What are the cultivation techniques for fruit mulberry, which is grown for both fruit and leaves?

At first, fruit mulberry was grown for the purpose of harvesting leaves to raise silkworms; it did not bear mulberries or bore only small ones, and could not be produced on a large scale. Later, through research, a series of fruit mulberry varieties with large fruit and high yield were bred, suitable for promotion throughout the country. So, do you know the cultivation techniques for fruit mulberry, which is rich in nutrients and delicious in taste?

I. Selection of the fruit mulberry orchard site

1. Environmental selection

For a fruit mulberry orchard, first choose a plot free of air and water pollution, to prevent pollution of the mulberries by human production and living waste, so as to ensure the quality of the mulberries. Second, stay away from buildings with pollutants, such as brick and tile kilns and other factories and roads with pollutants, to prevent the mulberries from being polluted and thereby reducing quality and economic returns. According to current market requirements, ensuring the quality of fresh fruit is very important. When carrying out pollution-free production, the orchard site must be selected in accordance with the environmental conditions required for pollution-free fruit production areas.

2. Soil selection

A fruit mulberry orchard is best built on land with deep soil, loose structure, fertile soil and convenient drainage and irrigation. However, fruit mulberry is not very strict about soil; it can grow normally in soil with a pH in the range of 4.5-9, but grows best in soil with a pH in the range of 6-7.

In addition, the fruit mulberry planting site should be as concentrated and contiguous as possible, which facilitates later management, and should also have convenient transportation conditions, which is good for transporting the fresh fruit.

II. Shaping and pruning

Planted fruit mulberry saplings are generally already cut back and topped at a plant height of 25 cm. After sprouting, each plant can send out 5-6 new shoots. When the new shoots grow to 15-20 cm, the tips can be pinched off to promote lateral branches and enlarge the canopy. If pinching once produces too few branches, then pinching can be repeated 2-3 times to ensure that 10-15 fruiting mother branches are produced in that year; this is the key to ensuring a bumper harvest the following year.

At the end of May or the beginning of June of the second year, after the mulberries have ripened and been harvested, summer pruning must be carried out in combination with shaping. All fruiting mother branches are cut back leaving 2-3 buds, to promote the sprouting of new shoots that will serve as the fruiting mother branches for the next year. The earlier the cutback is done, the better, so as to ensure that the new shoots have enough time to grow and accumulate nutrients for flower bud differentiation.

Cut back every year after the mulberries are harvested, gradually forming a low-trunk tree shape. When pruning in winter, all over-weak branches and rotten or pest-infested branches sprouted in summer should be cut off entirely from the base, and the retained fruiting mother branches should be appropriately cut back, generally just removing the top 15-20 cm of the branch tips that is not plump and full.

III. Bud removal and tip pinching

For trees that have been in production for more than two years, bud removal is generally done in late March, removing adventitious buds sprouting on the main trunk and weak small buds at the base of fruiting mother branches. When there are about 6 new leaves at the top of a branch, pinch off the tip; the pinching time is late April or early May, which is favorable for the transition from vegetative growth to reproductive growth, increases sunlight exposure and improves fruit quality. (Note: this work is optional.)

IV. Planting management

1. Irrigation

The water-demand periods of fruit mulberry are mainly the spring sprouting period and the sprouting period after summer pruning. If drought occurs in these two periods, water should be replenished in time where conditions permit.

2. Fertilization

After summer pruning, apply 50 kg of ammonium bicarbonate or 20 kg of urea per mu; at the beginning of the flowering stage and the young fruit stage, spray the leaves once each with a 0.3% potassium dihydrogen phosphate solution. Both the front and back sides of the leaves should be sprayed, because for dicotyledonous plants the absorption rate of the back of the leaf is 5 times that of the front. Fertilizing at this time can increase the sugar content of the fruit, promote early ripening, make the mulberries large and brightly colored, and ensure stable and increased yields.

V. Pest and disease control

The main pests harming fruit mulberry are mulberry caterpillars and mulberry inchworms, among others, and the main diseases are brown spot, anthracnose and powdery mildew, among others. For the pests and diseases of fruit mulberry, growers should adopt integrated control methods, which give better control results.

VI. Harvesting

Mulberries generally ripen in early May. When the mulberries have just turned from red to black (for white varieties, when the fruit stalk turns from green to yellow-white) and are glistening and bright, it indicates that the mulberries are ripe. Harvesting is generally carried out in the early morning; handle them gently, do not squeeze the fruit, and do not break the skin. They can first be packed in small plastic boxes, then put into cartons, and finally transported to the market for sale.

With their rich nutritional value and delicious taste, mulberries are increasingly favored by consumers, and growing fruit mulberry has become a good project for farmers to prosper. That is all for the cultivation techniques of fruit mulberry; have you learned them?