Can Mulberries Be Grown in a Greenhouse? A Detailed Guide to Greenhouse Mulberry Cultivation Techniques

In rural areas, mulberries are generally grown outdoors in the open air. Whenever the mulberry ripening season comes, almost every day people climb up the mulberry trees to pick mulberries to eat. So can mulberries be grown in a greenhouse? What are the greenhouse mulberry cultivation techniques?

1. Can mulberries be grown in a greenhouse?

Mulberries can also be grown in a greenhouse. The harvesting period of greenhouse mulberries is relatively short, lasting only about 25 days. Each mu can produce about three to four thousand jin of mulberries. Calculated at a selling price of 60 yuan per jin, the income per mu of greenhouse is around 200,000 yuan. After deducting costs such as fertilizer, management, film and labor, each greenhouse can bring in at least more than 100,000 yuan.

Moreover, it can also be combined with the development of a pick-your-own orchard. While visitors enjoy the rural scenery and the fun of picking, the mulberries can also be sold.

2. Greenhouse mulberry cultivation techniques

1. Greenhouse construction

Choose a flat, sunny and wind-sheltered location to build the greenhouse, preferably 60 m long from east to west and 10 m wide, with a back wall 2.8 m high, the main arch of the greenhouse 3.8 m high from the top of the arch to the foot of the arch, the front edge 1 m high, and the back wall and west wall more than 60 cm thick.

The frame uses double-layer galvanized steel pipes, with steel wires pulled in the east-west direction at intervals of 30 cm, and bamboo poles 6 cm thick tied in the north-south direction at intervals of about 60 cm. When covering the greenhouse, use a drip-free long-life film on top, and cover the film with a 5 cm thick straw mat or thermal insulation quilt. If conditions permit, an automatic roller blind machine can be installed.

2. Planting time

Greenhouse mulberry planting time is divided into spring and summer. In spring, it is from late March to early April, and in summer, it is in early June. When planting in spring, choose large seedlings more than 1 cm thick and more than 1.2 m tall for field planting. When planting in summer, use two-year-old or three-year-old large seedlings for field planting.

3. Seedling planting

Seedlings are planted in the greenhouse in a north-south direction, with a row spacing of 2 m and a plant spacing of 1.5 m, planting 222 plants per mu. Before planting, dig planting trenches 50 cm deep and 80 cm wide along the rows, or dig planting holes 60 cm square.

Apply fully decomposed organic fertilizer into the planting trench at 3,000 kg per mu, mix it evenly with the soil, fill it level, and irrigate to settle it. After planting, firm the soil, then water 2 to 3 times. When the seedlings sprout, apply 20 kg of urea per mu. After growing through summer and autumn, the greenhouse can be covered in winter.

4. Film covering and temperature raising

Like other deciduous fruit trees, fruit mulberries also need a certain low-temperature dormancy process. It is generally believed that after natural leaf drop in late autumn, fruit mulberries can successfully pass the dormancy period after 30 to 40 days of dormancy or low-temperature treatment.

The time for covering with film and raising the temperature is generally most suitable around New Year's Day.

5. Greenhouse regulation and control

Before covering with film, water thoroughly once in advance to ensure normal water supply to the roots and supplement the air humidity inside the greenhouse. Before fruit mulberries sprout, the relative humidity in the greenhouse should be kept above 85%. During the flowering period, the relative humidity in the greenhouse should be controlled, generally at around 50%. After fruit set, the humidity in the greenhouse should be increased to around 70%.

When temperature raising begins, the daytime temperature should generally be kept at 15 to 18°C, with a maximum not exceeding 25°C. When fruit clusters begin to appear, control the daytime temperature at around 27°C, with a maximum not exceeding 32°C, and adjust the nighttime temperature to 15 to 18°C.

6. Fertilization and watering

During the dormancy period, dig a fertilization trench 30 cm deep and 40 cm wide in the middle of the planting rows, apply 3,000 kg of decomposed high-quality farmyard manure per mu, and mix in 25 kg of compound fertilizer. After fruit harvesting, combined with heavy pruning, apply 20 kg of urea per mu.

After sprouting, foliar fertilizer can be applied 5 to 7 times with 250 times urea or 350 times monopotassium phosphate to promote fruit set, enlarge the fruit, promote early ripening and improve quality. After fertilization, watering should be carried out in time. During the sprouting stage and young fruit growth period, fruit mulberries are sensitive to water demand and must have sufficient water supply.

7. Reasonable pruning

Pruning should follow the principle of “removing the weak and keeping the strong, removing the inferior and keeping the superior” so that the branches are reasonably distributed and the group advantage is brought into play. During winter pruning, remove weak small branches and rotten or insect-infested branches from the base, and shorten the retained fruiting mother branches, generally cutting off about 30 cm from the tips.