How many times a year does a mulberry tree bear fruit? Plant it this way to get more fruit

Fruit mulberry is a relatively common sapling in China. Its fruit is not only edible but can also be used in industrial production, so its price is a little high. However, because fruit mulberry has a very short shelf life, if you want to eat mulberries, you need to understand the fruiting period of mulberries. So how many times a year does a mulberry tree bear fruit? How should it be planted to grow more fruit?

According to the growth patterns of plants, a mulberry tree bears fruit once a year and blooms once a year. Its flowering period is in April, and the fruit ripens from May to July. Some people carry out a series of management practices on mulberry trees in order to be able to eat mulberries, causing the trees to bear fruit more than once within a year, but this phenomenon rarely occurs.

Planting methods:

1. Variety selection

Fruit mulberry has a full-fruiting period lasting more than 30 years, and excellent varieties can be selected according to cultivation purpose and climatic conditions. By combining biotechnology with traditional techniques, China has bred excellent fruit mulberry varieties with large fruit, high yield and strong adaptability. In the north, fresh-eating and processing varieties that can be selected include Wuhe Dashi, Hongguo No. 1, Hongguo No. 2, Hongguo No. 3, Hongguo No. 4, Baiyu Wang, etc.; the hybrid variety 8632 is only suitable for processing. In the south, fresh-eating and processing varieties such as 46CO19 and Yueshen Da 10 can be selected. The yield of mulberry fruit is generally 1500-2000 kg per mu.

2. Orchard site selection and establishment

Fruit mulberry has strong adaptability. It is advisable to choose a sandy loam plot with deep and fertile soil, rich organic matter, soil pH of 6.5-7.5, gentle terrain, a high groundwater table, convenient irrigation and drainage, and far from pollution sources such as dust for orchard establishment.

3. Land preparation and planting

1. Planting time: Mainly plant before bud break in early spring; planting can also be done in early winter after leaf fall.

2. Land preparation: Before planting, level the land, plow to a depth of about 25 cm all over, then level it, and dig drainage channels well. Control planting density within the range of 300-500 plants per mu, with a plant-row spacing of 1.5-2 m × 1 m. According to the terrain, generally dig planting trenches 50-60 cm deep and 60 cm wide in a north-south direction, and apply 5000 kg of decomposed organic fertilizer, 150 kg of ternary compound fertilizer, and 100 kg of cake fertilizer such as soybean meal per mu, mix evenly with topsoil, and fill into the trenches.

3. Planting: When planting, spread the mulberry seedling roots evenly in all directions. When backfilling half of the soil, gently lift and shake the seedling so that the roots fully contact the soil. After the soil is filled level with the ground, tread it firm, and build a surrounding bank and water once thoroughly. After planting, form ridges along the rows, with a ridge height of 15-20 cm.

4. Management of young trees

Within two years after planting, focus on training the tree shape and promoting strong fruiting branches.

1. Fertilization: Before young trees bud and during the leaf canopy formation stage, apply 100 g of urea or 5-10 kg of biogas slurry per plant respectively; in mid-May, apply 30-50 g of potassium sulfate compound fertilizer per plant; in July and afterward, spray 0.3% potassium dihydrogen phosphate solution on the leaves 2-3 times. Through multiple topdressings, comprehensively promote nutrient accumulation in the tree body and promote the formation of fruiting branches.

2. Irrigation: Before fruit mulberry buds in spring, irrigate thoroughly once along with fertilization. After each topdressing and when soil moisture is poor, irrigate in a timely manner, (www.nczfj.com) and after irrigation it is best to cover the tree disk with grass (or crop straw) to reduce water evaporation. In northern regions, irrigate with winter water before the soil freezes to ensure young trees overwinter safely.

3. Training: Fruit mulberry is mainly trained using the medium-trunk training method, and spring pruning should be used in the first two years. In the year of planting, pinch the tip at 40-50 cm above the sprouting branch to train the trunk. After germination, select and keep 2-3 robust new buds on the trunk with suitable directions, remove the rest, and promote 2-3 strong new branches that year. Before bud break in the following spring, prune in spring at 65-80 cm above the ground to train the first tier of scaffold branches. After germination, keep 2-3 new shoots on each scaffold branch for growth, and train 4-6 branches per plant. Training management should integrate techniques such as spreading branches, renewal pruning, and thinning branches, and adjust the canopy size in a timely manner to ensure ventilation and light penetration.

5. Management of fruiting trees

In the third year after planting, the trees enter the normal fruiting period. Pay attention to regulating the balance between vegetative growth and reproductive growth, overcome the alternate bearing phenomenon, and ensure high and stable yields.

1. Topdressing: In early March before bud break, open a ditch 20 cm from the trunk and apply 30 kg of ternary compound fertilizer per mu. Before flowering and during the young fruit stage, apply potassium sulfate compound fertilizer once each to promote pollination and young fruit expansion, generally 20-30 kg per mu. (www.nczfj.com) At the beginning of flowering and during the young fruit stage, spray 0.3% potassium dihydrogen phosphate on the leaves 2-3 times to increase fruit sugar content, make mulberries large and brightly colored, and promote stable and increased yield.

2. Drainage and irrigation: The spring bud break period is the peak water demand period, so irrigate in a timely manner according to soil moisture, and irrigate promptly after soil topdressing as well. In the rainy season, keep ditches inside and outside the orchard unobstructed, so that the field dries after rain without standing water, reducing field humidity and reducing the spread of pathogens.

3. Bud removal: During the bud break period in mid-to-late March, remove latent buds sprouting on the trunk, dense buds at the base of fruiting mother branches, and weak small buds, so as to concentrate nutrition and reduce nutrient consumption.

4. Leaf removal: During the mulberry fruit expansion period, appropriately remove 2-3 dense mulberry leaves from the base of fruiting mother branches and the middle and lower parts of branches, so as to strengthen ventilation and light penetration, help accumulate nutrients, increase mulberry sugar content, and improve fruit marketability.

6. Mulberry fruit harvesting

1. Maturity signs: The signs of mulberry maturity are that the fruit stalk changes from green to yellow-white, and the fruit grains of purple-red varieties change from red to purple.

2. Harvest time: The best harvest time for mulberries is early morning when the temperature is lower. After the temperature drops at night, the fruit temperature also decreases. Picking at this time can extend the shelf life by 3-5 days.

3. Harvest method: Mulberries do not ripen uniformly, lasting about 1 month, so they should be picked in batches, generally once every 5 days. Mulberry fruit flesh is soft and not resistant to storage and transport, so it is best to pick by hand. Wear sterile gloves before picking, handle gently during picking, and do not bruise the skin. For fruit higher up on treetops and branch tips, you can either spread clean plastic sheeting on the ground and harvest by shaking, or use a special fruit-picking ladder to climb up and pick.

4. Packaging and sale: Sort and grade by fruit grain size. First pack in small plastic boxes covered with cling film, 500-800 g per box, then pack separately by grade into special fruit boxes. Mulberry sales should establish their own brand. Print the mulberry grade, brand name, fruit photo, boxed weight, planting base name, contact address, contact phone number, etc. on the outer surface of the fruit box. After boxing, promptly transport to the fruit market for sale.

7. Post-harvest management

1. Summer pruning and branch trimming: Carry out summer pruning after fruit harvesting ends each June. On the basis of young tree shaping and pruning, cut branches from the base to make them regrow new branches. Pruning should be done at noon on sunny days to reduce bleeding. 10-15 days after pruning, a large number of buds will germinate, so timely remove buds and fix shoots, keeping 3-5 new shoots per branch as fruiting mother branches for the coming year; at the same time, thin out overly dense fine branches and weak branches to concentrate nutrition for growing good fruiting branches. Thereafter, carry out summer pruning at the branch base every year, prune the trunk at 1 m above the ground to train secondary scaffold branches. After germination, keep 2-3 buds on each scaffold branch, and train 8-12 branches per plant, gradually forming a trunk mulberry and mulberry knuckle, and increasing the number of fruiting branches.

2. Fertilizer and water management: Fertilization is mainly organic fertilizer, supplemented by compound fertilizer, applied by trenching and hole application respectively. After fruit harvest, carry out topdressing in a timely manner to strengthen the fruiting branches for the next year. About 5 days after summer pruning, apply 10-15 kg of urea per mu; in early July, apply 20-30 kg of ternary compound fertilizer or urea per mu; in late August, apply base fertilizer in autumn, with 1000-1500 kg of decomposed organic fertilizer and 20-30 kg of ternary compound fertilizer per mu, to promote branch lignification and extend the high-yield cycle of the mulberry orchard. In summer and autumn, irrigate in a timely manner according to soil moisture, and carry out winter irrigation before freezing.

3. Leaf harvesting: Fruit mulberry can not only produce mulberries, but its leaves can also be used to raise silkworms. After harvest, leaves can be picked in summer and autumn to raise silkworms. Pay attention to combining picking and conservation. When picking leaves, keep the petiole and do not damage the mulberry buds, and always retain 10-15 mulberry leaves on branch tips to nourish the tree.

4. Cultivation and weeding: Cultivation and weeding can inhibit soil water evaporation, store water and preserve moisture, and also reduce the overwintering base of pests and diseases. Ensure 1 deep plowing, and 2-3 cultivations and weedings in summer and autumn.

5. Winter pruning: In order to fully concentrate nutrients and improve the yield and quality of mulberries, winter pruning should be carried out. Winter pruning is carried out from late November after leaf fall to early January of the following year. Doing it too early can easily cause winter buds to sprout in autumn and affect the next year's yield. Focus on cutting off the 10-20 cm long tender tips at the top of branches, as well as diseased and insect-infested branches, overly dense branches, and weak branches.

8. Pest and disease control

The main diseases of fruit mulberry include brown spot disease, anthracnose, powdery mildew, sclerotinia, etc. The main pests include mulberry tussock moth, mulberry inchworm, rhombic-marked leafhopper, mulberry longhorn beetle, etc. To ensure fruit food safety, manual and biological control should be the main methods, supplemented by chemical control with high-efficiency, low-toxicity, low-residue pesticides. In winter, promptly remove dead branches and fallen leaves in the orchard and burn them in a centralized manner; in late winter and early spring, promptly prune diseased and weak branches to ensure ventilation and light penetration, kill pathogens, and reduce opportunities for fruit infection. One week before bud break, use 3-5 degrees Beaume lime sulfur mixture to comprehensively disinfect the tree body and ground. From the bud break period to half a month before fruit harvest, alternately use 50% carbendazim wettable powder 600 times solution, 75% chlorothalonil or 70% thiophanate-methyl 800 times solution to spray the tree body to prevent disease occurrence, 1-2 times per month. For mulberry longhorn beetle, during the adult occurrence period from July to August, use the adult's phototaxis to hang black light traps to kill them; for other pests, spray 10% imidacloprid 4000 times solution for control.