Mulberries suitable for container?

[tropic_tester]

I'm thinking of getting a mulberry, but I'm short on space. I have an empty half wine barrel that I'm thinking of using as the pot, but I'm not sure what variety would be suitable for containers. And an additional piece would be finding a variety that would do well in mild or cool climates, because I've read that without a lot of heat, mulberries may not develop as much sweetness.

Based on these two factors, I was thinking a dwarfing variety, potentially an alba or alba hybrid. My thinking is that I won't have the root trim as frequently or if ever, and I could also avoid a completely tart fruit without any sweetness in my mild climate. The varieties I had in mind were either Gerardi, dwarf everbearing, or world's best. What are people's opinions on this? also I'd love any recommendations for a more suitable variety.

[Kevin Jones]

Thai Dwarf... you won't be disappointed.... Great for a container too.

Kevin

[tropic_tester]

Do you ever have to root trim Thai dwarf in a container? how large can it get in a container? I'm not finding too much info about this variety compared with as other dwarfs.

[achetadomestica]

I would check with your local nursery. Allot of people in your area
like the persian mulberry. It does not like the humidity in Florida
and is not grown here. Any mulberry can be pruned and kept small.
The Thai dwarf is a very productive smaller tree in my yard. It is not
my favorite for taste. I have 12 different types of mulberries and recently
I had some visitors sample about 6 types that were ripe. No one picked
the Thai dwarf as their favorite. 

[fruitnut1944]

World's best is the most massively vigorous tree I grow. It must have a massive root system. My suggestion is a Morus nigra. It may also be called Persian. They have large black buds when dormant and smallish sweet tart fruit. Far more tasty than others I've tried like WB or Gerardi. And the tree is much smaller than world's best but not as small as Gerardi.

[skhan]

I'm my little experience with mulberry, Himalayan red seems to be a pretty low vigor tree. Mine is grafted onto dwarf everbearing though.
Also the best mulberry I've tasted, I still need to try tice and Australian green.
As mentioned above I'd weigh what people in your locality say heavier then my suggestion

[dmitrig02]

Would a Pakistan Mulberry be ok in a container in other spots? (I'm in the Bay Area, California). I have heard great things, I want to grow one, but I just don't have space for another in-ground tree...

[K-Rimes]

Would a Pakistan Mulberry be ok in a container in other spots? (I'm in the Bay Area, California). I have heard great things, I want to grow one, but I just don't have space for another in-ground tree...

I have pakistan grafted onto dwarf. It went from 15gallon to 25 gallon this year and is already rootbound. You could dig a hole and then it root into the ground?

Honestly, most mulberries have ultra strong root growth habit. I don't think they are well suited, other than Thai dwarf, to pot life. Even thai dwarf grows insanely fast. Mine went from a .5" trunk to 1" trunk in 1 year.

[sc4001992]

I think you can plant mulberry in a small pot, similar to how a bonsai tree is made. I'm planning to do this with the Black Pakistan tree with lots of fruits and it was about 7-8ft tall, trunk size 2-1/2" diameter. I already cut it down to 13" high and have new branches growing out with fruits. I started digging it out from the ground and will trim the roots, then put it into a shallow (8" deep) clay pot size 12"x 24". You can do this with old oak trees, olive trees and Calif Juniper which I have (150 yrs old) and keep them at less than 3ft if you like. I plan to keep this mulberry at 3-4ft max, I have enough mulberry trees so I need to dig more out of my yard.

[Kevin Jones]

Spoken like a true collector!
Sounds like my menagerie...

Kevin

[Outdoorenth]

I have these four in 3 gallon pots for now and will be up potting after they finish fruiting:

Pakistan - with grafted Shangri-la and White Pakistan
Gerardi dwarf
Sweet Lavendar
Dwarf Everbearing - with grafted Shangri-la, White Pakistan, Australian Green, and Kokuso

The above grafts are new. I am also rooting Tice, World's Best, Jan's Best, and Valdosta.

Not sure how many different pots I will keep, but I plan to have a few multi grafted trees.

I would definitely recommend Gerardi dwarf, it is a prolific fruiter, juicy, a little sweet when fully ripe. My others are still too new or have not fruited yet for me to recommend. I do not recommend dwarf everbearing. It just hasn't done well for me yet, so I have been grafting others to it.

[socalbalcony]

I have a thai dwarf that I got from Kevin as a rooted cutting, its in a 5gal, just pruned it back hard to hopefully get another round of fruiting. I also have a black pak in a 5gal which is almost rootbound, just defoliated it to also get another round of fruiting. Ideally I'd up-pot after but low on space so I may just end up root pruning in it later.