Starting trees from green cuttings (Building a mister)

[Skelly]

I don’t know how to check. What am I looking for?

 

[Skelly]

I just googled. I didn’t see any catkins on the tree at all to determine.

I will keep my eye on it if it survives.

 

[yoderjac]

I'm just starting with mulberries so I don't have good first hand experience. Perhaps others can weigh in, but here is my understanding so far. Mulberry trees are generally dioecious—with only male flowers or only female, but some trees are monoecious. I don't know of any way to tell until they flower. The reason I ask is that the trees I bought are grafted and presumably all female. I don't know if there are native mulberries in the area for pollination. I thought at some point I might graft a male scion or two to my trees to increase production if needed.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[Skelly]

I'm just starting with mulberries so I don't have good first hand experience. Perhaps others can weigh in, but here is my understanding so far. Mulberry trees are generally dioecious—with only male flowers or only female, but some trees are monoecious. I don't know of any way to tell until they flower. The reason I ask is that the trees I bought are grafted and presumably all female. I don't know if there are native mulberries in the area for pollination. I thought at some point I might graft a male scion or two to my trees to increase production if needed.

Thanks,

Jack

I’ve read the same info about them. I read in one article that they can also change sex at some point.

I’ll be more then happy to keep an eye on mine and let you know. I will have reds and whites

 

[yoderjac]

Well, when I got home today, I found the other end of the Tee Filter blew out. Fortunately with the hot weather we are having it must have not blown too long ago since the plants were still damp. I was able to snap the collar back on and reassemble it, but it blew out again the next time it turned on. At that point, I put it back together and turned the water down to a trickle. That was enough to keep it hobbling along for a few hours.

I went to lowes and picked up a 25psi pressure regulator. When I got home, I installed it in front of the timer and turned the water back on full blast. Everything seems to be working again. After talking to the folks I bought the kit from, it sounds like my house water pressure is either much too high or the Tee filter is defective. Even though this one seems to be working, I don't feel like I can count on it when I'm out of town so I ordered another Tee filter.

While I was at lowes, I picked up the parts I need to build the indoor water recycling system for it but I haven't started that project yet.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[yoderjac]

I don’t know how to check. What am I looking for?

I happened to run across this tread on another forum: http://www.growingfruit.org/t/mulberries-no-work-fruit/1431/97

I mostly lurk there and only post occasionally. At any rate, if you scroll to the bottom of that thread you'll find a post where a guy says he can tell sex from the preponderance of leaves with particular shapes. Just thought it was worth a look.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[Skelly]

I happened to run across this tread on another forum: http://www.growingfruit.org/t/mulberries-no-work-fruit/1431/97

I mostly lurk there and only post occasionally. At any rate, if you scroll to the bottom of that thread you'll find a post where a guy says he can tell sex from the preponderance of leaves with particular shapes. Just thought it was worth a look.

Thanks,

Jack

Good to know

 

[yoderjac]

I checked the mulberries tonight. No luck. I remove those that died. Many were still pushing leaves. I sampled a few of them and none of those I sampled are showing roots yet. I'll leave them for another week or so and check again.

 

[yoderjac]

I checked the mulberries again tonight. If I have any success, it will be very low. I've discarded most of the cuttings that clearly died. I pulled a couple more today. One looked like it might (and I mean might) be starting a small root. I reseated it. The number of cutting left is declining quickly. Clearly noting will live outside the mister yet, so I'll check them again in another week or so. Evidently the particularly varieties of mulberries I'm trying to start from cuttings are difficult.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[yoderjac]

I checked the Mulberries yesterday. Zero percent rooting. Experiment over.

 

[Skelly]

I checked the Mulberries yesterday. Zero percent rooting. Experiment over.

I started with 20-25. I have 3 that started rooting the rest stayed with fairly small leaves but did not put on growth.

I feel your pain.

 

[yoderjac]

Mine were still alive and green and had put on many new leaves, just no roots. I have plenty of other uses for the mister. I looks like the varieties of mulberries I have but be the ones that are hard to root.

 

[yoderjac]

Well, it is time to modify the mister for indoor use. My plan is to try it for more precise control of the humidity for nut grafting.

My first step was to modify one of my table racks:

I hung a tarp below the rack at an angle. It is hard to see from the pic, but the tarp slopes forward to drain water out the front.

Thanks,

Jck

 

[yoderjac]

My next step was to develop a collection system to collect and filter the water:

The left bottom bucket does nothing except support the collection bin (top middle) at the correct height. Water from the tarp drains into this collection bin. If you look closely you can see the drain on the bottom right side of the collection bin. That drain extends into the right bottom water supply bucket.

 

[yoderjac]

Here is a better look at the drain:

The only reason I put the connector on the bottom of the drain was to help secure the filter:

I just used a nylon stocking for the filter securing it in place with a rubber band.

 

[yoderjac]

Now that I have a way to collect and filter the water, I need to drive the mister. Here is what I plan to use for that:

It starts with a Nepow timer. This can do all kinds of interval timing just like the timer I used outside on the hose. It drives an aquarium pump. I had to jury rig the connection between the output of the aquarium pump with some vinyl tubing, a hose clamp, and some jag connectors.

 

[yoderjac]

So, here is the completed unit:

Here is a better look at the bottom collection and driving section:

 

[yoderjac]

Well, I did a little testing tonight and found a problem. The system works in principle but the little aquarium pump does not produce enough pressure. The misting nozzles just drip. I took a look at the box for the misting system and they recommend 45psi. That was not an issue when I was using it outside with house water for plants that are not sensitive to the water. But with things in the chestnut family I want to be using rain water and I don't want a setup where a leak could cause a flood indoors.

So, I ordered a larger pump rated at 45psi. I have a month before the nut grafts go into the chamber so I have plenty of time for it to arrive and get setup and tested.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[yoderjac]

I was shocked how fast the pump arrived. Amazon can be amazing. It was at my door at 5:00 pm today. I headed to Lowes to pick up the parts. Here it is:

The 2x4 will sit on top of the bucket and the cpvc pipe will extend down in an inch or two above the bottom. That is another piece of nylons I cut and placed over the intake as a filter. I just slipped it over the PVC and cable tied it in place. The unit did not have a cord. I just connected the leads to a 3-prong plug. I did not want to run it until the PVC cement was well set. Tomorrow, I will put it on the bucket and connect the tubing to the quarter inch jag and test it.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[yoderjac]

Well, I got home tonight and tried it out. The new pump worked pretty well, but only one of the 3 nozzles in the chamber was misting. None were misting with the aquarium pump. I also noticed the pump would cut on and off quickly making kind of a pulsating flow. It has a 45psi limit, so if you use one with a faucet, you can keep the pump powered and it will turn on and off with the faucet. I pulled the misting nozzles and found the two that were not misting were clogged. I had plenty more so I simply replaced them with new ones. I turned the pump back on to test again and all three nozzles provided a good mist. There was only a very slight slow pulsation. Evidently 3 nozzles allowed the pressure to just occasionally get slightly above 45 psi. If I add a 4th nozzle it would be smooth, but I don't think it is enough to bother with.

So, I'm now ready for the nut grafts to take!

Thanks,

Jack