MULBERRY. Thai dwarf vs worlds best?

[morris4000]

Thai dwarf vs worlds best mulberry varieties.  How does each one rank compared to productivity, size, and taste?

[sc4001992]

Good Question. I had the same question last year so I grafted both of them on my Shangri La tree. The World's Best graft was done in late summer so its behind in growth but I can say it grows very slow on my tree. I has some fruits on it now so I should be able to do a taste comparison in a month or so.

The Thai Dwarf is grown by many people, Kevin has a lot for sale and he says it tastes good and has high production rate. I agree with him, my grafted branches I put on last spring is about 8 ft tall and every leaf node has green fruits on them now. Comparing this growth to my grafted World's Best which is only 14" tall, and has many fruits, I would go with the Thai Dwarf. It's easy to graft, easy to root, lots of fruits. I'll share the taste results on my previous post about them.

[Kevin Jones]

The Thai Dwarf is very easy to root... I've been using it as rootstock for the more difficult to root varieties... Like your White Pakistan... which started leafing out within a week after grafting.
Mulberries are real confidence builders.

Kevin

[K-Rimes]

For me, the dwarf varieties are not really delicious. They're kinda tough and fibrous. Dunno how they can really call it "world's best" compared to say Himalayan, Persian or Pakistani.

I still eat them, just don't think they're of note.

[pineislander]

Unless I grew them side by side with the same conditions it would be hard to compare. I'm also sure there is a difference between grafted and cutting grown, on different soils, and between climates in California and Florida.

I got cuttings of the World's Best and put 20 trees in a year ago. They are strong growers and loaded up with green fruit. I had only a few last year between pruning it back a lot. I'm sure in Florida we can get 3 crops by pruning. Spring, Summer, and Fall.
They are looking very good. I took a chance and underplanted them with Seminole Pumpkins 1.5 weeks ago hoping to make use of the space before they get too dense.

[Kevin Jones]

Dwarf may be somewhat misleading... perhaps "More Manageable" would be more accurate.
They are easier to keep small... and the fruit is tasty.
More like apples and oranges when compared to Himalayan, Persian or Pakistani.
With regular pruning they will set fruit all season long.
Plus... They will fruit the first year... and I can't say the same for Himalayan, Persian or Pakistani.
I grow them all... and they're all good in my opinion!

Kevin

[sc4001992]

Kevin, I agree with you about the term dwarf, not really but it is smaller than the Black Pakistan branches.
My grafted Thai Dwarf is not quite 1 yr old yet it grew a lot (8ft) with fruits galore, 2nd time now. I'll post some photos later tonight.

[K-Rimes]

The production of the dwarf/thai is amazing, I admit that. My tree is only a couple years old and it is absolutely loaded with fruit. Hoping the hail and freezes we've getting won't deter them

[sc4001992]

Here's my Thai Dwarf grafted tree, I made these grafts on my Shangri La last year, 4/20/20.  The long branches are over 8ft from graft union.

[bovine421]

I don't know what variety this is I got it from our kids tropical fruit Nursery Winter Gardens Larry about 4 years ago. Right now these are the world's best to me quite sweet

[sc4001992]

Ok, I would like to update you on my Thai Dwarf vs World's Best comparison grafts. Both varieties have been grafted on my adult size Shangri La.

Thai Dwarf:
- got my scions (many cuttings) from Ertdude, who purchased his scions from FlyingingFoxFruits (Adam)
- it is the true Thai Dwarf variety
- my scions were all grafted in April 2020
- its been 1 year since I grafted these and the tree grew over 10ft straight up (every grafted branches), strong variety, grows like weed
- thousands of fruits started in March 2021, now the fruits are starting to ripen (see photos I took this week)
- taste is what Kevin and Mike has mentioned, ok/good, but not excellent
- may be good for making pies since there are so many fruits

World's Best:
- got my scions (few) from 3 different forum members, they say its from Bryce Garling. Last August grafted the first scions (2) received from one member.
- also, this year I received a lot of scion cuttings from venturabananas and another member and grafted in spring 2021.
- the two oldest grafts on my tree is 7 months old, branches are about 2-3ft long.
- there are 20-30 fruits between the two grafted branches
- slower growth initially but now seems to have picked up in spring
- branch growth and leaves looks very similar to Thai Dwarf, fruits also looks identical
- fruits should be ripe in a few more weeks so I can compare the tastes and show final photos for comparison.

Here's the current photo of my Thai Dwarf grafted branches and fruits picked for 2 days now that they are starting to ripen up here (CA).

[Kevin Jones]

Nice report... In my case... for the past few days... every time I go outside... I end up stuffing my face with the Thai Dwarf Mulberries... I find them delicious... can't-seem-to-get-enough good in fact.
Thanks for the in-depth botanical journalism!

Kevin

[K-Rimes]

Nice report... In my case... for the past few days... every time I go outside... I end up stuffing my face with the Thai Dwarf Mulberries... I find them delicious... can't-seem-to-get-enough good in fact.
Thanks for the in-depth botanical journalism!

Kevin

Have you sampled any of the long bois? Pakistani / Himalayan / Shatoot or King white? Incomparable to Thai dwarf, infinitely better imo

[Kevin Jones]

Pakistani's are great... they fruit later in the season for me.... for now they are still small and green... Thai's are ripening NOW... and will fruit off and on all season.
My White Shatoots are too small to fruit... so I will just have to wait awhile for them.

Kevin

[ricshaw]

Have you sampled any of the long bois? Pakistani / Himalayan / Shatoot or King white? Incomparable to Thai dwarf, infinitely better imo

I grow Worlds Best and my wife loves it! It is the World’s best Mulberry in many respects except taste!

I too grow and tasted Pakistani and Himalayan. Yes, they taste much better but don’t produce near the amount of fruit the Thai dwarf types do.

There is a Mulberry grower in Florida named Jan Doolin that grows dozens of Mulberry varieties. She has a Thai dwarf she calls Jan’s Best that she likes best of the Thai dwarf cultivars.

You can find Jan’s videos on YouTube.

[Flgarden]

Jan's best is an everbearing type that is slightly bigger fruit than other everbearing mulberries. I purchased it from her. It is definitely not similar to thai dwarf i got from fruitscapes.
Ana

[sc4001992]

I grow many varieties of mulberries (23 varieties) here in SoCal. My Thai Dwarf/World's Best has been growing for over 2yrs and both are identical, tons of fruits, taste is similar, not much taste except when ripe or the later crops of fruits seem to have more taste. People (neighbors) who pass the house have said they really like the mulberries.

I grafted some branches of Jan's Best (from a forum friend) this spring and it does have more taste/flavor than the Thai Dwarf/World's Best. My grafted branches had a few fruits this year and the fruit is smaller than the World's Best (skinnier) but is sweet and taste is good. I plan to keep the Jan's Best grafts, it's a keeper. But nothing so far grows as vigorous with close leaf nodes than the Thai Dwarf/World's Best, so it makes a great rootstock to graft other varieties and it is very easy to root cuttings.

[FruitTreeAddict]

Hi Everyone😊. I just wanted to clear up something concerning Jan’s Best Dwarf Everbearing...It is a hybrid of the dwarf everbearing that is sold almost everywhere from Walmart to Lowe’s the fruit is tiny 1/4 inch and usually pretty bland it is a Morus Alba. Jans Best Dwarf Everbearing is a Morus Alba hybrid of that variety with very delicious fruit. The fruit is 1/2 - 1 inch and has a more weeping structure and very productive.  It is NOT a hybrid of Thai dwarf everbearing and or Bryce’s worlds best and is nothing like it except that they both fruit super heavily. Jan Doolin (fruittreeaddict)

[sc4001992]

Hi Jan,

Good info, yes I agree about the taste. I got some scionwood of Jan's Best early spring and I grafted them to my large mulberry tree. I did get a few fruits this year on my graft and it does taste better than the Thai Dwarf and World's Best.

Kaz