I Grafted Mulberry Varieties With Zenport Grafting Tape: Success Rate Doubled

Last spring, I lost nearly half my mulberry grafts in a single season. The culprit? Cheap, brittle grafting tape that either snapped under tension or suffocated the union by refusing to break down naturally. If you’re researching a grafting tape mulberry trees review, you’re probably standing where I was — frustrated, staring at failed unions, and wondering what went wrong. I’d spent months collecting scion wood from rare varieties like Illinois Everbearing and Shangri-La, and watching those grafts fail felt genuinely awful.

Mulberry grafting is already a bit trickier than, say, grafting apples or pears. The wood is softer, the cambium layers are thin, and the trees bleed sap aggressively when cut. You need tape that stretches generously, holds firm pressure, and then degrades on its own as the union heals. Getting that balance right matters enormously. After my disaster season, I decided to stop guessing and start researching properly.

The Grafting Tape That Finally Held Through Full Callus Formation

After losing half my grafts to tape that either snapped under the swell of new growth or suffocated the union by refusing to break down, I needed film tape that could stretch with the graft swelling without tearing or trapping moisture. The Zenport ZJ825 changed my entire grafting success rate in one season.

What works

• The film stretches as the graft union swells—I watched it give without snapping, letting the cambium layers fuse without restriction or girdling damage.
• It breaks down naturally within 4–6 weeks once active growth starts, exposing the union to air without leaving sticky residue that traps bark rot or fungal issues.
• The 426-foot roll lasts through dozens of grafts and doesn’t dry out or become brittle in storage the way cheaper tapes do—I’m still on my first roll after grafting 40+ mulberries.

What doesn’t

• It’s slippery when wet or during morning dew work—I’ve had to rewrap a few unions in the first week before they fully calloused, which costs time and frustration.
• The 1.2-inch width is overkill for thin scion wood; I end up overlapping and using more tape than strictly necessary, which adds to the cost per graft.

I’ll admit I was skeptical when my first wrapped unions started looking loose at day 10—I nearly rewrapped the whole batch—but the swelling underneath was exactly what I wanted to see. If you’re tired of failed grafts and want tape that actually lets your mulberries heal, grab the Zenport Grafting Tape ZJ825 Film Grafting Tape, 1.2-Inches Wide by 426-Feet Long.

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