Mulberry

These little babies are mulberries. There are no flowers (which means they do not need to be pollinated) and the little furry babies will ripen to black (a deep red) within 2-3 months. The leaves make a sweet tea when boiled.

Mulberries need full sun and daily watering. The setback is these bushes are seceptible to insects. I use an organic insect spray (at night) on the front and back of the leaves. Incidentally, these are the leaves that are fed exclusively to silkworms. 

Update 13 April 15:

Some of our happy mulberries are ripening. Started picking the berries that are falling off. These are tangy and tarty little cuties. I can imagine them being perfect in summer drinks. Cannot wait for the fully ripened ones.

Realised that mulberry leaves are popular breeding grounds for insects - which probably explains why they are preferred fodder for silkworms. I was told by the horticulturist that picking off the affected leaves may not be sound long term solution - as each picking traumatises the plant. So I spray an organic repellant on the top and underside of the leaves. So far it deters and holds out the bugs for a couple of days. Although the spray is specifically for edible leaves and organic, it still means that the berries need proper cleaning before consumption.

I alternate weekly between a NPK solvent and an organic fertiliser Bio-Plus (from BioFlora Singapore). Both are organic and specific for fruit trees and vegetables. Hopefully, it will help with the yield of the berries!

Update 28 August 15:

Mulberry leaves boiled with organic goji berry. 

Apparently, mulberry leaf tea can help to flush out the build up of high cholesterol plaque in the arteries by slowing the oxidation of LDL (bad) cholesterol.

Not the best tea in terms of taste, but the benefits sound like just what I need after my meepok dry. You could add sugar, but it just feels too oxymoronic.

And since the mulberry bushes are not fruiting, might as well use up the leaves I am pruning off.

Update 29 August 15:

Apart from pruning the mulberries, I am also trying to root the cuttings in water. Out of about 6 cuttings, one of the least promising looking one rooted after what feels like months.

I kept it in the water until a healthy root system develops and a new set of shoots appear. 

Then I transferred it into the biggest pot, so it does not need to handle tranfer shock in the near future.

The parent plants are starting to yield minuscule berries. But they fall off, so no luck with the fruits.

Should find more resources and avenues for advise.

Update 26 Sep 2015:

It's been almost a month since we potted the cutting in soil. Happy that it's establishing itself.

Update 23 Jan 2016:

We changed location of the 2 parent plants to the balcony which has a longer sunlight exposure and gets the morning sun.

One of them started to throw out fruits immediately. 

We pruned the plants after a bout of dry spell and most of the leaves fell off. We also had to bring the plants back to the yard. 

Now the plants are laden with clusters of 'flowers' hope they will form fruits. 

Fingers crossed.