In my experience, hardwood cuttings are far easier to root. I can literally cut an 18" stake of everbearing mulberry, drive it 12" into the ground along a dripline in February and have an 8 foot tree by the end of September.
This is a great video with a clear explanation and language that reflects an understanding of the science behind it. There should be more like it. Love the humidifying cup too. If you are doing large numbers of cuttings this is great, if you want more size in your cuttings have a crack at air layering (water, potting media or direct into the ground).
Thank you! I do my best to edit them down to clear and concise with just enough science to make them useful. Thanks for taking the time to comment! Good timing on suggesting air layering. I was just editing an air layering video!
@@ryanscottlove they are fun projects to do but editing can be painful. I have one I have to edit up but haven't started. Looking forward to it, I will subscribe.
Greetings from the LooseNatural farm in Andalusia Spain where we currently live through a drought and we are creating cuttings as well. Thank you for sharing this video. Very useful indeed
yes sir! thanks for the info. i have family in Indiana, mulberries grow here. i live in seattle and mulberries are expensive, hard to find there. i will be bringing some home in my bag, and grow em! this is great.
I’ve got a mulberry tree growing in the back of my property, it used to produces lots of fruit, what the birds don’t get, mostly falls off and rots, I’m going to try and see if I can start some cuttings and plant them in my back yard.
I've actually taken off entire branches trimmed off all the leaves and fruit and managed to make 10 ft cuttings mulberries are just amazing when it comes to propagation it's more so like a weed mind you I only got one cutting out of the deal it ends up being an already-established tree by the end of the first season I have the dwarf black and a 40 ft tall Pakistani
Great video, thanks for sharing. In my climate, Morus nigra is probably the best bet, but I have some red and white and hybrid varieties like Illinois Everbearing bought from Agroforestry trust in England (in pots temporarily) which might be better in hoop house/greenhouse. Greetings from Ireland.
I've also seen people use willow cuttings soaked in water and aloe vera. I'm currently testing a rooting hormone mix called FOOP you may be interested in if going that route.
Thank you for the awesome video! You managed to be informative and thorough, while remaining focused and concise...a perfect balance, imo. I just have a couple of questions. Do you water the cutting that was placed in the bag, at that time? What's your watering routine while the cuttings root, for all methods? Thanks again!
I'm so glad you enjoyed it. Informative but concise is exactly what I'm going for! Because I start the soil moist, the cuttings don't have leaves transpiring, and they are in a humid environment, the medium should stay moist for weeks without adding water. Once they root out and leaves form the soil might start to dry out and then I just add enough water every few days that the soil doesn't dry out completely. I worry more about the medium being too moist and the cuttings rotting during the rooting process. That becomes less of an issue once they are rooted. The cup method with bottom heat is becoming my favorite method even though it takes up more space than the bag method. One of the reasons being the watering is much easier when they eventually start to dry out.
Thanks for this! Just got a few mulberry cuttings (Illinois and Australian), not sure where's the best place to store them once you're done with putting it on soil. Is it best in a place that's bright with no direct light or is it best stored in a dark place.
I would say temperature is probably the most important factor. I've had good luck keeping them in the 75-80°F range. I just keep them out of direct sunlight when they have humidity covers as I don't want them to heat up too much. It seems each cutting has a mind of its own when it comes to favoring roots or top growth. So it may be an interesting experiment to keep some dark and see if the results are different. =)
Great video and very educational but I do have one question. Will the three cuttings you put in the pot not over grow each other or compete leaving 2 to die? Or do you wait for them to root then separate them for their own pots?
I usually don't get 100% success with rooting so sometimes only 1 roots and the problem solves itself. If multiple root you can try to pull them apart (maybe when dormant for less shock) or I use water like in this video: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-DgkwE0hwWlk.html
Thank you for the video. I didn't catch what you used after cutting the bottom of the mulberry plants. What other substitutes can we use if we can't find the wax like thing.
I use Clonex rooting gel, but mulberries will root without an added hormone. There are other brands that work well also. I think it just increases the chances to add it so I do.
I've done this 3 times with a variety of sizes in thickness from thinner than a pencil to thick as a bough. I do think a few smaller ones had too much water because they were outside and we had rain for days. but none of the larger ones have taken off either.
I have around 20 cuttings in a vase with some water in it that I took from my White Mulberry tree this past Thursday that was cut down the following day (because a large section fell recently, and a very large root had been coming up 😢). I have a bunch of empty 2.5 Qt. Containers, but only a few 1 G containers. Do you think putting 2 in the 2.5 Qt. containers would work ok? I ordered that rooting gel from Amazon that should be here tomorrow. Btw, are the humidity domes absolutely essential? If so, can I use empty 2 L bottles turned upside down that are cut out, and can I use tinted green bottles (diet Squirt LOL), or do they have to be untinted?
Depending on conditions I tend not to get 100% rooting success, so sometimes 1 in 3 root in a container and the problem solves itself. If multiple root I have a video where I show how I separate them. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-DgkwE0hwWlk.html The humidity is optional and some recommend not using it! It does create another adjustment period later to move them out of humidity.
How often do you water the 1 gallon pot during the initial 2-4 weeks to root? Once they’ve rooted then do you transplant into separate 1 gallon pots and leave in full sun? Thanks
Watering is a bit of an art. Depends on climate you are in. I keep soil slightly moist... not too dry and not too wet. A moisture meter could be useful! I tend to plant 2-3 cuttings per pot. If more than 1 makes it I will let them establish some strong roots and then attempt to separate. (ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-DgkwE0hwWlk.html) I keep them in partial shade until strong top growth has formed.
@@ryanscottlove after I tried a different tactic, the hard work cuttings seem to get moldy when I create make shift greenhouse, but the supple greener ones, thrive...I’m totally over killing my cuttings. Lol 😂
@@cookedonchronic720 I've had similar issue. I've had luck gently washing the mold off with water every couple days. You could also wrap the cutting in grafting tape like parafilm and skip the humidity cover.
I have a 30" mulberry that I started from a 10" Amazon purchase. I want to top the two longer (main) twigs so that I can develop a more bushy tree verses a tall narrow tree. I wondered how thick a cutting must be for a successful cloning to happen. My main shoots are about 1/4 of the thickness as your thinnest example. Any concerns and should I keep the mother plant out of direct sunlight for a few days after I top it to minimize any stress here in the hot late PA summer
Glad you enjoyed! I've never heard of bone meal being used as a rooting compound. That said, the rooting hormone is optional. I'm planning a video comparing rooting methods to test it out!
I used water soluble fertilizer 20-20-20 with trace minerals diluted to 2.0EC to water the cuttings . (my soil mix was sterile coco coir and perlite that had no fertilizer in it ) is that OK or will it cause rot due to too much Nitrogen?
So- I had a bunch of cuttings in a moist paper towel in the refrigerator for about 3 weeks because I got sick. Ugh.. think it’s still worth a shot to propagate? Tia
Not sure if you get to these old vid posts but I have a question. What time of year did you take these cuttings? I have a couple friends with Mulberry and would like to take come cuttings. Thank you.
The cuttings in this video were taken in early October of 2020. I'm in zone 6a in the US so it's starting to cool off around that time. Do you know what variety of mulberry it is? You can pretty much take cuttings at any time. You can even store the cuttings for weeks in the refrigerator before rooting them in the spring. I just took some cuttings in mid august as an experiment and I think it was just too hot. The air layers are doing great though so maybe that's an option if you have access to the tree. Here is a rough draft of an air layer video I will be posting with updates in a month or so, ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Qhoo1yKOGzc.html
@@saramoroza-james914 One thing I would add is depending on where a person lives, the peak of summer is probably not the best time to root them outdoors. I'd shoot for 70-80's °F for rooting!
I believe cuttings can be taken at pretty much any time. Even when dormant if you bring them indoors to root. Benefit of spring is they have more time to form stronger roots before winter.
With the third way, aren't you concerned about having to disturb the roots when you presumably will separate the trees and plant them separately in the ground or in larger pots? Also, not having done a lot of research, I placed some cuttings from twigs in a glass of filtered water without even using rooting hormone and they grew thick roots that are 2-3 inches inches long. I guess they are ready to plant in pots. Should I use a similar soil to what you are using? Also should I let them stay outside since we are having summer weather or do they not like 90+ degree weather when they are this young? If I bring them out, I'll probably need to bring them in during January and February and then need to worry about bringing in bugs. Any suggestions? Maybe I could keep them outside leaving them in a cold frame during the coldest periods. I have a Mulberry tree already that is about 7 feet tall but it isn't doing very well. I'm not sure if it is all due to the plastic tag from the nursery the bark grew over that I can't remove without cutting into the tree or some other reason. Last year and the year before it seemed reasonably healthy. (Do you think I should carefully cut into the bark and remove the tag?) Sorry for so many questions.
- Yes. Definitely a drawback of the third method. That said, if a small percentage of cuttings root then sometimes it works out well. - You could use a similar soil, maybe adding some extra perlite. I would also use some sort of humidity cover initially and open it slowly over several days. Also keep it out of direct sunlight. - The most I would do is keep them in an unheated garage/shed over winter as they "like" to go dormant. - What kind of mulberry is the 7ft tall tree? If there is a plastic tag girdling the tree that is likely a problem. How low on the tree is the tag? Depending on the variety and location you could do an air layer in that area after cutting the tag out. Here is a video where I make an air layer: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-wvd3mSi6kIU.html
@@ryanscottlove Thanks for the quick reply! I wish I could try the air layering but the problem area is near the base of the trunk only about 5 inches from the ground, if that. I'd let too many weeds grow around it (not knowing how important it is to keep the area around the trunk free of mulch, weeds and debris so the tree could breathe and be in an area without competition from other plants - not to mention make it easier to monitor it and I didn't notice what was going on until the tag was anchored inside the trunk). It is almost as if the tag split the trunk in two and two main branches are growing on either side with the tag stuck in between (maybe where it was grafted). I feel TERRIBLE about it now! My neglect of the poor tree seems to be putting it through what must be torture. I think it is a dwarf everbearing Mulberry. The first year I had it it produced berries but the birds took most of them. I obviously hadn't learned how important it is to do the initial planting right and remove and transfer the tags to a marker or support stake next to the tree for ID purposes. To make a long story longer- and I'm not trying to make excuses but- in the area where the Mulberry and other fruit trees are now used to be 9 giant 80 foot tall pine trees which I had cut down as others in the neighborhood had fallen during storms... and a few years later having had the stumps ground up... the yard responded by producing a ton of poison ivy, poison sumac and Virginia creeper to cover the ground here. The wood chips from the remains of the pine tree stumps weren't enough covering. It all makes it hard to keep it away from what I want growing. I would pay to have an arborist come and do surgery on it (and look at other fruit trees as well) but where I am in NW SC zone 8a, I haven't been able to find any actual arborists to do that. I wonder if there are any good books about repairing injured trees...
@@emilybh6255 You might be surprised how resilient mulberry trees can be. I've had mulberries take substantial damage low to the ground and I air layered the top of the tree off and planted it once it rooted. Then the bottom portion sent a new trunk up and recovered!
@@ryanscottlove I think you are right. After I've fussed over it (and managed to wedge a piece of wood into the problem area to hopefully redirect the growth so the space will widen and I can pull out the tag), I've noticed a bunch of healthy new branches covered with leaves growing out of what I thought was a dead tree covered with lifeless dried grey bark. So I'm happy about that. It managed to do this in near drought conditions as we've had temps in the 90s and 100s and have only had about 6 inches of rain in the past three months. Although I've been watering it along with my much younger fruit trees. I've used up my rainwater and am now having to resort to using municipal.
In the summer I leave them outside in the shade and in the cooler months I keep them indoors and on a seed starting heat mat. In 2-4 weeks you should be able to tell if they are going to root or not. Once they have rooted removing the humidity covers should be a gradual process, maybe over the course of a week adding holes to the cup or opening the plastic a little bit each day so the rooted cuttings can adjust.They can dry out shockingly fast if you go too quick!
Thank you. Yes, no problem. These are Illinois Everbearing which has a tasty fruit. In fact, the cuttings tend to try and fruit immediately so it's best to remove the catkins so it can focus on roots/leaves.
Im wondering how necessary the rooting hormone is. I have a feeling that I can get cuttings to root straight up, or down? The mulberry tree in my parents’ yard volunteered itself. At first I thought it was a weed tree so I chopped off some branches with a machete & hacked into the trunk a bit...😓 yeah I feel really dumb but now as I am learning to tend to the tree & branches, I will have to do some trimming and want to make the most of the branches and multiply & share the abundance and plant it in a couple discreet public locations...so for anyone wondering how it came up in the first place, it was because of permaculture & allowing room for life to happen. I had piled all the yard waste by this old rotting tree and some of that composted down, attracted birds & other critters...something must have pooped a mulberry seed as there is this massive tree there now. It is fruiting now and just shooting all the way up to the ⭐️ stars... I am going to multiply so many trees from this one that there will be a vast forest of mulberries that will more than make up for my dumb mistake....honestly was only chopping it up because I started thinking about what the neighbors might think but heck with them...enjoy your mulberries!!!
The rooting hormone is optional. May speed up the process a bit, but not necessary. The tree that grew out of the pile may have been an accidental rooted cutting!
Just checked humidity in Houston and today ranged from 70 to 100%. Lowest this week is 20% mid day Thursday, then predicted to oscillate between 50-80%. A humidity covering should keep humidity high and fairly constant during those dips through the day/week. Alternatively I've seen people wrap the entire cutting in grafting tape, or even dip the cutting in paraffin wax to keep the moisture in!
As of late though I've been using the air layer balls for s**** and giggles as I don't have many plants that I'm ready to use those on I'd prefer to do that in the spring rather than going into the fall
I've had best results with the cup method in a clear sterilite bin with a heating mat under it. This video has a 4 week update for the cup method: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-XAqxk0BovZ4.html and this video has a gallon pot update for a different variety: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-LgACEk927iE.html I'd only use bag method if space is very limited.
Sir how long it takes to fruit Pakistani mulberry...my plant not producing fruit though i bought it from a nursery since more than a year..while my other mulberry fruits just in couple of months
I have limited experience with Pakistan mulberry as I am in Zone 6a. But I do have one in a large container that I protect in the winter. If it is a grafted tree or grown from cutting a couple things that come to mind are transplant shock or unusually cold temperatures. In that case, next season you may see fruit. If it is a tree grown from tissue culture it could take several years. @QCTropicals made a video covering the T.C. issue: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-6OKiS5M2RzA.html
I use a premade mix. www.promixgardening.com/en/product/detail/promix-premium-all-purpose-mix Sometimes I add extra perlite. That said, I have seen people use pure perlite to root cuttings. It just takes a lot more attention to keep things moist, Good luck!
@@ryanscottlove dormant will still work OK? I'd like to take some from my mulberry tree now and they haven't started budding quite yet. Well, as of last week when I looked. They may have now. Unfortunately the tree will have to come down soon because it is growing into the side of our barn so I want to get numerous successful clones before it has to go.
@@thehallhive9425 Yes! Dormant will work as well! Some extra help may be adding more perlite to the soil mix to prevent rot and keeping somewhere warm. Good luck!
I started these late in season so my hopes weren't especially high. Planning to make a proper video with updates when it warms up. That being said, the cup method has a 4 week update in my 60 second video (ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-XAqxk0BovZ4.html) The gallon pot method is indoors and one of three is currently leafed out. If memory serves the bag method rooted but fizzled out.
@@BillyBob-so9xr So far I've had luck rooting Illinois Everbearing, Silk Hope, Kokuso, Shangri-la, and World's Best. It is a bit tricky when a cutting focuses energy on top growth rather than roots and I've had plenty fizzle out. For me rooting hormone, bottom heat, and humidity has helped.
I found some good plastic 26 ounce drinking cups and 32 ounce deli containers at Smart & Final ( a bulk discount store). But they were on two different aisles, one aisle for plates and dinner ware and one aisle for the plastic clam-shell food containers. For making the holes I used an old soldering iron to melt the holes in the cups. It went very fast.
Awesome find! When you are ready to transition them out of humidity you could slowly add more holes each day to the humidity covers so the rooted cuttings can adjust. One thing you may battle with using humidity is mold forming. I just gently rinse it off if it starts to form. If indoors I've found a heating mat improves results, and if you are keeping them outside I'd keep them out of direct sunlight. Good luck!
@@vegashigdon1 I would keep them out of direct sun. If using humidity covers it will also be important to remove them slowly in stages over several days once rooted.
@@ryanscottlove So, i have failed first go around i guess. Going on 2 weeks and no growth at all no roots. Once you put them in soul and put humidity dome on, do you water them anymore?????
I use Pro-Mix. You can see the bag in this video: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-eKxwhhVBFdA.html And nope, rooting hormone not necessary!
@@jordang3649 the ones I planted in containers did not make it but I planted a few in the soil next to my Papaya tress and they did. So I don’t think the root hormone mattered as much as the environment. However I bought rooting hormone and going to try again. My Tree is so big and I would like to sell the seedlings. Good luck to you. 😍
ULINE 3X12 2MIL www.uline.com/Product/Detail/S-1429/Flat-Poly-Bags/3-x-12-2-Mil-Industrial-Poly-Bags But they are available in smaller quantities from resellers on eBay!
I have a black mulberry tree, has a 7ft single stem with 6 or 7 leaves on top and about 3 thin, branches down low I can turn to cuttings, never done it before, very nervous. Also have a black dwarf in a pot plant. Would love to get advice if possible via email if you are ok with that
Hey James! Couple questions, when you say you have a black mulberry are you talking about the fruit color or the tree classification? There is red (morus rubra with red/black fruit, native to North America), white (morus alba with white/red/black fruit, native to Asia), and black (morus nigra with red/black fruit, native to Asia/Spain). It gets even more confusing because sellers/traders will mislabel them based on fruit color. A true morus nigra is the most difficult to grow in many places, but is considered by many to have the best fruit. Most of the strongest varieties are hybrids of rubra and alba. More than happy to help but I would imagine others will be looking for similar information so posting the conversation publicly might help someone who googles it in the future. Maybe start a thread on growingfruit.org/ Because you have access to the trees an air layer might give you the best results. But it may depend on the variety of the trees you have!
@@ryanscottlove morus nigra but on front, lists black mulberry. Same as my dwarf black Mulberry. Am in Sydney, so part of Asia and with Spain's climate. As a kid, these grew like weeds, everywhere. semajsenrab72@gmail.com can end pics if it helps
@@Semajsenrab72 Since my experience is all with hybrid rubra/albas I'm nervous about applying them to morus nigras. Especially if your trees are fairly small. I did find this post about propagating them so there is hope! growingfruit.org/t/black-mulberry-morus-nigra-air-layer/17407
Thanks is for the link, with your plastic cup method, where did you keep them once you had them filled and a cutting inside, did you leave them outside in the natural sun, if so how much sunlight per day? And did you water them a small amount every day or when soil looked too dry. It is winter in Sydney, lowest we get is 4 -10°C (39-50) at coldest I know you are reluctant, but I have decided to chance it with my black mulberry as they grow very easily here and are easy to find. But really want to try and create more instead of wasting good cuttings.
So far, your video has been the easiest to learn from, alot skip info, or just show sped up edited clips, don't explain the time of year, temps, how much sun v watering, etc. I hope you do more videos. There are heaps of videos out there but very few good ones. Thanks for your video
Angled cuts to prevent water collecting is a myth. also straight cuts grow more roots than angled cuts in experiments. Only reason to do it is if you won't know top from bottom later on.
I believe cuttings can be taken at pretty much any time. Even when dormant if you bring them indoors to root. Benefit of spring is they have more time to form stronger roots before winter.
The cuttings I keep over a heat mat can show roots in a couple weeks. This video has a 4 week update on the cup method: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-XAqxk0BovZ4.html
