They are interchangeable.Can red and white mulberry's be grafted interchangeably? Or do reds need to be grafted to reds, etc?
You had better luck with yours than we did ours at camp. They look good, Mozark!!Edit: not picture worthy and I was only able to grow them once
I never knew the history / source of IE mulberry. Thanks for the info, Native!!!Illinois Everbearing is not a species that can be male or female. It is a selected cultivar of a special female tree found growing in the wild. A true Illinois Everbearing cannot be a male, because it must come from scions that directly or indirectly come from the original female tree. IE is suspected to be a cross between a red and white mulberry. This is what I believe as well, because it has characteristics of both.
No, I've not seen it on mine.Do you ever see Popcorn Disease on Illinois Everbearing @Native Hunter ? Supposedly it is quite susceptible to this fungal disease in the south east (depends on weather at the time of bloom). White mulberries in particular are susceptible to Popcorn Disease from what I read where red mulberries are not. Hybrids of course vary.
I'm debating whether to get some scions to try rooting but dont want to get it if its an issue here. I have several white mulberries growing over my fence in the backyard my neighbors wouldn't care if I grafted as an alternative.
How do those Illinois Everbearing alternatives you mention taste? I have some morus alba rootstock growing in my backyard I want to graft to once i get some scions. I might try to grow some of the cuttings (either the alba or scions) for habitat too if it works out.Went a number of years without Popcorn Disease showing itself, but once it arrived here, the Illinois Everbearing trees here are badly affected... routinely lose most of the first flush of fruit to Popcorn DZ, but later flushes are less affected.
Silk Hope, Lawson Dawson, Collier, Stearns, Hicks Everbearing, Orlinda, and 'Corral'(my own selection, a seedling of IE) are all M.rubraXalba hybrids, but to date, I have not had issues with Popcorn Disease affecting them. Have a couple of local M.rubra selections grafted in the orchard, and as others have stated, productivity on IE and the other hybrids vastly surpasses the natives - I usually get 6-8 weeks of fruit production from the hybrids.
I've had no success rooting dormant-collected cuttings of mulberry - but I don't have a heated propagation mat or mist system.
I have had some success rooting midsummer semi-hardwood cutting, with minimal TLC.
Bark grafts with dormant scions or mid- to late-summer T-budding onto seedling rootstocks works best for me.