How to Grow Mulberries

Mulberries are often underestimated as an edible berry. They may not share spots by the strawberries, blueberries and raspberries that line the supermarkets, but they are excellent preserved as a jam, cooked in recipes or to enjoy just as a handful. It’s great to grow mulberries because they grow abundantly on trees. There are three types of mulberry including red, white and black. The only one not native to the United States is the white mulberry, which was brought from China by the British. You can propagate your own mulberry trees from cuttings.

Step to Grow Mulberries

What You Need

Pruning scissors

Peat pots

Potting soil

Rooting powder

Compost

10–10-10 fertilizer

Sheet (optional)

Step 1

Select a tree to take your cuttings from. Cut branches from the tree at about 10 inches from the tip in the spring or summer time.

Step 2

Remove the larger leaves from each of your cuttings. Cut the bottom tip of each cutting at a slight angle with the pruning scissors.

Step 3

Fill your peat pots with potting soil. Dip the ends of each cutting into your rooting powder. Plant each of your cuttings a few inches into the soil so that the plant stays firmly in place.

Step 4

Give your cuttings enough water to moisten the soil. Place them in a sunny location and water them each morning to moisten the soil. Roots should develop on you mulberry plants within a few months.

Step 5

Transplant your mulberry cuttings the following spring after all danger of frost has passed. Select an area away from sidewalks to prevent fallen fruit stains. Make sure you plant your trees in full or partial sun.

Step 6

Transplant your trees by digging a hole large enough for the peat pots. Mix compost into the soil. Place the peat pot in the hole and firmly press soil around the pot and the base of the plant so that the pot completely disappears and the plant is firm in the ground. Space each tree 15 feet apart.

Step 7

Water your mulberry trees during drought so that the soil is moist. Add 10–10-10 fertilizer around your trees each season to maintain healthy growth.

Step 8

Harvest berries as they ripen. You can harvest large amounts of the berries by spreading a sheet on the ground and shaking the limbs of the trees to loosen berries.