Author Topic: Mulberry tree leaves hard and some turning yellow - Cause?  (Read 1328 times)

chad6159

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Mulberry tree leaves hard and some turning yellow - Cause?
« on: September 19, 2018, 07:15:31 PM »
Hey guys my mulberry tree leaves are pretty hard (crispy) and some are turning yellow and falling off. Some of the leaves that are green are kind of splotchy and not solid green.  Now to me usually that means it needs more water. But it was been raining here almost every day and it has 4-6 inches of mulch on it. I just dug back to the dirt under the mulch and it is wet. not crazy wet but for sure not dry.

It is putting off new growth like crazy right now, but the old leaves seem to be dying?

Any ideas what could be going on?

New growth:





Yellow and splotchy leaves:





Click on this next one to enlarge and see the "splotchy-ness"




« Last Edit: September 19, 2018, 07:17:06 PM by chad6159 »

palmcity

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Re: Mulberry tree leaves hard and some turning yellow - Cause?
« Reply #1 on: September 19, 2018, 08:54:26 PM »
Hey guys my mulberry tree leaves are pretty hard (crispy) and some are turning yellow and falling off. Some of the leaves that are green are kind of splotchy and not solid green.  Now to me usually that means it needs more water. But it was been raining here almost every day and it has 4-6 inches of mulch on it. I just dug back to the dirt under the mulch and it is wet. not crazy wet but for sure not dry.

It is putting off new growth like crazy right now, but the old leaves seem to be dying?

Any ideas what could be going on?

Normal for my mulberry trees to begin loosing leaves. So you are fighting the normal desire of the tree if your over watering and fertilizing at this time. However, the tree may grow larger quicker if that is your desire vs. getting more mulberries next April.

Mine look like sticks in Jan. with big buds waiting to burst into new leaves & then fruiting. They are pretty ugly for the next 4 months while dropping leaves.

« Last Edit: September 19, 2018, 09:00:20 PM by palmcity »

achetadomestica

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Re: Mulberry tree leaves hard and some turning yellow - Cause?
« Reply #2 on: September 19, 2018, 08:58:42 PM »
I have 7 types of mulberry trees and mine are doing the same thing now.
If you prune them throughout the summer you can get multiple crops. For me
they are they least demanding tree I have. I also put a ring of mulch around them
and I never water or fertilize them. Every spring they produce abundantly. I like them
allot except the Pakistan Black I have. It has crunchy non staining fruit that isn't
my favorite. I think you have the large leaf type and it produces large messy fruit.
The tree gets huge though. It has been my favorite the past two years. I have heard
people call it Tice or Shangri La I am not sure the correct common name. I don't prune
in the summer the later crops never seem to be as good?

chad6159

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Re: Mulberry tree leaves hard and some turning yellow - Cause?
« Reply #3 on: September 20, 2018, 08:08:18 AM »
Thank you guys! I did fertilize it about a month ago, when I fertilized everything else I have. But now that I know they do not really need to be fertilized Ill stop doing so for the rest of the year.

It does really look like a Shangri La Mulberry. I was told it was a Pakistani mulberry, but when I bought it there were already some fruit on it but they were not nearly as big as the Pakistani variety.
I watched this video and the leaves look exactly like mine so I think you are correct about it being a Shangri La.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBXSbIhTsmg

 I was getting nervous because I didnt know if it was too early for it to be turning yellow. I just planted it 2 months ago.  I do see some tiny "flowers" on it coming from the new growth, so looks like ill get a lake summer harvest, but there are only a few so far.