Shrub Mulberry Seedling Prices, High-Yield Varieties, Planting, Pruning and Utilization Value
Mulberry generally refers to the mulberry tree (Morus), a deciduous tree or shrub of the genus Morus, reaching up to 15 m tall. The tree is rich in milky sap, and the bark is yellowish-brown. It flowers in May, with catkins. The fruit ripens from June to July.So how much does a mulberry seedling cost per tree? Which variety has a high yield? What utilization value does it have at present? How to plant and prune it? According to the nursery base in Jiangsu, the price for 60CM height is about 0.9 yuan/tree; 100CM is about 1.2 yuan/tree; 150CM is about 1.8 yuan/tree.
Which mulberry seedling variety has a high yield?
Traditional mulberry varieties were bred for the purpose of harvesting leaves to raise silkworms; they do not bear mulberries or the fruit is relatively small, and large-scale industrialized production cannot be formed. Now a series of fruit mulberry varieties with large fruit shape and high fruit yield have been bred.
Fruit mulberries: Wuhe Da 10, Hongguo No. 2, Baiyu Wang, Fushihong, Taiwan Changguosang, Taiwan Four-Season Fruit Mulberry, etc.
Silkworm mulberries: Queluosang, Xianghaisang, Shansang, Husang, Lusang, Longsang, Qiuyusang, etc. Traditional mulberry varieties were bred for the purpose of harvesting leaves to raise silkworms; they do not bear mulberries or the fruit is relatively small, and large-scale industrialized production cannot be formed. Now a series of fruit mulberry varieties with large fruit shape and high fruit yield have been bred.
What utilization value does the mulberry tree have at present?
The mulberry tree is a deciduous tree of the family Moraceae, cultivated throughout the country, especially mostly in the Jiangsu-Zhejiang area, and with a long history. The leaves, fruit, wood, branches and so on of the mulberry tree can be used for feeding silkworms, eating, brewing wine, weaving baskets, making paper and making various utensils. At the same time, its leaves, roots, bark, young twigs, fruit clusters, wood, parasites and so on are also good medicines for preventing and treating diseases.
1. Mulberry leaves: the leaves of the mulberry tree; those harvested after frost are preferred, called frost mulberry leaves or winter mulberry leaves. Their nature and flavor are bitter-sweet and cold, entering the lung and liver meridians, with the effects of dispelling wind and clearing heat, cooling blood and stopping bleeding, clearing the liver and improving eyesight, and moistening the lungs and stopping cough. They are often used to treat wind-heat common cold, lung-heat cough, liver-yang headache and dizziness, red eyes and blurred vision, blood-heat bleeding and night sweats and other syndromes. In modern times they are also used to treat elephantiasis of the lower limbs. They can be taken internally or used externally, and have also been made into injection solutions. In addition, after tearing the veins of fresh mulberry leaves, the white liquid juice that seeps out is called mulberry leaf juice in medicine; its flavor is bitter and its nature slightly cold, and it is especially good at detoxifying, clearing heat and stopping bleeding, mainly treating carbuncles and furuncles, goiter and tumors, traumatic bleeding and centipede bites, etc. The distilled liquid of mulberry leaves can also be used to treat eye diseases.
2. Mulberry twigs: the young twigs of the mulberry tree, harvested in late spring and early summer. Their nature and flavor are bitter and neutral, tending to enter the liver meridian, and they are especially good at dispelling wind-dampness, unblocking meridians and collaterals, benefiting the joints, and moving water qi. They are mostly used to treat wind-dampness arthralgia pain, limb contracture, edema, body itching and other syndromes, and are especially good at treating arthralgia pain of the upper limbs. They can be decocted in soup or made into a paste for internal use, and can also be decocted in water for external washing. In addition, after burning mulberry twigs, a juice can be drained out, called mulberry drainage; books such as the Compendium of Materia Medica record that it can treat “severe wind sores and scabies”, tetanus, and rotten sores on the body and face of children, etc.
3. Mulberry root: dig up the mulberry root in winter, remove its cork bark and use it as medicine. Its nature and flavor are sweet and cold, entering the lung and spleen meridians, with the effects of purging the lungs and calming wheezing, and moving water to reduce swelling. It is often used to treat lung-heat cough and wheezing, excessive phlegm, edema, beriberi, difficult urination and other syndromes. It is mostly used in decoctions and powders, and can also be pounded into juice or decocted in water for external use. Mulberry root with bark can also be used as medicine; books record that its flavor is slightly bitter and its nature neutral, and it can treat convulsions, muscle and bone pain, high blood pressure, red eyes, oral thrush, uterine bleeding and so on. In addition, the white juice in the bark of the whole mulberry tree is called mulberry bark juice, which can treat mouth sores in children and traumatic bleeding.
4. Mulberry fruit: the fruit cluster borne by the mulberry tree, harvested in summer. Its nature and flavor are sweet and cold, entering the heart, liver and kidney meridians, with the effects of tonifying the liver and benefiting the kidneys, nourishing yin and supplementing blood, promoting fluid and moistening the intestines, and calming wind. It is often used to treat dizziness, blurred vision, tinnitus, insomnia, premature graying of beard and hair due to yin deficiency and blood deficiency, as well as thirst from damaged fluids and constipation due to intestinal dryness, etc. It can be decocted in soup, made into a paste, eaten raw, soaked in wine, or used for external washing.
5. Mulberry wood: the wood of the mulberry tree has three medicinal uses. First, the ash burned from the wood, called mulberry firewood ash, can treat edema, bleeding from metal wounds, red eyes and swollen painful eyes, etc. Second, the crystalline substance obtained after adding water to mulberry firewood ash to make juice and then filtering and evaporating it, called mulberry frost, can treat choking on food and accumulations and masses, as well as carbuncles, gangrene and furuncle toxins. Third, the nodules on the wood of old mulberry trees, called mulberry galls; the ancients believed they could dispel wind and remove dampness, and treat wind-dampness arthralgia pain, senile crane-knee wind, etc. Unfortunately, mulberry wood is now rarely used clinically.
6. Mulberry parasites: the wood ear fungus parasitic on the mulberry tree, called mulberry ear in ancient medicinal books; its nature and flavor are sweet and neutral, and it can treat intestinal wind, bleeding hemorrhoids, nosebleeds, and women's uterine bleeding, leukorrhea, heart and abdominal pain, etc. In addition, the mulberry mistletoe commonly used clinically at present is the branches and leaves of various plants of the family Loranthaceae, but the ancients believed that those parasitic on the mulberry tree were the best; its nature and flavor are bitter and neutral, entering the liver and kidney meridians, and it is good at dispelling wind-dampness, tonifying the liver and kidneys, strengthening muscles and bones, nourishing blood and calming the fetus. It is used to treat wind-dampness arthralgia pain, soreness and pain of the waist and knees, and women's uterine bleeding and leukorrhea, fetal restlessness and other symptoms.
How to plant and prune the mulberry tree?
Planting techniques:
1. Sowing method
Choosing and preparing the seedling land well is the first hurdle. It is advisable to choose fertile, loose sandy loam with convenient drainage as the nursery. 4~6 days before sowing, it is best to spray herbicide thoroughly over the whole area; for each mu of land, 2~3 jin of chlordane powder pesticide can also be spread, and then the land should be harrowed lengthwise and crosswise. Depending on drainage conditions, generally make beds 4 cun high and 4 chi wide, and the bed surface should preferably be fine, crumbly and level.
Mulberry seeds should be sown as soon as possible after purchase. Mix each portion of seeds with five portions of fine soil (if pesticide was not spread on the land, pesticide should also be mixed in). Divide by bed weight, and the thickness should be such that the bed soil is faintly visible. After covering, carry out the first watering immediately. If conditions permit, germination can be promoted before sowing: soak the mulberry seeds in clean water for 24 hours, take them out and spread them in a shallow basket, with a thickness not exceeding 1 cun, cover with a wet cloth, and place in a relatively warm (23~30°C) place to promote germination, sprinkling water and turning once or twice a day, always keeping them moist. Sow after most mulberry seeds show white (that is, the young roots emerge). The mulberry sprouts must not be allowed to grow too long, so as to avoid damage during sowing.
After sowing, water is the lifeline, especially for germinated seeds. Within the first half month after sowing, water must be given every morning and evening, always keeping the soil surface moist. Management after sowing is the key to full and strong seedlings. When the mulberry seedlings are about 1 cun tall, remove the overly dense mulberry trees, with a plant spacing of 1 cun. When the seedlings are 2~3 cun, use the thinned mulberry trees to fill gaps, with a plant spacing of 1~1.5 cun. Thinning and filling are best done after rain or after watering, ensuring about 80,000 to 150,000 seedlings per mu. After the mulberry seedlings grow, remove the grass as appropriate.
2. Grafting for seedling propagation
Generally, seedlings propagated from seeds of local mulberry varieties are used as rootstock, and branches of excellent mulberry varieties with high yield and good leaf quality are used as scions. Check whether they have survived 10 to 15 days after grafting; those that have not survived need to be regrafted. Attention should also be paid to preventing pests and diseases, removing rootstock sprouts, and timely irrigation and fertilization to promote new shoot growth.
3. Cutting propagation
Hardwood cutting uses new shoots of mulberry cut in spring pruning as cuttings, inserted in early April. Green branch cutting of mulberry uses new shoots cut in summer pruning as cuttings, inserted in late May. Before cutting, cut the branches into 16-20 cm lengths. The upper cut end of each branch should be cut straight across, and 1 cm from the cut there should be a plump bud. The lower cut end should be close to the leaf scar and cut into a smooth slanted surface, then stored in sand indoors for 15-20 days. The specific method is: take the branches after sand storage in a bundle, soak them in 50ppm ABT rooting powder solution for 35 hours, bury them upside down in an open-air root-promoting pool spread with fine sand, cover with 15 cm of sand, then cover with nylon film. After days, take out the branches and plant them in the seedling bed, without exposing the buds after planting.
Pruning:
1. After the trees shed their leaves in autumn, the first pruning can be carried out, cutting off small thin branches. The purpose is to prevent nutrients from being absorbed and wasted by small branches throughout the winter.
2. Then wait until just before sprouting in early spring the following year, and prune again. At this time the main target of pruning is the top of the plant's branches, that is, the tip. The purpose of doing this is to inhibit the plant's apical dominance, so that more leaves and flower buds can be forced out on the branches. (In this way the plant will grow very strong and bear a lot of fruit.)
Other pruning methods can be summarized as pruning for the plant's shape, determined according to your own needs, but the principle is not to prune thick main branches easily, because the plant's wounds can also become “infected” (rot). If you really want to prune away main branches, then after pruning, wrap the wounds well with plastic film, mainly to prevent water.