as of the second picture, they definitely don't look dead.

Try to find some balance and quit moving them around so much. If you keep trying different things, they don't have a chance to get adapted to one. I'd try to find either a filtered light spot or a spot with a few hours of morning sun and leave them. Be careful not to over water, let the soil dry out a little in between, as potatoes said.

Don't fertilize or mess with them until they are looking a little healthier, just leave them alone to see if they can pull through.

yeah maybe I moved them too much..
I'll try to find a fixed place for them to get morning sun and we'll see if they recover..if not I'll try to get new seeds and plant them in the big pot right from the start.

thanks guys for the help!!

[!potatoes!]

yeah, those don't look too bad. they'll probably come through.

[applestar]

Berry seedlings are often found growing under a tree or a bush because that's where a bird perched, then "lightened the load". I think similarly dappled sunlight or shaded-from-noonday-sun nurtures tree seedlings the best.

When watering, frequently made mistake is to water a little bit at a time and not enough all st once. Either dunk the entire pot in a bucket of water to the soil line and soak the soil completely or water until it comes out from the bottom, wait a few minutes, then water again (first time the water can just pour between open paces in the dried shrunken soil and not soak in). Now feel the weight of the watered pot. Watter again when the pot feels lighter when you heft it.