Can mulberry trees be grown in courtyard pots, how many years until they bear fruit, and methods for transplanting, pruning and sexual propagation
Mulberry generally refers to the mulberry tree (Morus), a deciduous tree or shrub of the genus Morus, reaching up to 15 m in height. It is cultivated from Northeast to Southwest China across various provinces and regions, and in the Northwest as far as **. Can mulberry trees be planted in a home courtyard? How many years until potted seedlings bear fruit? When to transplant and prune? What are the sexual propagation methods for mulberry? According to the Suqian nursery stock base, three-year-old mulberry saplings can bear fruit in the same year. Ripe mulberries are oily and moist in texture, sweet and sour and palatable, and those with large size, thick flesh, purple-red color and high sugar content are considered the best. Harvest when the fruit ripens each year from April to June, wash clean, remove impurities, dry in the sun, or steam briefly and then dry in the sun before eating; they can also be used to make wine. The specific ripening time varies from place to place, earlier in the south and a little later in the north.
Can mulberry trees be planted in a home courtyard?
If you are not superstitious, they can still be planted; besides greening, its fruit - the mulberry - is quite delicious.
But for thousands of years, folk tradition has tabooed planting mulberry in front of the house, for the following reasons:
1. Unfavorable homophony. First, “sang” (mulberry) is homophonous with “sang” (mourning); mulberry before the gate means mourning at the gate, and seeing mulberry when going out is inauspicious by homophony, while the fierce spirit that presides over death, mourning and weeping is called the Sangmen spirit, which is very unlucky. In addition, “sang” is also homophonous with “shang” (injury) and “shang” (death in youth), so in terms of homophony there are many disadvantages, easily leading to frequent disasters.
2. Improper relations between men and women are called “mulberry rendezvous”, symbolizing bad things. The ancients also considered a compound surrounded by mulberry groves to be greatly inauspicious, portending unexpected calamity and very unfavorable events. A feng shui verse says: “With groves of mulberry around the dwelling, when disaster strikes it cannot be withstood. If one meets a true master to rebuild it, later generations are spared distress.” This also shows that mulberry is not suitable for planting; if a courtyard has mulberry trees, its feng shui is truly very bad.
3. In feng shui, planting mulberry in front of the house is taboo, so if you want to plant mulberry, you should plant it behind the house, and plant Chinese scholar tree (Sophora japonica) in front. The Chinese scholar tree has hard wood, can serve as a greening tree or street tree, ranks highest among trees, has authority in guarding the dwelling, and symbolizes good fortune. In feng shui, the Chinese scholar tree is considered to represent “emolument”, and in ancient courts there was the legend of planting three scholar trees and nine jujube trees; it is said that outside the gate of the ancient court three scholar trees were planted, symbolizing respectively the ranks of the Three Dukes: Sima, Situ and Sikong. In addition, a scholar tree at the gate signifies wealth. The Chinese scholar tree has a great positive effect on home feng shui, so if everyone wants to plant mulberry, it must be planted behind the house, and must not be planted in the four corners or in front of the house; in front of the house one can plant Chinese scholar trees instead, to neutralize the unfavorable feng shui brought by the mulberry.
When should mulberry be transplanted and pruned?
1. The planting time for mulberry is generally better in winter and early spring, mainly by sowing and cuttings for propagation, and the soil temperature should be kept at about 10°C-12°C. When planting in winter and spring, lightly prune the overly long main root to encourage more lateral roots; planting is also possible in summer and autumn, and when lifting seedlings, avoid damaging the roots as much as possible and preserve the root system of the mulberry seedlings. Before planting, dip the roots in mud mixed with phosphate fertilizer, which helps rooting and survival.
2. Pruning of mulberry is generally done during the winter dormant period. Remove dead branches, withered branches, pest- and disease-damaged branches, and thin, weak, drooping branches from the tree; cut away the part of the branch tip where the tissue is not plump. Generally, branches over 1.5 m can be cut back by 1/4-1/3, branches around 1.5 m can be cut back by 1/5-1/4, and branches around 1 m are best cut back by 10-15 cm.
Appendix: Sexual propagation methods for mulberry
Sexual propagation, also called the direct sowing method, is the direct sowing of mulberry seeds to raise seedling trees. Using the fruiting habit of mulberry, seedlings raised by directly sowing ordinary mulberry seeds are called seedling mulberry; seedlings raised from hybrid mulberry seeds are called hybrid mulberry seedlings. The advantages of sexual propagation are simple seedling-raising technique, high seedling output per unit area, well-developed root systems in the raised seedlings, and a relatively long life for the mulberry; the disadvantages are great variation in mulberry traits, and after transplanting, small leaf shape, disordered tree form and low leaf yield, so they are generally used as rootstock for vegetative propagation, but hybrid mulberry seedlings vary less and are directly used as planting stock in some areas.
1. Preparation of mulberry seeds: In spring, select mother plants with strong growth and no pests or diseases, pick ripe purple-black mulberries, crush and rub them together, wash and screen out the seeds, dry them in time and store for later use. Each kilogram contains about 700,000 mulberry seeds, and generally 0.3-0.5 kg of seed is used per mu of nursery bed.
2. Preparation of the nursery land: Choose sandy loam close to a water source, with a soil layer over 50 cm thick, a soil pH between 6-7, and where mulberry pests and diseases have not occurred, as the nursery land. Before sowing, plow deep and harrow fine, apply sufficient base fertilizer, and make beds 1-1.5 m wide.
3. Sowing time: Sowing is divided into two periods, spring sowing and summer sowing. Spring sowing is done in mid-to-late April, and summer sowing in early-to-mid June.
4. Sowing methods: There are several sowing methods - drill sowing, dibbling, broadcasting and sowing in nutrient bags; generally drill sowing and broadcasting are used. The sowing depth is 2-3 cm, and after sowing, cover with mulch such as pine needles and thatch.
5. Management after sowing: After the mulberry seedlings emerge, gradually remove the covering; after the seedlings grow several true leaves, carefully carry out thinning, weeding, fertilizing, and pest and disease control.