Mulberry Tree Cultivation Attempt #2

Tom

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Last year I attempted to grow some new mulberry trees from cuttings. It didn't work at all. Not one of them grew at all, despite following all of the info I found on you tube. I'm trying again this year, on a smaller scale with some changes. Thought I'd share the changes with you. I planted the cuttings a week ago, so time will tell...

Changes:
1. Leaf nodes. Last year I made sure to put at least two or three nodes under ground in my soil. This year, the man at the nursery explained that it has to be active nodes that you've just torn the leaves off of. I pulled the new leaves off of a few nodes, and made sure the fresh "wounds" were underground in the damp soil.
2. The soil. I always save my vermiculite after egg incubation. I like to mix it into the soil in my planter boxes. Help hold moisture and slows down soil compacting. A friend who does a lot of gardening and growing told me its good to have some vermiculite mixed into the soil for new plants. Holds moisture and makes the soil "less hot" in his words. I'm giving it a go.
3. Fertilization. This year I also mixed in some fertilizer, but I did it down low in the pot. If roots start forming, they will eventually reach down and find some very fertile soil.
4. The secret weapon: Rooting hormone. I had a class in horticulture back in college and learned about rooting hormone. I've used it a few times over the years, but never had much luck with it. For all my gardening/farming successes, I've sure had a lots of failures too. I put the hormone on the cut ends, and on some of the fresh wounds created by ripping the leaves off.

Hoping for the best. Wish me luck!
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Mrs.Jennifer

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You’re more patient than I am. In Connecticut where the growing season is much shorter, I can’t wait for cuttings. I just bought the whole tree a couple of weeks ago...
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turtlesteve

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Hah! I was just posting a thread on this and didn’t see that you beat me to it. Guess we were both thinking about it at the same time. Hope you get some to root!
 

tortadise

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Most excellent. That’s how it’s done here. It also helps VASTLY to trim all the leaves off. The nutrients in the clipping will try to force everything to the leaves and expire itself. If you clip all the leaves off it holds and then develops roots. We do same with hibiscus plants and ficus here. It’s fun playing with plants
 

Yvonne G

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I was going to say that too - you want to take off all the leaves so the energy the plant uses goes towards rooting and not keeping the existing leaves alive.
 
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