majorcatfish
Garden Master
as promised here it is.....
don't be scared to prune them this time of the year, actually you will have a better harvest doing this.
first off before going out and prune, if you live in an area that has chiggers best you spray yourself with deet
spray yourself head to toe and then put your cloths on and spray them as well.
chigger bites can make your life a itching hell for weeks till they heal..
well lets get going on pruning.....
first off you need to closely look over your blackberries, do they look healthy or is there something that catches your eye.
unfortunately there was a few things that caught my eye this year that needed attention.
healthy productive floricane runners.
there is no need to do anything to them...
non-productive floricane runners
best that you remove them even if there are a couple shoots bearing berries,it's a waste of energy to the rest of the productive runners
you have to look at the runner and find where it start to become productive and that is were you need to prune it back too.
while looking over your runners if you notice that you have had poor pollination of your berries might as well prune them out as well.
a berry here and there..... look at the runner and follow it back to where you see good pollination prune it back to there.
no reason to keep it....
runners that have died back
since you have been looking over your runners and have noticed that you have dead runners, it's a good time to prune them out as well. all they are doing is harboring diseases.
cut them back to the first good productive bud and remove it.
pruning for air flow
will prune all lower runners on the floricanes from the ground to around 15" up the cane.
this is will help in deterring pests and diseases, since you have done this it's a good time to sprinkle a little sevin dust around the crown<thats up to you>
before pruning
after pruning
while pruning do not prune between the 2 trellis wires <if you have do not have too>
blackberries are are prone to sunscald...<while growing the temperature is too hot and the sun is bearing directly down on them and they burst,the berries growing inside the canopy turn out to be the best>
will do a another posting on this later this summer.......
for the problems i have noticed this year....
some of the original mothers or daughters are or not producing primocanes in any numbers.
here is a original mother, no new growth this will be her last year.....
here is one of her daughters, a little slow but a primocane is coming up
but her days are numbered.
found this on one of my 2 year old...
it's called berry rosette/double bloom/witches broom.. it comes from being infected from wild berries
the only thing you can do is remove it and as well the wild berries that are growing on your property.
you need to prune it back to the cane.
once removed spray with a copper base fungicide....
everything you have pruned out you need to remove it from the area....
NOTE....
knowing that some of you do not like pesticides or fungicides, but if you can alternative use it... will stick with i know that works...
BUT IF YOU DO USE THEM, USE THEM ACCORDING TO THE PACKAGE LABEL
hope this will help you grow the best berries...
more to come as the season goes....
mc...
don't be scared to prune them this time of the year, actually you will have a better harvest doing this.
first off before going out and prune, if you live in an area that has chiggers best you spray yourself with deet
spray yourself head to toe and then put your cloths on and spray them as well.
chigger bites can make your life a itching hell for weeks till they heal..
well lets get going on pruning.....
first off you need to closely look over your blackberries, do they look healthy or is there something that catches your eye.
unfortunately there was a few things that caught my eye this year that needed attention.
healthy productive floricane runners.
there is no need to do anything to them...
non-productive floricane runners
best that you remove them even if there are a couple shoots bearing berries,it's a waste of energy to the rest of the productive runners
you have to look at the runner and find where it start to become productive and that is were you need to prune it back too.
while looking over your runners if you notice that you have had poor pollination of your berries might as well prune them out as well.
a berry here and there..... look at the runner and follow it back to where you see good pollination prune it back to there.
no reason to keep it....
runners that have died back
since you have been looking over your runners and have noticed that you have dead runners, it's a good time to prune them out as well. all they are doing is harboring diseases.
cut them back to the first good productive bud and remove it.
pruning for air flow
will prune all lower runners on the floricanes from the ground to around 15" up the cane.
this is will help in deterring pests and diseases, since you have done this it's a good time to sprinkle a little sevin dust around the crown<thats up to you>
before pruning
after pruning
while pruning do not prune between the 2 trellis wires <if you have do not have too>
blackberries are are prone to sunscald...<while growing the temperature is too hot and the sun is bearing directly down on them and they burst,the berries growing inside the canopy turn out to be the best>
will do a another posting on this later this summer.......
for the problems i have noticed this year....
some of the original mothers or daughters are or not producing primocanes in any numbers.
here is a original mother, no new growth this will be her last year.....
here is one of her daughters, a little slow but a primocane is coming up
but her days are numbered.
found this on one of my 2 year old...
it's called berry rosette/double bloom/witches broom.. it comes from being infected from wild berries
the only thing you can do is remove it and as well the wild berries that are growing on your property.
you need to prune it back to the cane.
once removed spray with a copper base fungicide....
everything you have pruned out you need to remove it from the area....
NOTE....
knowing that some of you do not like pesticides or fungicides, but if you can alternative use it... will stick with i know that works...
BUT IF YOU DO USE THEM, USE THEM ACCORDING TO THE PACKAGE LABEL
hope this will help you grow the best berries...
more to come as the season goes....
mc...