here is a quickie on blackberries.
most blackberries are semi-erect means they need to be trellised for good production.
here are 2 terms that you need to remember....this is where it gets tricky
floricane..last years growth,this years berries
primocane.. this years growth, next years berries
going to use mine as an example..
here are floricane's in the bearing stage.
here are this years primocanes growth..
primocanes will keep growing all season and if not topped they will become a tangled mess and loss in production, so i top mine when they get 5' tall
will top them just above a lateral branch.
by doing so you are directing more energy into healthier branches and better production on next years floricanes.
this is one of many primocane branches
my trellis system is a basic 6' double tee set-up meaning that there is 6' of pole sticking out of the ground the other 2' is buried<use extra concrete on the end posts>
and the tee's spaced apart 1 tee is at 5.5' and the other is 3'.
this is for maximum harvesting and for better airflow between the berries.
the tees are 2' wide.
enough of pictures for now.
care for this years floricanes....
feeding... they like to be feed around april a good rounded fertilizer 17-17-17 and if have not done it a little greensand as well<every other year> and again feed them in june....
watering...about 2" a week, use soaker hoses so the water has time to drip into the earth, you want to do this so the roots will grow deep and not shallow. i am not much on mulch but you can put down mulch along the soaker hose line this will help on weeds growing between them,not to thick only a couple inches 2-3".
place the soaker hoses about 6" from the crown< i run a hose on either side of the crowns>
the root system is massive thats why i say 2" and with young plants yes 1".
pest control...
word neem oil
and of course brambles invite chiggers how you deal with is up to you< am a big fan of spectracide after all the blossoms have fallen and the berries are still green.> and then neem oil only.
pruning... you should have done the main pruning last fall. but remove any branches that have died off. and keep an eye out for any sick looking branches..
once done producing you will notice that the floricane leaves are turning yellowish and falling off.late august-mid september it's time to prune them out all the way to the crown<more energy to the primocanes production.
care for this years primocanes...
well by late august you are going to have a mess of new growth just prune the branches back to 6-7'.
during this time you want to start training left and right.
pruning once you have removed all of the floricanes it's time to do a rough pruning.
you should only keep 2-4 primocanes and remove the rest,prefer to keep the healthiest out of the bunch.
time to pick out what branches you want to keep your wires that you have been training. looking at your wires i prefer removing all small/short one and only keeping 2-3 branches per wire going each way if you have them and remove everything between.
once you have pruned out what you do not want it's time to trim them back to around 5' and wrap them around the wire.
watering...cut it back to about a 1/2 inch or more depending on your area. too much water and they are going to keep shooting off new branches. in october stop watering altogether.
pests like to spray dormancy oil around where you have cut out the floricanes a couple times in the fall.
most important after all your work rake the leaves up and remove any branches on the ground keep the area clean...less chance of any overwintering pests or diseases and do not compost them either....
ok you all have been wondering what i mean by tip them......
if you do not trim back the primocane branches if they touch the ground they will root.
if you notice that your primocane on a crown did not come up during the spring the chances are the crown is sick<crown borers main reason or root nematodes> need to treat that area before planting next spring.
i will always leave 4-6 branches un pruned.
so when i loss a crown for whatever reason or what to start more i take a gallon and put the tip of the branch in with either potting soil or mix of local soil/potting mix
since it's the wrong time of the season i used a floricane as a stand in.
will keep in there till next spring and once you see roots coming out the bottom it's time to snip the branch around 3' and transplant
if you live in a cold part of the country you may want to dig a hole larger than the pot, place the pot in the hole and fill around with sand and then cover with straw.
and thats how you make more blackberries .....mothers into daughters
