Mulberry Tree leaves in Nottingham

Hi
I am desperate for some Mulberry leaves for my silkworms.
Does anyone living in Nottingham, or even better in Arnold area, know or have a Mulberry tree or bush so I could pick a few leaves from?
Thanks for your help.
Siamanto

 

Hi I have a mulberry tree/bush and the leaves have only just broken from their buds so I doubt for the next week or two you will be able to source any fresh leaves unless grown under glass.

Spruce

 

I was thinking that too :(

They eat a lot of leaves too ... well ... obviously depends how many worms you have! I helped on a silk farm in Japan occasionally and it was amazing how much they got through. They stank too! although I think that Comfrey Tea is probably worse ...

 

Hi
Thanks for your reply.
I was under the impression White mulberries generally come out in early spring, almost two months before black mulberries.
Any other tree I see around me is full of leaves and I have yet to see a tree without any leaves in late May.
So are you saying at this time of year, 28th of May, there are no leaves on any Mulberry bush or trees?

 

Can you pop your location in your profile pls ? ... you might be in a warmer part of the country than the rest of us

 

Hi
My garden is in South Wales 3 weeks behind than last year, I have bluebells flowering when they should of finished over two weeks ago , 3 trees in my garden have buds just starting to open as I stated already Mulberry and also my Indian Bean tree/ Hibiscus so I can only comment on what happening locally by me but it has been the coldest spring on record .

Maybe others on here can update you but I doubt that you would find one in full leaf be it white or black for the next week or two they are temperature driven to open and until its gets warmer they just stop growing.

Spruce

 

Kristen
Quote
Does anyone living in Nottingham, or even better in Arnold

 

I don't doubt your comments for a moment, its that I wouldn't have thought there would be such a big difference in trees blossoming in any part of England.
Its amazing how similar some tree leaves can be. The trees that I thought were Mulberry turned out to be wrong ones.

 

Looks like you will have to buy some more "Mulberry Chow" for now , are you growing them on to feed reptiles ? .

I can see a ebay ££ thought coming on

Spruce

 

Hahaha ... thanks Spruce. I must have read that on the first post ... and forgotten it by the time I saw the second one ... :(

Handy to now have it in the Profile, even if only for hopeless cases like me

The Mulberry supplying the leaves for Silk worms in Japan was pollarded and they grew like blue blazes as a result. We just cut the stems to the ground, stacked them on a trailer, and then laid them on the benches the worms were on ... within a day or two the leaves were all gone and we stacked some more leafy branches on - and picked up the worms that had fallen off the bench onto the floor. When they started to pupate they were transferred to little cubicals (on a big frame containing hundreds of them ... the frames attached to a spindle so as their pupating added weight on one side it turned and they then spunk silk on the other side ) and then all the dead branches were cleared off the tables - probably used as kindling / fuel in the winter I suppose. We had a permafrost during the winter up in the hills where I was living, so the fuel would have come in handy ...

So I'm thinking that pollarded Mulberry might be able to be accelerated by putting some stems in a vase of water in early Spring, before the main plant has come into leaf. That won't be any help for "now" though

 

I take it you aren't growing your own then. Is that because of lack of space?

 

I did think they were pretty common tree, having mistaken another type of trees for Mulberry, and thought there won't be any need for me to start growing, but I may try to grow them for future batch but right now I am desperate.

 

this may help http://www.silkwormstore.co.uk/silkworm-food.html

 

Thanks Spruce
I was aware of them and was hoping to pick my own leaves rather than buy them.
At least there is a plan B if all else fails.
Thanks

 

If you ever buy one they are very slow growing , normally start around £25 upwards for even a small one , mine is about 10 years old and I am still waiting for a fruit to appear.

Spruce