mixing blackberries and raspberries?

[nightshade]

Hi,
I have a thornless blackberry and four blueberry bushes . They need acidic soil. What do I need to add to make sure the soil is acidic enough... Lime? I planted my blackberry a good distance from my blueberries. Do I need to get another blackberry or just wait for this one to grow and multiply? Diana

NOT LIME! lime will nutrlize the acidity you have. Try pine needles they have a high acidic rate. I put composted horse manure on mine in the spring they do fine and a bed of pine needlesl for mulch.

They will spred out for you but you should have a second plant for proper pollination so you get a nice crop of berries.

 

[born2late]

I forgot...lime sweetens the soil right? Takes away some of the acidity. You are right I need to get a soil tester. Pine needles I have in abundance. I will try to get another plant too. You must excuse me I have chickens on the brain...lol! Diana

 

[nightshade]

lol it's okay I think we all do. I am just itching for spring I have had enough snow already.

 

[Pelican49]

Hi- first post for me - thanks silkie /nifty chicken!

So, i ordered 2 raspberry plants, a boysenberry and a marion blackberry, then read somewhere after the fact that these don't like growing together. I have prepared a raised bed about 24Lx6W and am planning to trellis the black/boysens on a long, skinny configuration, and trellis the raspberries on a short wide setup.

Does anyone else have experience growing these berries in proximity?

Are there other 'companion' plants that work well with them? Seems like alot of real estate dedicated for 4 infant vines this season!

Thanks!

Hi all. First post over here. I was also thinking of doing a raised bed of all kinds of berries. Now I'm wondering if they'd cross-pollinate where you'd end up with odd tasting berries? Just a thought. Guess I need to find the answer before I do any planting.

 

[chickhamm]

they also have black rasberries, i read that you should not plant black rasberries near the red or gold rasberries.

chickhamm
Theressa
GA

 

[nightshade]

Our family all grows their own patches and swaps plants. I have black and reds in my patch, hoping to get goldens this summer. My mother in law has blacks, reds and goldens. So husband's grand parents who have had theirs probably 20yrs or so. We all grow all of them, gold red and black in the same area, just in different beds. This way no one strangles the rest out. If you are growing in raised beds this would be the way I suggest. One color per bed. You don't really have to worry about harm of cross polination it all is in stronger plants, normally the blacks choking out the other types.

I haven't had any problems yet, neither has my hubby's grandparents. Mother in law has trouble keeping her paths between her patches open. Her's are planted in rows instead of beds, so she usually just mows the extras off.

 

[adoptedbyachicken]

The blackberrys that grow around here wild, that everyone seems to just go take a few from the bush for their garden, those are very aggressive weeds that will take over and snuff out your blueberries. The cultured blackberrys that have a nice name like Marion and are sold in stores are probably much better behaved. At least that's been my experience.

I took some wild blackberrys from a horse pasture once and transported them home to the back yard because I could not afford to fence out wandering dogs. The old wire fence that was there had huge holes in it and I thought some blackberrys would grow fast, fill the holes in with thorns, and my yard would be safe. Worked like a charm. They filled in the holes the first year, became the fence in the second year, and in the third year it began to not matter that the dogs could not get into the yard since I did not want to be there for all the thorns either.......

No seriously the open bleeding scratches did little to even slow my snacking really, but do be careful what type you get, and where you put them.

 

[Mossy Rock]

Hi- first post for me - thanks silkie /nifty chicken!

So, i ordered 2 raspberry plants, a boysenberry and a marion blackberry, then read somewhere after the fact that these don't like growing together. I have prepared a raised bed about 24Lx6W and am planning to trellis the black/boysens on a long, skinny configuration, and trellis the raspberries on a short wide setup.

Does anyone else have experience growing these berries in proximity?

Are there other 'companion' plants that work well with them? Seems like alot of real estate dedicated for 4 infant vines this season!

Thanks!

We have both blackberies and boysenberries they both grow well, not together but at opposite ends of our creek, never thought about mixing them.

 

[Tutter]

The cultured blackberrys that have a nice name like Marion and are sold in stores are probably much better behaved.

I just thought I'd complicate everyone's lives a little about Marion's/Marionberries.

Olallieberries/Olallaberries are a cross between loganberries and youngberries.

Loganberries are a cross between blackberries and a raspberry.

A youngberry is a cross between a blackberry and a dewberry.

Chehalem's, which are from a cross of a natural hybrid which includes logans, were crossed with Olallie/Olalla's, and that's what a Marion is.

 

[kcsunshine]

According to Carrots Love Tomatoes Blackberries need 5 to 5.7 pH soil while respberries need 6.5 to 7 pH. Black & purple respberries should be planted no closer than 600 ft. from red varieties because of virus disease and blackberries should not be close to raspberries (no reason given). Raspberries should not be planted near potatoes because they make potatoes more susceptible to blight.

I'm angry - bought 7 raspberry starts Saturday both black and red and intended to put them down a fence row - actually the only place I have to put them. Wouldn't you know - it's right beside a potato patch....Drat! Drat! Drat! What am I going to do now? Do they need full sun, or will they grow in shade?