Mulberry: White mulberry, red mulberry, sweet as honey…. The use of mulberries in traditional medicine recipes: benefits and harms

Mulberry is a deciduous tree from the mulberry family, native to western Asia (Transcaucasia), grown throughout Europe. The two most common types are white mulberry and black mulberry. In their homeland, mulberry trees reach a height of 15-20 m.

The plants are thermophilic and not frost-resistant. In snowless, frosty winters they freeze slightly. High snow cover contributes to better overwintering of trees. Mulberry is not picky about soil conditions, but grows better in fertile soils. The trees are drought-resistant, light-loving, develop a powerful root system, and do not like wetlands with close groundwater. Mulberry, as a heat-loving plant, is best grown on the south, well-lit side of a wall or fence, in places protected from cold winds. In the first years, young trees grow slowly, then their growth accelerates.

Mulberry shoots are whitish-gray and flexible. The bark of an old mulberry tree is gray, thick, and cracked. Leaves, entire or lobed, round or heart-shaped, large-serrate-toothed, on long pubescent petioles.
Flowers are dioecious. Male inflorescences are catkin-shaped, drooping, female inflorescences are dense and erect.

Characteristics of mulberries

Here brief information about this plant:

• Mulberry flowering: May-June. Mulberry trees are capable of self-pollination; fruits are set, even if only one tree is planted. But they bear fruit better when planted in groups.
• The mulberry fruit is a false drupe that resembles a raspberry, black or light purple in color, and has a sweet and spicy-sweet taste. The fruits ripen at different times, at the end of July and in August.
• Mulberry trees begin to bear fruit 6-8 years after planting. From mature plants you can collect up to 50 kg of fragrant fruits.

The disadvantages of mulberries include insufficient winter hardiness and uneven ripening of the crop. Non-lignified mulberry growths freeze to one degree or another almost every year. But this does not have a noticeable effect on fruiting, since it occurs mainly on perennial wood. In unfavorable winters, mulberries can freeze very much. Once every ten years, even skeletal branches are damaged. But its root system is very frost-resistant, so the trees quickly recover.

The fruits are mainly consumed fresh. They make jam, compote and drinks. Flour is prepared from dried fruits, which is added to ordinary wheat flour and pies (tut-halva) are baked. Bekbez is prepared from boiled fruit juice.

Growing mulberries in the country

Mulberry propagation - . To propagate by cuttings, annual growths are cut off (after the leaves have fallen) and tied into bunches, placed in damp sand (in a cellar or basement) and stored until spring. The shoots are better preserved if they are buried in the snow after the snow has fallen. At the end of winter, the cuttings are planted in a box with fertile soil or wait until the ground thaws and immediately plant it in the garden.

Before planting, the shoots are cut into cuttings 15-20 cm long. In this case, the cut is made above the upper bud. The lower ends of the cuttings are treated with a solution of a growth stimulator (for 20-24 hours), then washed clean water and planted vertically, deepening into the soil to the top bud. Thus, the upper end of the cutting, 2-3 cm long, is left above the soil. The planted cuttings are watered with water and covered with film. Further care for them is usual, but take into account that mulberry is a drought-resistant plant, so excessive moisture is unacceptable.

What mulberry does not tolerate are various kinds of lowlands, depressions and proximity to groundwater. Based on this, it is advisable to plant mulberries on a natural or specially created hill.

In harsh conditions, the most favorable for mulberry are the southern and western slopes, protected from cold winds by buildings, terrain or trees. The tree must grow to its full potential open place, quite spacious and without side shading. As for the soil, the ideal option is light, fertile loam, underlying sandy loam or sand.

Trees are planted in a permanent place at 3-5 years of age, as they easily tolerate transplantation and begin to bear fruit late. Mulberry roots are fragile, so be careful when planting. They are carefully tucked into the planting hole and covered with earth. Damaged areas are cleaned by cutting off rot and crumpled fabrics with a sharp knife, and sprinkled with crushed charcoal.

Plant the mulberry in a permanent place at the same depth at which it grew in the nursery. Young trees are tied to a stake, watered abundantly, and the soil above them is mulched with manure or compost. In the future, watering is necessary only in dry weather.

In the first years after planting in a permanent place, fertilizing is not necessary, since the fertilizers added to the planting hole are sufficient for the development of plants.

Caring for tree crowns involves cutting out dried and thickening branches. For plants placed near walls, in order to more fully utilize solar energy, the crown is formed in the form of a palmette:

• To do this, wires are pulled along the walls in 3-4 rows (the distance between the rows of wire is 30-40 cm), and mulberry branches are directed along them.
• Excess branches from the outside and near the wall are cut into a ring, leaving no stumps.
• The main (skeleton) branches are lightly trimmed, leaving 40-50 cm, and tied to stretched wires.

The branches of an adult tree often bend and become brittle, so in the fall measures are taken to protect the branches from breaking under the weight of snow. For many years of growing mulberries, no pests or diseases have been detected. Ripe fruits are sometimes damaged and pecked by birds. Therefore, measures have to be taken to protect them from birds. Mulberry fruits taste great due to the content of vitamins, pectin, acids and sucrose.

In folk medicine it is known to be used for gastrointestinal diseases. Mulberry wood is used in turning and carpentry, for making musical instruments, rivets, shoe nails. Its leaves are used as food for silkworm caterpillars and for making yellow paint. Gardeners are primarily interested in the beautiful mulberry fruits, which have high taste and technological qualities.

1. Botanical description
2. White mulberry
3. Black mulberry
4. Application
5. In medicine
6. In cooking
7. Growing
8. Landing
9. Watering
10. Feeding
11. Crown care, pruning
12. Reproduction

Mulberry, or mulberry tree (lat. Morus) - one of the most famous deciduous plants of warm subtropical climates, mild temperate zones of Europe, Asia, North America, Africa. It is also called tyutina, mulberry. Juicy large berries- valuable food product, source of vitamins, effective medicine. Tree leaves are eaten by silkworm caterpillars. In the 16th century, mulberries were actively bred in Russia; at the royal court there was a manufactory for the production of silk fabrics.

Botanical description

Most mulberry species are low or medium-height trees with thin trunks and a spreading crown. They rise to 15–18 m. Individual specimens in favorable conditions reach 25–30 m. Life expectancy is 200–400 years. Young seedlings develop quickly; at 7–8 years, growth slows down.

The bark of the trees is greenish, brown or silver-gray, mottled with thin cracks. The side shoots are located at an angle of 45–60°, densely branched. The leaves are simple, bright green, ovoid or lobed, with pointed tips, serrated edges, and long petioles. The plates are 6–15 cm in size. The venation is pinnate or reticulate. The leaf arrangement is regular. Backside leaves, petioles slightly pubescent.

Mulberry blossoms bloom in May. These are paniculate racemes or catkins, consisting of several dozen small white, yellow or pink corollas. There are dioecious and monoecious species. The fruits ripen from the end of June to the last days of July, depending on the region of growth.

Mulberries are similar to blackberries and large raspberries.. These are oblong fruits, consisting of many fused round granules with juicy pulp. Contains inside small seeds. The berries are 2–5 cm in size, have a fragrant aroma and a spicy-sweet taste. There are also seedless mulberry species. The color of the berries depends on the variety. There are light cream, yellow, pink, dark purple fruits. Collecting them is not difficult: just place a suitable sized container under the tree and shake the branches. Ripe fruits will fall down, green ones will remain hanging.

Storing and transporting mulberries is difficult: after picking, they quickly lose their freshness, become wrinkled, and begin to ferment.

Kinds

There are 17 varieties in nature; almost 500 hybrid varieties have been bred from them. Not all mulberry trees have edible fruits, and not all species are suitable as food for silkworms.

White mulberry

This dioecious tree is native to the Far East. Caterpillars that spin Chinese silk feed on the leaves of the plant. During the pupation period, insects release the finest silk threads 400–900 m long, white or pink.

It is bred in culture as a raw material for feeding silkworms and obtaining fruits.. The species grows up to 10–17 m in height, has a wide dense crown, delicate light green serrated leaves. The bark is silvery. The berries are up to 5 cm in size, sugary and juicy. There are varieties with light fruits: yellowish, white, pink. In some varieties they are dark red, almost black. Fruiting is abundant, each tree brings up to 90–100 kg during the harvest period.

White mulberry is unpretentious in maintenance, grows on loamy, sandy, low-nutrient soils. Can be grown in urban environments. It easily establishes itself on the slopes of ravines thanks to its branched root shoots. The species is frost-resistant, can withstand cold temperatures down to -30 °C. After freezing, young branches quickly recover. The white mulberry tree lives up to 250 years. Known cultivated varieties:

• Victoria;
• White tenderness;
• Luganochka.

Black mulberry

The homeland of this monoecious species is the countries of the Middle East and Transcaucasia. Black mulberry tree prefers hot climates. IN natural environment the plant reaches a height of 7–10 m. Its crown is picturesque, tent-shaped, and consists of long hanging shoots. Skeletal perennial branches are shorter than young ones. The width of the crown reaches several meters. The trunks are often curved, branched, and covered with dark brown bark. The leaves are dark green, thick, large, 15–17 cm long, broadly oval, with a notched base. The plates are rough to the touch. They are not suitable as food for silkworms. Trees are cultivated for their fruits. The berries are inky, purple or dark red, about 3–4 cm in size, juicy, sweet and sour. It tastes like grapes.

Fruiting of black mulberry varieties begins at 4–5 years of age. The lifespan of trees is 200–300 years. The most popular fruit varieties:

• Black Baroness;
• Istanbul;
• Hartut;
• Dark-skinned.

Application

mulberries for unique properties often called the king tree. The plant produces tasty and healthy fruits that are decorative. Valuable natural fabrics are produced from this tree.

In medicine

Mulberry leaves, stems and roots contain:

• tannins;
• fatty and organic acids;
• resins;
• flavonoids;
• copper, phosphorus, magnesium, iron and zinc compounds.

Found in mulberries a large number of:

• ascorbic, nicotinic and folic acids;
• thiamine, B2, B12, K;
• rutin, carotenoids, choline;
• antioxidants;
• minerals.

The juice of the fruit contains a valuable compound that prevents the development of tumor processes and vascular pathologies - resveratrol.

Greens, bark, berries have anti-inflammatory, astringent, bactericidal, expectorant, diaphoretic, and diuretic effects. The pharmacological activity of fruit juice is slightly higher due to the higher concentration of biochemical compounds in it.

For the first time in medicine, mulberry products began to be used in medieval Persia, during the time of the healer Avicenna.

Fresh fruit juice and decoctions are used to treat intestinal disorders and inflammation oral cavity, tonsillitis, upper respiratory tract diseases, including bronchitis, bronchial asthma. Ripe fruits relieve constipation, unripe fruits relieve diarrhea..

Fresh berries are recommended for various diseases of the heart and blood vessels: arrhythmia, myocardial dystrophy, hypertension, surges in blood pressure. Mulberry pulp is useful for chronic pathologies gallbladder, liver, pancreas.

Decoctions of leaves and bark are used in complex treatment tonsillitis, bronchitis, tracheitis, pneumonia, influenza as an antiseptic, antipyretic, expectorant. Crushed bark and root shoots are used to prepare ointments for bruises, dermatological diseases, abrasions, cuts, and purulent ulcers.

Tea made from young twigs, leaves, dried berries strengthens physical strength, is useful for hypovitaminosis, anemic conditions, nervous exhaustion, decreased vision, dysbacteriosis, and activity disorders digestive organs, diseases genitourinary system, on initial stages diabetes mellitus

Regular use of mulberry preparations helps restore the health of skin, hair, and nails.

In cooking

Mulberries are superior in taste to raspberries and blackberries. It contains a lot of fructose, glucose, pectin, organic acids. Despite their strong sweetness, the berries are low in calories: 40–45 kcal per 100 g of product. You can eat them as a healthy treat without fear of gaining weight.

Mulberries are dried, preserves and jams are made from it, fruit drinks, compotes, jellies, marmalade, fillings, impregnations for pies and pastries are prepared.

In gardening and landscape design

Having a mulberry in your garden is considered happy sign. There she is sacred. Due to its insensitivity to adverse weather conditions and ease of care, the plant is called a tree for the lazy. It can be planted on city streets, in green areas, parks, and in local areas.

Mulberry is good in single and group plantings. Compact hybrids with pyramidal, columnar, and weeping crown shapes have been bred. Trees decorate the landscape from early spring to late autumn.

Contraindications to the use of mulberry products

Mulberry fruits are a fairly strong allergen. They may cause a reaction upon first use: skin rash, itching, hay fever. In some cases, swelling of the eyelids or lips is likely - a manifestation of angioedema. In case of intolerance healthy berries will have to be excluded from the diet.

Mulberry juice is prohibited for consumption by those suffering cholelithiasis, stomach ulcer, ulcerative colitis, advanced stages of diabetes mellitus.

Mulberry dishes should not be given to young children under 2 years of age.

Growing

Mulberry tree It develops well in temperate climates and adapts to almost all types of soil. Grows on alkaline, acidic soils. Mulberry does not tolerate excessive dampness or frequent waterlogging.

Landing

Mulberries are planted in spacious, well-lit areas. A widely growing root system requires a large area. In gardens, it is recommended to cultivate varieties that grow up to 4–6 m. If the plant is intended to be used as a fruit-bearing plant, it is advisable to select proven seedlings, young trees that have already bear fruit. Until the age of 5, it can be very difficult to understand the gender of a mulberry tree.

IN middle lane It is recommended to plant mulberries in the spring, after the snow has melted and the soil has warmed to 10–12 °C. Holes for plants are prepared with a size of about 50x50 cm. The distance between bushes in group plantings should be at least 2 m. Add ½ bucket of compost, leaf humus or rotted manure to the soil removed from the holes. You can supplement the fertilizing by adding potassium-phosphorus fertilizer or superphosphate. Drainage is placed at the bottom of the holes. The roots of the seedlings are placed carefully, straightened, and the soil is evenly distributed throughout the entire volume of the holes. Small tubercles are placed near the root collars. Immediately after planting, the trees are watered and mulched with pine needles or sawdust.

Watering

Mulberries need additional moisture until they reach 5 years of age. Trees growing on dry sandy soils are watered every week with 15 liters of water. Wet clay soils should be moistened carefully so as not to cause rotting of the root system. In case of heavy natural precipitation, you can refuse watering. By the second half of summer, the plants have time to become saturated with water, the growing season slows down, and they require less moisture. From this period, you can refuse to moisturize in order to provide the mulberry tree with protection from future cold weather.

Feeding

Before flowering begins, add superphosphate to the soil.. If the soil is not nutritious enough, add compost, humus or other organic matter once a month.

Crown care, pruning

Trim mulberry tree branches to give the crown decorative look, rejuvenation begins at 3 years of age. Earlier pruning is acceptable for sanitary purposes. To do this, remove diseased, damaged branches that have been frozen over the winter.

The mulberry tree quickly recovers and increases its green mass, so during the season you can cut off ⅓ of the crown volume. In decorative varieties, the lower part of the trunk up to 1.5 m high is usually left bare, and the crown is given a spherical or pyramidal shape.

To prevent the death of young shoots in winter frosts, it is recommended to insulate mulberries under 5 years old. The branches are bent down, the crown is wrapped in burlap and tied. The roots can be covered with spruce branches.

Reproduction

Varietal mulberry is not propagated by seeds. This method does not preserve the species properties of the plant. Vegetative methods are usually used: cuttings, grafting.

Cuttings are cut at the beginning of summer from one-year-old shoots. The rods should be 12–15 cm long, have 1–2 healthy buds, and a couple of leaves. Excess greenery is torn off. The shoots take root in a mixture of peat and sand. For the first 2 years, it is recommended to grow them in a greenhouse, then transfer them to open ground.

In sandy soil, mulberries often send out root shoots, which can be easily detached from the mother tree in the spring. Low-growing varieties with long side shoots are propagated by layering. To do this, bend the selected branches to the ground and lightly sprinkle them with soil. After a year, the shoot takes root, it is disconnected and replanted.

Is it possible to grow mulberries in the central zone of our country? Despite the fact that the tree has southern roots, according to reviews, mulberry of certain varieties grows and reproduces well in the Moscow region. In the article you will find tips with photographs on how to plant and care for mulberries.

Varieties and varieties

Mulberry is widespread in the subtropical zones of America, Africa and Asia, India, in the Middle Volga region and the Moscow region, the Stavropol and Krasnodar territories, and the Nizhny Novgorod region. This ancient culture It is of great importance as a fruit and medicinal plant. Wood is a valuable material for making crafts, cooperage and musical instruments. Juices, wine and vodka, vinegar, and jelly are made from the berries. Dried berries are added to the dough. Mulberry leaves are a valuable source of nutrition for the silkworm, whose pupa is used to produce silk. It was from mulberry bast that the Chinese began to produce paper.

Both the fruits and wood of the mulberry are beneficial to humans in many ways.

There are more than 17 types of mulberry. In our country, black and white mulberries are most often used. The difference between these species lies in the color of the bark, and not the color of the berries, as many are accustomed to thinking. Black mulberries have a more pronounced taste, so they are often planted for fruit production. White is considered much more frost-resistant.

Considering the unpretentiousness of mulberry to growing conditions, the ability to tolerate air pollution, ease of shaping and decorativeness, it is widely used for landscaping: dense hedges, in groups and individually, for creating alleys. The most impressive are the following decorative forms:

• golden;
• crying;

Weeping form

• spherical;
• large-leaved;

Large-leaved form

• pyramidal;
• dissect-leaved.

Mulberry planting

The favorable time for planting mulberries is spring or early autumn. Choose a well-lit place, ideally southern slopes. Mulberry is undemanding when it comes to soil; it can grow on saline soils, but prefers well-drained loams.

Choose a bright place for the seedling, protected from the winds

Planting holes are prepared in advance so that the soil can stand. Size 70 x 70 cm and depth up to half a meter. The removed soil is mixed with a bucket of humus, half is placed in a hole, a seedling is placed on top, the roots are straightened and sprinkled with the remaining soil. Compact the soil around the stem and water it. Depending on the future formation of the seedling, the distance between the trees is set differently. 5 m are left between standard forms, and 3 m between bush forms.

After planting, the soil must be mulched - mulch will protect the roots of the plant from freezing in winter.

Advice. Mulberries are divided into male and female. It is better to purchase seedlings from the nursery that have already bear fruit once, so you will definitely get a fruit-bearing tree. Males do not bear fruit and are used only for landscaping or decoration.

Mulberry care, fertilizer and feeding

Agricultural techniques for growing mulberries include watering, fertilizing, formative pruning, disease prevention and pest protection.

Mulberry tolerates cutting and shaping very well. Withstands temperatures down to 30 degrees, annual shoots may be damaged. In cold regions, where freezing occurs frequently, the growing shoots form a bush and a bush form of mulberry is obtained; only sanitary pruning in winter is needed. Therefore, in the Moscow region, mulberry is a bush, not a tree.

Mulberry is a very hardy plant

Free-growing mulberry reaches a height of 10 meters. It is better to create a tree on a one and a half meter trunk, bend the branches in different directions and support it with pruning. At such a height, it is convenient to pick berries and easy to care for the crown.

Enough for the young seedling nutrients, which were introduced during planting into the pit. When the mulberry begins to bear fruit, the need for nutrition increases and it is necessary to apply fertilizer. On sandy soils this action is especially necessary. After the soil thaws, nitrogen fertilizers are applied. Possible for every square. m add 50 g of nitroammophoska or apply an infusion of bird droppings and mullein. If necessary, this feeding is repeated in early June. In the fall, you can add potassium and phosphorus elements.

Advice. If pruned very hard, the mulberry may stop bearing fruit, keep this in mind if you are growing a tree for its berries.

Reproduction

Mulberries are reproduced by seeds, root shoots, layering, cuttings, cultivars vaccination.

Diseases and pests

Mulberry is a fairly resistant plant to pathogenic flora and pests; in the middle zone, the crop suffers more from frost than from disease. Diseases are divided into two etiologies: fungal and viral.

• powdery mildew;
• root rot;
• The tinder fungus is a fungus that feeds on living wood. A sign of damage is gum discharge, which appears when the blood vessels of the tree are blocked. Cannot be treated. Infection occurs when wood is damaged;

Tinder fungus

• curly leaf blight is a virus that cannot be cured. The main source of infection is sucking insects;
• bacteriosis;
• brown spot.

Brown spot on mulberry leaves

The development of the pathogen can be facilitated by the introduction of an excessive dose of nitrogen or a lack of nutrients, or thickening of the crown.

Mulberry pests: chafer larva, mole cricket, wireworm, white American butterfly larva, Comstock worms, spider mites.

Protect your berry harvest from birds

Spider mites are recognizable by the web on the underside of the leaf. It feeds on plant sap, which leads to the leaf apparatus turning brown and falling off. The tick reproduces very quickly. The control method is spraying with thiophos.

Khrushchev, mole crickets and wireworms damage the root system, which is especially dangerous for young plants. Also, mulberries can become infected with diseases through wounds caused by insects.

Birds love to eat mulberry berries. To preserve the harvest, you need to throw it on a tree fine mesh or agrofibre.

Proper care of mulberries: video

How to plant and grow mulberries: photo

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Mulberry (morus) is a deciduous tree from the Mulberry family. It is also known as mulberry and mulberry tree. The plant is successfully cultivated in temperate climates and subtropics. Its natural habitat is the expanses of North America, Africa and Asia. The plant gained its popularity thanks to its tasty and juicy berries. It is also used for site decoration, treatment and industrial purposes. And, of course, it is the mulberry foliage that serves as food for the silkworm, the “producer” of silk.

Description of the plant

Mulberry is a deciduous tree with a spreading crown. Usually it grows no more than 10-15 m in height. The maximum annual growth is achieved in at a young age. Among the mulberries there are real long-livers. Some specimens grow for 200-500 years.

Young branches are covered with dark brown smooth bark, which cracks and peels off with age. On the shoots, alternate petiolate heart-shaped or ovoid leaves grow. Their shiny surface is dotted with a network of relief, lighter veins and painted in dark green color. The edges of the foliage are jagged, and the reverse side is lighter, matte. The leaf length is 7-15 cm.

In mid-spring, the mulberry blooms with barely noticeable, unattractive buds with long stamens. They are collected in dense short spikelets and resemble fluffy pipe cleaners hanging on flexible legs. Mulberry can be a monoecious or dioecious plant. Dioecious varieties have separate male, sterile (mulberry) and female trees.

Pollination occurs with the help of insects and wind. After it the fruits ripen complex structure. On a short branch there are many juicy drupes pressed together. The total length of the fruit is 2-5 cm. Its color can be purple-black, red or creamy-white. The fruits are edible, they have a sweet and sour taste and are quite intense, pleasant aroma. The size of mulberry leaves and fruits greatly depends on climate and soil fertility. In the south they are an order of magnitude larger than in the middle zone (for example, in the Moscow region).

Types of mulberries

There is debate among botanists regarding species classification. Various sources indicate that the genus contains 17-200 species.

Black mulberry (m. negro). The tree grows 10-13 m from the ground. Its dense crown is covered with large ovoid leaves 10-20 cm long and 6-10 cm wide. Dark purple drupes are sweet and oblong - about 2-3 cm long. Varieties:

• Kherson - frost-resistant, low tree with large (3.5 cm), sweet berries;
• Black Baroness - a frost-resistant tree, is already covered with large, sweet berries in June;
• Smuglyanka - a tall, spreading tree produces black, sweet and sour berries;
• Staromoskovskaya - sweet black-purple fruits 3 cm in size ripen on a tall tree with a spherical crown.

White mulberry (m. alba). A spreading, tall tree covered with gray-brown bark. Wide ovate or palmate leaves with jagged edges grow on young branches. The length of the leaves is 5-15 cm. The fruiting shoots are shortened relative to the vegetative ones. These dioecious plants bloom in April-May and bear fruit in May-June. The fruits (polydrupes) are cylindrical in shape and white or pink in color. Their length reaches 4 cm. The taste is more watery, sickly sweet. Varieties:

• Golden - shoots and foliage are golden in color in spring;
• White honey - a tall spreading tree produces a large harvest of snow-white sugar fruits about 3 cm long;
• Victoria - a low tree produces sweet, juicy berries about 5 cm in length;
• Weeping mulberry is an ornamental variety with flexible, drooping vines that grows up to 5 m.

Red mulberry (m. rubra). The species is frost-resistant. His homeland is North America. The plant is no different large sizes, but it is quite spreading. The heart-shaped or lobed leaves are 7-14 cm long and 6-12 cm wide and have an asymmetrical shape. They are painted bright green. In mid-summer, the harvest of dark purple, very sweet berries up to 2-3 cm in length ripens. Externally, the fruits of this particular species are similar to blackberries.

Reproduction methods

Mulberries reproduce quite easily, so gardeners do not have any difficulties when growing them. You can use seed and vegetative methods.

For seed propagation, freshly collected, peeled and dried seeds are used. Sowing is done in autumn or spring directly into open ground. All seeds require stratification. When sowing in the fall, it will take place under natural conditions, but in the spring you will have to first keep the seeds for 4-6 weeks in the refrigerator. Before planting, the seeds are treated with a stimulant (“Zircon”, “Epin”) for several hours. For sowing, choose an open, sunny place. Make grooves 3-5 cm deep, in which they are placed as rarely as possible. planting material. The bed is covered with earth and mulched with a thick layer. When the soil warms up, shoots will appear. Caring for them involves regular weeding, watering and fertilizing. In mid-autumn, the seedlings will have grown enough for the first transplant at a distance of 3-5 m. This will avoid tangling of the roots. Fruiting occurs after 5-6 years.

Since varietal characteristics are not preserved during seed propagation, vegetative propagation methods are more popular:

• Rooting cuttings. In June-July, green shoots 15-20 cm long with 2-3 leaves are cut. Planting is carried out in a greenhouse. The branches are placed diagonally to a depth of about 3 cm. 1-2 leaves with a leaf blade shortened by half are left on the cuttings. The key to good rooting is high humidity. Ideally, there will be a sprayer in the greenhouse that creates a water suspension (fog). By September, developed roots will appear and shoots will begin to grow. Planting in open ground is planned for next spring.
• Root suckers. Every tree periodically produces basal shoots. It can be used for reproduction. A developed sprout with a height of 0.5 m is dug up in mid-spring, trying not to damage the roots, and planted in a new place. To make development faster, the branches are shortened by a third.
• Vaccinations. Often, ornamental varietal plants are grafted onto rootstock obtained from seedlings. To do this, all shoots on the rootstock are removed, and oblique cuts are made on the scion with 2 buds. They are combined and fixed with a special tape. The fusion process is usually completed within 1-2 months. After this, the tape is removed. In the future, it is important to cut off all the lower branches that grow from the rootstock. The method allows you to collect several different varieties on one plant, forming the so-called “melange crop”.

Planting and care

It is better to plan the planting of mulberry in the first half of autumn, then it will have time to adapt to the new place, and after wintering it will actively begin to grow. Some people practice spring planting, before sap flow. When purchasing seedlings in nurseries, preference should be given to plants aged 4 years. If they have already bear fruit, it is easier to decide whether to get a male or female specimen.

Mulberry is a heat-loving and light-loving plant, but it needs good protection from cold drafts. The soil should be sufficiently loose and fertile. Saline, sandy or waterlogged soil is not suitable, as is proximity to groundwater.

2-3 weeks before planting, dig a hole 50 cm deep and wide. Rotted manure or compost with superphosphate is immediately added to the poor soil. A layer of ordinary soil is poured over the fertilizer so as not to burn the roots. When planting, the old earthen ball is crushed from the roots, and the voids are filled with fresh soil. Upon completion of the work, 2 buckets of water are poured under the tree, and then the surface is mulched. Young, thin seedlings are tied up.

In the future, mulberry care comes down to loosening, watering and fertilizing. It is necessary to water trees more often during flowering and fruiting, but even here it is important to know when to stop, otherwise the berries will be too watery. From mid-summer, watering is needed only during prolonged drought.

In April-June, mulberries are fertilized 1-2 times with nitrogen-containing fertilizers. In the second half of summer, preference is given to compositions with high content potassium and phosphorus.

The tree trunk circle is loosened from time to time to the depth of a spade bayonet, and weeds are also removed.

Mulberry pruning plays an important role. In spring, frozen broken branches are removed. If the plants are planted for harvesting, it is recommended to form them in the form of a bush or low tree, then it will be easier to collect berries. Mulberry tolerates pruning very well and recovers quickly, so don’t be afraid to remove excess. From time to time, the crown is thinned out and rejuvenated, completely removing 1-2 old branches and up to a third of the remaining shoots. When pruning in autumn, dry, old, as well as diseased and broken branches are removed. During the same period, too young, unripe shoots should be removed.

Mulberry resists plant diseases well. But if planted in a place that is too damp, it may suffer from powdery mildew, brown spot, bacteriosis and small leaf curl. Often the mulberry mushroom develops on it. The best salvation will be treatment with fungicides (Silit, copper sulfate, "Cytoflavin").

Periodically, the tree is attacked by insects (mulberry moth, spider mite, white American butterfly). Insecticides will help to cope with them, and treatments are carried out regularly for preventive purposes from early spring.

Benefits and contraindications

The fruits, leaves and young shoots of mulberry contain a large amount of biologically active substances:

• vitamins (A, C, E, K and group B);
• macroelements (P, Mg, Ca, K, Na);
• trace elements (Fe, Cu, Zn, Se, Mn);
• antioxidants.

Eating fresh berries helps normalize all processes in the body. They have a beneficial effect on circulatory system, promote the outflow of fluid, increasing blood pressure and sugar. To preserve the berries longer, they are dried or frozen, fermented into wine and ground with sugar. The impact of the fruits of the same tree on the gastrointestinal tract is twofold. Unripe berries strengthen the stool, while ripe and juicy ones help to liquefy it. A decoction of berries calms and helps cope with stress and insomnia. It also restores the body after serious physical exertion.

Not only the fruits are used, but also the leaves and bark. They are prepared for future use, and then made into infusions and decoctions. They have a good expectorant effect. Unlike berries, the leaves and twigs lower blood sugar and lower blood pressure.

Mulberry has no contraindications as such, but it can harm people prone to allergies. Excessive consumption of berries leads to diarrhea.