How to Plant Mulberry Seeds: Detailed Guide to Sowing Steps

The mulberry tree is a common economic tree species in daily life, and every part of the plant has high application value. It generally bears fruit in spring with very high nutritional value, and its seeds can also be planted, so how do you plant mulberry seeds?

1. Collecting seeds

The fruit used for seeds must be ripe. Judging by the color of the overripe fruit, after picking dark purple mulberries, rub off the flesh, wash the remaining seeds, and they can be used for sowing. If you cannot sow them in time, you can store them in moist sand.

2. Timing

Spring, summer and autumn are all suitable, but seeds sown in summer and autumn are generally fresh seeds picked that same year and have a high germination rate. Seeds sown in autumn are sand-stored seeds from the previous year that have overwintered.

3. Seed treatment

(1) Prepare a basin of warm water at about 50 degrees, put the seeds in the water to soak. The water does not need to be kept at a constant temperature; just let it cool naturally during soaking. After the water has completely cooled, soak for another 12 hours.

(2) After soaking, take them out and place them in moist sandy soil for storage. This step begins the germination process. Frequently spray water on top with a spray bottle to keep the sand moist.

(3) After a few days, check whether the seed coat has cracked. Once white is showing, they can be sown.

4. Sowing method

Find a plot of land with loose soil, good drainage and sufficient fertility, dig furrows about 1 cm deep, keep row spacing at 20 to 30 cm, spray the soil surface with water until moist, sow the seeds, and cover with soil. Seedlings will appear within one week to ten days after sowing.

5. Management techniques

(1) Thinning

Observe the growth of the young seedlings. When the seedlings grow to 3 or 4 cm, they need to be thinned. Pull out diseased and weak seedlings with poor growth, and fill in gaps where spacing is uneven. This leaves nutrients for the better plants. The distance between two seedlings should be between 10 cm and 15 cm; once determined, the seedlings can be finalized.

(2) Fertilizing

During the seedling stage, pay attention to timely watering, and add fertilizer promptly when the soil fertility is insufficient. Also pay attention to clearing weeds in the field in time, and deal with pests and diseases. When fertilizing, pay attention to the chemicals applied to the leaves; do not harm the silkworms that eat the leaves by spraying chemicals.