6 responses |
Mike starts with ... Hi All, At the end of summer last year I bought a white shahtoot mulberry from Daley's and had it shipped down to Wollongong NSW. I have very bad, very hard ground so I dug a hole 1 metre square and one metre deep. I put 2 bags of cow manure on the bottom of the hole, one bag of potting mix above it to form a layer and then planted the tree surrounding it with the original soil. Because the tree went in at the end of summer it remained relatively dormant, only growing about 5 inches in height last year. I've kept water up to it and about the second week of September it cam out of hibernation and has grown very well. It's original 9 leaves attached to the stalk have now turned into 18 healthy branches about a foot and a half long. My problem is that it it is dropping it's fruit. I know it's a young tree but from the original 29 mulberries that it produced (yes, I admit it, I count them) It now has only 4 or 5 left. Does anyone know if this is normal for a young shahtoot or is there something I need to do? -Mike | About the Author Mike4 Wollongong, NSW 11th October 2007 8:41am #UserID: 360 Posts: 5 View All Mike4's Edible Fruit Trees |
Scott G says... I had the same problem last year. My 2-year-old Dwarf Red Shahtoot dropped 90% of its crop while they were still green. The tree was healthy 2m tall by 2m wide and had a 'normal' amount of fruit. It was much drier then and that stress is what I put is down to, but I don't know for sure. By contrast this year is wetter and the tree is having a bumper crop. I also think the tree is a little more established so that should be making it a bit happier. I don't know if it is a characteristic of Red Shahtoots or Shahtoots in general but my fruit comes off the tree very easily. In fact if the tree were shaken much of its fruit would fall off. My recollection is that the normal black type of mulberry tree holds on to its fruit considerably more firmly. | About the Author Scott G Gold Coast 11th October 2007 9:39am #UserID: 44 Posts: 117 View All Scott G's Edible Fruit Trees |
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Mike says... Thanks Scott, hopefully next year's crop will be hardier. I'm just miffed because I've never actually tried the fruit which some say tastes delicious. I was concerned that maybe I was giving it too much water but the leaves are a beautiful colour and the tree is growing pretty rapidly. Perhaps it's putting it's energy into growing this season and hopefully next year it will put some effort into fruiting. Interesting that you say that the fruit comes off to the touch. Perhaps I'll need to protect it from winds too. | About the Author Mike4 Wollongong, NSW 11th October 2007 9:49am #UserID: 360 Posts: 5 View All Mike4's Edible Fruit Trees |
Leona says... I have two white shahtoots - both young, like yours. Both of mine recently came out of their Winter dormancy, grew some lovely foliage as well as fruit...which has all dropped for me also!!! I did just repot one but the other, I can think of no apparent reason for this...although we have had a few days of heavy winds here of late. My young weeping mulberry, on the other hand, has managed to retain all of its fruit. It seems like perhaps young Shahtoots are more susceptable to fruit drop? | About the Author Leona Perth 11th October 2007 11:14am #UserID: 315 Posts: 42 View All Leona's Edible Fruit Trees |
Scott G says... I would like to add that my Dwarf Red Shahtoot (nearly 3m tall by 3m wide) is producing a big crop of fruit at the moment and some of them fall to the ground. I think the tree is healthy and this is typical. If I don’t clear them up they go putrid after a few days. It builds up in to a smelly mess. A regular (daily) cleanup is needed to keep this under control. I throw most of the fallen and overripe ones to the chooks and they like them. I haven’t always been able to keep this under control and there is a lot of putrid fruit under the tree in the mulch. It seems to be breaking down fast but smells. For anyone planting a mulberry I would recommend putting it in a place where the ground under the canopy can be easily accessed to do this cleaning up. Also I wouldn’t plant other plants underneath – that would make the job harder. Judging by the speed my chooks eat them I would think they could do this cleaning if the tree was planted in a chook run/pen. Seeing as mine isn’t I am considering laying cardboard under the tree to catch most of the fallen fruit (leaving small gaps to allow the rain through). | About the Author Scott G Gold Coast 17th October 2007 9:29am #UserID: 44 Posts: 117 View All Scott G's Edible Fruit Trees |
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