Mulberry Fruit Comparison

[spaugh]

Im liking the black pakistan and himalayan better than the white pakistan.  The white ones just have too much sweets and not enough flavor for me. 

[sc4001992]

Yes Brad, you're correct about the white being just sweet, with no other flavor. But I do notice when I give them to people around my yard (walkers) they really like it and are surprised how sweet they are. I noticed the Black Pakistan has more flavor and juice and you get more to eat from each one, but they also get a little wet/sticky on the surface when the fruits are ripe. I don't see that with the White Pakistan and the Red Himalayan.

[Fygee]

WMB fruiting is done. 90% of them tasted like dirty water with no flavor to speak of. 5% had a decent mix of tart and sweet, and 5% were just all sweet, with two specific ones that were very sweet.

Ultimately, IMO, WMB should just be rootstock. What good is an obscene amount of berries if most of them taste like bland butt?

Some of the branch grafts of shathoot and white pakistan have taken on it, but long term I think I'm going to cut it to a trunk stump and graft onto that so the tree is nothing but other varieties that are actually worth eating.

A friend of mine is growing Siam Jumbo. Need to touch base with him on how it's doing and what the flavor is like.

[sc4001992]

World's Best /Thai Dwarf mulberry trees grow very easy from cuttings. They do make good rootstock as well, I have many varieties grafted on Thai Dwarf branches. It doesn't make the grafted scionwood variety grow any slower.

I'm keeping my branches of Thai Dwarf and will be using the cuttings this season for rooting them and it will be good for grafting the Sangue e Latte.

I let neighbors who pass by the house pick/taste the Thai Dwarf, they say oh that's good. But then I give them a few of the Black Pakistan and White Pakistan and they are really impressed with those fruits.

[FloridaManDan]

The Siam Jumbo was pretty good for me. Excited for more fruit next season. Shared and traded a good amount of scions with forum members.

[daisyguy]

World's Best /Thai Dwarf mulberry trees grow very easy from cuttings. They do make good rootstock as well, I have many varieties grafted on Thai Dwarf branches. It doesn't make the grafted scionwood variety grow any slower.

This is has been my experience as well. It's impressive how the rootstock will rise to the challenge of vigorous scions.

Kaz, you sent me some pencil-thick Himalayan Red scions a year ago and this is what one of those graft unions looks like today on World's Best.

[sc4001992]

Wow, that's growing well. I do notice the Red Himalayan is probably the most vigorous grower on my grafted trees as well. I trimmed the top of the branches to 10ft last year and it is already 20ft again so I will need to cut it again in a week or so.

[GrowerA]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6oTClHT9co

[sc4001992]

GrowerA, thanks for the video of the different mulberry fruits. I have a question for you on the varieties:

1. The Taiwan mulberry looks to have very high fruit production, is that the same as the Taiwan Long Red mulberry? Is the ripe fruit red or black? I see the Himalayan mulberry from many sources and most of them have the long red fruits when ripe.

2. Is the Turkish mulberry the same as the Austurkey or Siam Jumbo? I heard recently that Amanda who sell the Austrukey/Siam Jumbo may not have the correct one since her trees seems to have fruits that are not as large (fat) as your photo shows.
 

[sc4001992]

Ok, I took photos but did not have chance to edit/post them here. I will try to get it up this week.

Now I'm ready to take final advance orders for cuttings, here's the For Sale post I made today.

[Johnny Eat Fruit]

So far this year my favorite tasting mulberry is the Sangue e Latte. To me it has the most unique and complex flavor of all that I have tried. I would eat these first out of the five varieties I currently have growing.

The white mulberry (Australian Green) have the highest sugar and many with a sweet tooth will prefer these.

The Reds (Oscar & Red Himalayan) have a more balanced berry flavor with more complexity but not nearly as much acid as traditional blackberries. 

Between the Red and White mulberry's it's a matter of preference between flavor and sweetness.

Just my take

Johnny

[sc4001992]

Johnny, Wow, you got fruits to taste on the Sangue e Latte, excellent !!

I had lots of fruits this year on my large, grafted branch and the squirrels completely ate all the green fruits before I could put a bag/net over them. I was very disappointed since I have zero fruits this year. I didn't think anything would touch the fruits until it started to turn color.

[roblack]

One lone berry popped up on our grafted SL tree, but waited too long, and it was gone. Funny, took a pic of it; should've realized that was the time to eat it. Still waiting to try, and reading Johnny's post just makes it even worse.

Have been getting some Aussie Green berries. First ones, ate them underripe, and was wondering what the hell is wrong with everyone who raves about them. Then, tried some ripe ones. Very sweet, with slight complexity. I like them, and one of my kids really digs them and says it is their favorite.

[sc4001992]

Yup, I forgot how the Sangue e Latte tasted so I was hoping to eat a lot this year. I know that the people I gave the Black Pakistan, White Pakistan, Red Himalayan, and Sangue e Latte, and asked them to tell me which one was the best tasting to them. The answer was Sangue e Latte.

I thought the taste of Sangue e Latte was in the top 3 with Australian Green/White Pakistan and Black Pakistan.

[Johnny Eat Fruit]

Yep, I love the Sangue e Latte. I still got a few ripening fruits on my small tree and will likely eat them in the next day or two. (See Photo)

So far my small Sangue e Latte tree is growing well since I moved it into the ground several months ago.

The white Mulberries do initially seduce you with their sweetness but after a short time, the seduction wears off with the more one-dimension flavor profile.

Johnny



Sangue e Latte Mulberry Tree (6-12-2023)

[sc4001992]

Your tree is looking good.

At least now my grafts I did this spring for the advance waiting list are doing well so I may be able to deliver some small plants to those people. Also, if I need to re-graft any failed grafts, I can cut my small branches since I have no fruits now.

[roblack]

The berry that got away:

[sc4001992]

It looks like it was just ready to start turning pink/purple.

[Fygee]

I recently purchased and grafted Contorted, Cooke's Persian, Black Bird, and Kokuso cuttings from Fruitwood Nursery.

Waiting to hear back from them if the Contorted is a fruiting female or male, which I didn't think to ask before I ordered. Apparently most of the contorted scions out there are male.

Any experience or feedback on the other three? I assume Cooke's Persian to not be all that different from regular Persian. The other two are supposedly pretty good.

[sc4001992]

I updated my earlier post here on April 30 with photos of my fruits now. The fruits were picked on 5/16/23.

I have more photos, once I find them.

[TnTrobbie]

Anyone enjoying 'Skinner' mulbery yet? Just had my first fruit from a tree planted in ~ May 2022 (3gal FL). They mature pretty fast. New growth popped up around mid February. Slender fruit that start out green then matures to a yellow and finally mid deep red. Sweet with more of a cantelope with mixed berry flavor. Pretty good.

[sc4001992]

I have the Skinner grafted (source Marta), but no fruits yet, maybe next year. She said it is one the better long red Himalayan mulberry fruits. This year I purchased every one of Marta's red himlayan scion wood and grafted them up so that I can compare the fruits to Brad's (Exotica) Red Himalayan tree I have.

Today, my Australian Green & White Pakistan trees are out of dormancy and when they put out new leaves, the have fruits on each leaf node so it looks impresive with thousands of small fruits. But I know more than half of these fruits will fall off before getting to full size, then when they start to color the birds will eat half of the fruis so at the end I wil get about a few hundred on each tree I have. Luckily I have many of large trees grafted with these two varieties. They are the sweetest of all (brix =30) that I have measured so far.

If anyone wants to graft a few, I still have some cuttings that can be grafted for sale. Can't cut any more branches when they are fruiting now so next chance to take cuttings will be later in the summer. I'm planning to root 50 cuttings since i have some extras stored, and maybe try to root the big branches (1"-2") this season to see if I can get one to root. I did get a nice size Black Pakistan cutting (1") to root and it is growing well.

So, for anyone that needs maybe 2 cuttings of the Australian Green to graft, send me a message.
I'll post photos of the trees with fruits later.

[fliptop]

Just had my first Australian Green. Indeed they are sweet! Kaz, this is on a cutting I got from you that I cleft grafted onto Thai Dwarf. Also have Black Pakistan and Red Himalayan fruiting on tree, also your cuttings. Many thanks!

[sc4001992]

Wow, how nice !

Good job grafting them.

[nullzero]

I noticed my mulberries grafted to Thai dwarf are fruiting more profusely then on its own roots or other rootstock. I have used it as the choice rootstock, although I have no nematode pressures.