Mulberry tree no growth...

I bought a mulberry tree from Bakers about a month ago and planted it. It was just a stick, and a month latter it is still just a stick... I have no signs of life. Should I be worried or is it normal that it would still be showing no signs of life? I've been deep watering it two to three times a week, like the rest of my new trees and they are all doing fine but none of them were bare root sticks, I hope I didn't kill it by under watering.

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Permalink Reply by Powell Gammill on March 16, 2012 at 3:33pm

My Persian mulberry (which was pretty much a stick)is still just a stick while my White (which had an incredible and vivacious roots) is popping out the past two weeks). I wouldn't sweat it. Personally, I'd be more worried about overwatering it. I watered it twice in a week when planted, and five weeks later when the water level had dropped down to about 7 inches once more. A watched stick never sprouts. ;-)

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Permalink Reply by Erica (Dawnfire) on March 17, 2012 at 9:13pm

My mulberry is a pakastani mulberry and sounds like your persian mulberry... hopefully there will be signs of life soon. Do you think I should stick to the twice a week watering cycle?

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Permalink Reply by Powell Gammill on March 18, 2012 at 5:20am

Hell no. You should only water when the ground is dry. Use a screw driver or other probe to tell when the level drops below six inches. It should slide in easily encountering resistance at the depth it is dry. This time of year with mulch that probably is less than once a month. That tree is dormant...it don't need much water if any. When you see the first bud break water heavily once (maybe twice 3 days later) and then thereafter only when needed.

For initial water delivery on a new tree, I use a 5 gal. plastic bucket (ex: Home Depot $3 orange) with two "nail" holes (empirically determined) punched in the bottom at an edge. This delivers a known quantity 5 gallons into the immediate area of the tree in a drip irrigation manner heavy and down so salt buildup is discouraged. Three holes seemed a bit too fast of delivery for the ground to soak up, one hole worked but two holes got the thing drained twice as fast. I put the holes on one of the sides where the handle is located to orient the holes because they are hard to spot. I also marked the side with their location. Takes about 45 min. to drain. [I also use this to soften up the ground for digging a 18-24" diameter 10" deep hole about two days before breaking ground with a 5" wide trenching shovel.]

If you have drip irrigation you can instead control water delivery that way.

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Permalink Reply by Erica (Dawnfire) on March 30, 2012 at 5:19pm

I thought I would nudge this since I still have no growth. I'm getting tired of watering a stick. I understand it is a bare root tree but seriously shouldn't it have broken dormancy by now? Did I just waste my money on this thing? I thought they were supposed to grow fast. Anyone have any ideas how I can figure out what is going on?

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Permalink Reply by OceanLyons on March 31, 2012 at 8:25am

I have some old established trees that have just started breaking dormancy. So, I personally wouldn't give up yet. :)

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Permalink Reply by Tracy on March 31, 2012 at 10:33am

My huge mulberry tree is just starting to leaf out. Did you check to see if your tree's wood is still pliable or if it seems brittle? If pliable, it's still alive, just sleeping.

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Permalink Reply by Erica (Dawnfire) on March 31, 2012 at 10:39am

Since it has no branches and is only a stick, I'd worry about trying to break it, but maybe I will at the top...

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Permalink Reply by Erica (Dawnfire) on March 31, 2012 at 7:10pm

snapped a small piece off, it is crunchy but there is a very small dot of green inside... so is that alive or dead? The green makes me think alive but the crunchy makes me think dead.

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Permalink Reply by jeff lauffer on March 31, 2012 at 9:46pm

mine is also just a twig, and has just stared to leaf, its also in full sun all day. I'll bet you still have a prayer. Green is a good sign. I usually just scratch the bark with my nail to check for green. easy to do on young wood and less invasive then breaking off a piece.

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Permalink Reply by rafael evangel on January 14, 2013 at 11:25am

Hi Tracy,

would you have pictures of your mulberry tree you could share? How old is it? Is it a black mulberry?

thanks!

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Permalink Reply by Caren Malleck on April 9, 2012 at 2:58pm

Did your mulberry tree come out of dormancy yet...I purchased a bare root Pakistani Mulberry from Bakers in late February/early March. It still hasn't done anything yet.