Skinner Mulberry Budwood

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Skinner mulberry is one of the most exciting plants in our collection, and one that we hope will eventually become a staple of many Florida gardens. In our opinion, this is a top tier fruit that everyone should be growing. For a lot of years our friend Crafton Clift would tell us of an amazing 5 inch long mulberry he collected in Trinidad from a man named Dr. Skinner. The budwood was originally grafted into a tree in Miami and later one tree was grafted at a church garden in Naples. To our knowledge, these were the only trees in the US of this variety. Enticed by Crafton’s tales of these mulberries, we made a trip to Miami to collect the mulberry. The homeowner kindly let us take an abundance of budwood which we successfully grafted into a mature tree at home. Thankfully we got the budwood in time, as that house has now been sold! When we purchased Cody Cove Farm in 2021, one of the first trees planted here was the Skinner mulberry.

This mulberry is exceptionally long, with some fruit truly reaching 5 inches long and proving that Crafton’s tale wasn’t an exaggerated fishing story. With Skinner being a different species than most mulberries (Morus macroura), it has a very different flavor. Flavor of any fruit is hard to nail down but I would describe it as fig-like, low acid, sweet and rich. The tree is excessively productive, with clusters of fruit emerging from each node.

Skinner is very precocious, with grafts usually throwing fruits when the first growth emerges from the graft union! It fruits in pots quite prolifically. Our neighbors have been sculpting their tree into a dense, 8 foot bush with frequent pruning. That tree is extremely productive, making this an exciting prospect for small spaces, pots and intensive plantings. I believe a Skinner tree can be permanently maintained at the height of a person with intensive pruning and give high fruit productivity. Unchecked, it is a vigorous variety that will become a large tree.

Being a tropical mulberry, the tree responds to heavy pruning with fruit set on new growth. We have established that fruit can be harvested from the trees throughout most of the year when it is warm if frequent pruning occurs. Most mulberries do not behave this way or if they do, the out season fruit are few and undersized. We dream of a densely planted tree row that is intensively pruned in succession to give year round berry production. Skinner can bud out early in Spring, which may make the main crop susceptible to cold damage in places with late frost. At this time we do not know the overall cold hardiness for North Florida and beyond.

Skinner is a representative of Morus macroura, the Himalayan mulberry group. This clone is not the same as Pakistan, Himilayan or other more common long mulberries. This fruit is different tasting and much longer than those. We thought it may be the same thing as Taiwan Long but our friend Marta in California has determined it is definitely a different clone. To our knowledge, there is no mulberry similar that is available for Floridians to plant. This variety is not readily available anywhere else, though we have shared it with prolific propagators like Craig (Florida Fruit Geek) and Marta (Fruiting Seasons) so it may start to pop up here and there in the future.

This listing is for budwood for grafting. This variety is hard to root from cuttings, but we have done it. However, the roots are extremely susceptible to root knot nematodes. A tree on it’s own roots is destined for failure in Florida soils. The best way to use this budwood is to graft it to potted nematode hardy stock or to top work into an already existing mulberry. It is graft compatible with common mulberry types. Unfortunately, a lot of our 2023 budwood is thick and not useful for cleft or side veneer grafting. These thick pieces are best for chip budding. We will include at least one smaller diameter piece of budwood in each order which should be able to give a few shots at cleft and side veneer grafts also. Most wood will be thick for chip budding! Budwood can be stored in the refrigerator until rootstock breaks bud in spring. Best stored in a tightly sealed bag with a wrung out paper towel.

Order includes 6 pieces of budwood. Refunds only available if budwood arrives in bad shape, not if grafts do not take.