What Is the Latest Price of Mulberry Saplings? A Detailed Guide to Planting Methods
Mulberry is also known as mulberry fruit, mulberry berry, mulberry puff and so on. It is the fruit cluster of the mulberry tree, a deciduous plant of the genus Morus in the family Moraceae. It is sweet, juicy and nutritious, with effects such as tonifying the liver and kidneys, promoting body fluid and moistening dryness, and darkening hair and brightening the eyes. It originated in central and northern China, and is now cultivated in all provinces and regions from Northeast to Southwest China, and in the Northwest all the way to Xinjiang. Let us take a look below at the price of mulberry saplings and their planting methods!
How much does a mulberry sapling cost?
The price of a mulberry sapling is about 2 to 5 yuan each, but prices vary greatly depending on specifications, varieties, place of origin and market. There are many varieties of mulberry; common cultivated species include Lu mulberry, white mulberry, Guangdong mulberry, Ruihui mulberry and so on. They are commonly propagated by seed, grafting and layering. Generally, a new mulberry sapling of the current year, after grafting, can bear fruit in April to June of the following year, but the amount of fruit will be relatively small, and then as the tree grows larger the fruit yield will increase accordingly.
Propagation methods for mulberry saplings
1. Seed: Collect ripe purple mulberries, rub off the fruit skin, wash the seeds, and sow immediately or store in wet sand. Spring sowing, summer sowing and autumn sowing are all possible; for summer and autumn sowing, new seeds of the current year can be used. Seedlings emerge about 10 days after sowing.
2. Grafting: For bag grafting, cut the scion 20 days before grafting and store it in wet sand. After the cortex and xylem at the cut of the rootstock separate to form a bag shape, insert the scion. In spring and summer, “T”-shaped budding or tube budding can also be used.
3. Layering: Layering propagation of mulberry saplings is very simple. In early spring, lay the mother plant horizontally and fix it to the ground, bury it in a trench with the top exposed, cover with soil and press firm, and after roots form, separate it from the mother plant. It can then be planted in spring or autumn.
Planting methods for mulberry saplings
1. Site conditions: Mulberry has strong adaptability and can grow healthily whether planted in yellow loess soil, sandy loam or loam. The better the water, fertilizer and light conditions, the higher the yield. Generally, hills, mountain slopes, village sides, fields and other places can all be used for cultivation.
2. Variety selection: For fresh eating as the main use, it is suitable to plant seedless Dashi and Hongguo No. 2. For the purpose of processing mulberry juice, it is suitable to choose Hongguo No. 1, Hongguo No. 2, 8632 and so on. However, no matter which variety is planted, 5 to 10% pollinator trees must be included.
3. Planting density: Different mulberry varieties have different planting densities. Seedless Dashi has softer branches and a loose tree shape, with about 370 plants per mu. Other varieties have upright branches and a compact tree shape, so the planting density can be relatively higher.
4. Timely planting: The cultivation period for mulberry is from after leaf fall in late autumn to before bud break in early spring of the following year. Level the land, apply farmyard manure and phosphate fertilizer, arrange fruiting trees and pollinator trees in a reasonable matching layout, and after planting water thoroughly to settle the roots.
5. Reasonable pruning: For mulberry, in early spring before bud break, cut flat at a height of 40 cm above the ground. In early June, cut flat 15 to 20 cm on vigorously growing branches. After fruit harvest, carry out shaping pruning of the mulberry tree, selecting and retaining 3 to 4 thick strong branches per plant to become scaffold branches.
6. Scientific fertilization: Mulberry fertilization should meet the tree's growth and good fruit development requirements for various nutrient elements. The principle of fertilization is to mainly use organic fertilizer, supplemented by chemical fertilizer, mainly use summer pruning sprouting fertilizer, supplemented by others, and properly match N, P and K.
Pest and disease control for mulberry saplings
1. Sclerotinia rot
[Damage] When the mulberry tree blooms, the pathogen begins to invade, and symptoms appear after fruiting. Diseased fruit has no commercial or edible value. If not controlled in time, the disease incidence in severely affected plots can reach more than 90%.
[Control] 70% thiophanate-methyl 1000 times, or 50% carbendazim wettable powder 1000 times.
2. Tip break disease
[Damage] On diseased new shoots, callus tissue forms at the lesion site. Cracking appears first, then the lesion sinks and causes girdling. The affected part loses water and becomes thinner, and in windy or rainy weather or when touched from above it easily breaks and hangs upside down on the tree.
[Control] Spray 70% thiophanate-methyl wettable powder 1000 to 1500 times liquid, or 50% ethyl thiophanate wettable powder 800 to 1000 times liquid during the mulberry flowering period to kill the pathogen.
3. Mulberry longhorn beetle
[Damage] Adults feed on the bark and leaves of tender branches, while larvae bore downward under the bark and inside the xylem of branches and trunks, weakening tree vigor and in severe cases causing death.
[Control] Use hook killing, collect eggs, protect natural enemies, and manually capture and kill.
4. Scarab beetle
[Damage] It damages parts of the mulberry such as roots, leaves, flowers, buds and fruits.
[Control] During the adult damage period, spray 50% methamidophos 800 to 1000 times liquid, or 50% phoxim 800 to 100 times liquid, or 40% omethoate emulsion 1000 times liquid.