Collected mulberry

[James W.]

I dug a mulberry that I had let grow in my yard for a couple of years.

Now seems to be on it's way to recovery.

Question: In several places it is putting out multiple sprouts from the same location. How long should I let them grow before I reduce to just one branch a each location. My inclination to to let everything grow and gain strength until next year.

 

[just.wing.it]

Nice slingshot!

I have one that's been growing in my yard for a couple years too. I'm gonna chop it this summer and dig it up next late winter.

I would let it be with the multiple shoots this year....at least until you're convinced that it has recovered and it has established some roots.

 

[leatherback]

I am always pulling off duplicates (Those really emerging from the same spot) as they come up. Also when just translpanted, unless the plant seems weak. This does not look like a weak plant. Most of the time you do not pull of the second spout.

 

[Forsoothe!]

Let them go maybe 5 minutes. You don't need to grow stuff just to take it off, you want all the energy possible to be wood you keep a long time. Choose a bud that is growing in the right direction and then keep pruning branches to keep the tree compact because they do grow fast and get out of bounds quickly. Don't let internodes longer than what you consider good get away from you. Pick a length and pinch/clip any that go, or will go beyond that size. The leaves reduce nicely but you have to get a lot of leaves in order to sub-divide the amount of energy by enough units to reduce the size of the leaves.

 

[Leo in N E Illinois]

I would probably reduce multiple buds from a single location to a single branch sometime in the autumn. At least this year. In future years, I would probably go through and thin the branches at the same time you do your summer cut backs. Here in the Chicago-Milwaukee area, I'd cut back once in early July, and again in September-October. Thin multiple branches from a single point at those times.

 

[Arizona bonsai]

That is a trunk chop! What is the pot it is in? It’s so nice that it is sprouting.

 

[James W.]

Nice slingshot!

Yep. I see a lot of real trees growing this way.
One trunk will grow a little bigger to preserve some asymmetry. I hope to get each side to bifurcate again then develop a rounded canopy above.

 

[James W.]

That is a trunk chop! What is the pot it is in? It’s so nice that it is sprouting.

Pot is a RootMaker. It is not as deep as it looks, when I assembled it I raised the floor a couple of inches so the inside of the pot is only about 2/3 of what you see.