Planting blackberries many ?????s

[Collector]

My DW and I are going to be getting some blackberry starts from a neighbor, We have some questions
1. What is a start : Is it a cutting, or a twig with roots attached?
2.When is the best time to plant the, fall or spring?
3. Where is the best place to plant ; sun shade 50/50?
4. What would be the proper spacing do you think?
5. How would be the best way to plant A start?
6. Do you get a crop the first season.

Any advice, thoughts, or ideas would be greatly appreciated T/Y in advance.

 

[digitS']

Collector, I don't really have advice on blackberries other than this: make sure that you are getting blackberry cultivars and that your neighbor doesn't just have a wild blackberry for you.

I live in the same part of the world as you do. Three hundred miles to the west, on the other side of the Cascades, is blackberry heaven. I grew up in the blackberries of southern Oregon and northern California. We do not live there!

There are wild blackberry vines here - about every mile or so in the country, one can find some struggling plant. I lived near one in Post Falls. There was one on the path to my garden near the state line -- I walked past it almost daily for 7 years. There is a wild blackberry within 15 feet of my current garden.

I think that birds have brought the blackberry seed from hundreds of miles to the west. Once here, the plants just "exist" :/. The one in Post Falls has been there for over 40 years!

The one near my current garden probably gets more irrigation water than my vegetables. It has a few berries this year - small and quite insignificant.

The plant that I walked past for 7 years had years of no berries more often than it would produce a crop of a few "things," half the size of a raspberry. It also got irrigation water.

The blackberries on the coast produce a crop. The plants here often do not and when they do, the berries amount to very little.

On the other hand , I know 2 gardeners here who have thornless blackberries that do wonderfully! One has told me that his plants are "Doyle's." The other gardener didn't remember. I have been amazed how well their plants do given the struggle the wild vines that I have been watching so many years, go thru.

Now, someone who knows how to grow them can give you some advice.

Steve

 

[journey11]

Hi Collector, I put in some starts of Doyle's Thornless blackberries that my Gpa gave me last summer and they are still living, so I will attempt to answer your questions.

My DW and I are going to be getting some blackberry starts from a neighbor, We have some questions
1. What is a start : Is it a cutting, or a twig with roots attached?

Usually they are shoots that have come up beside the main plant. (That's how the wild blackberries take over and make a thicket--they send up shoots like crazy.) These tame ones will usually not make many shoots, so consider yourself loved if you were given some! My sister is still waiting for hers...

2.When is the best time to plant the, fall or spring?

Either. But if you've got them already dug up now, plant them now. Don't make them wait. They'll go dormant for winter anway and take off in the spring. I'd mulch them with straw after first freeze if you want to give them extra protection (especially if they're little), but mine did fine without it.

3. Where is the best place to plant ; sun shade 50/50?

Blackberries love full sun. They won't produce fruit well without it.

4. What would be the proper spacing do you think?

2-3 feet apart in single rows, rows 8 feet apart.

5. How would be the best way to plant A start?

I've found blackberries to be a bit sturdier than raspberries (which get choked out easily by weeds). Choose a sunny spot in your yard (if you plan to spray them, you could put them on the perimeter of your garden--otherwise I wouldn't because they host stink bugs, etc.) Till up your row, work in some compost and stick them in at the same level they were when they were dug. Water them in well. Blackberries will tolerate poor soil and it really isn't neccessary to load them up with too much compost/manure/fertilizer. Try to keep the area weeded out at least a foot out either side around your row. Once a year in the fall, I top dress my rows of established plants with compost. Which my stinkin' chickens take great satisfaction in scratching it out and making me rake it back up.


6. Do you get a crop the first season.

Nope, they put all their energy into growth, root and cane.

Any advice, thoughts, or ideas would be greatly appreciated T/Y in advance.

Once they do get going, tip prune your canes when they reach about 4 feet tall. This will cause them to make side branches with more berries. Sometimes support is needed to keep your canes off the ground (although some can get away without it). I thin out my canes to the best and strongest 3 or 4 per area of one square foot. Once they are established and bearing fruit, when fruiting is done you need to prune out the old canes to give more resources to the new canes, which will bear next years fruit.

Really though, they are low maintenance except for the pruning. You will love having your own fresh berries. Good luck!

 

[oberhaslikid]

A neighbor got me started with BB when I move in and he saw I was planting everything I could get in the ground.
I planted mine in rows in a raised bed we had made for pumpkins the year before.I added barn waste and leaves in the fall .We mulched with grass clippings in the Summer. Then the next Fall I planted my BB.
We staked a metal post at each end of the bed and ran heavy wire we found from post to post.As the berries grew up we wove the branches through the wires.
as new canes appeared then I trimmed in the Fall,dead woody looking ones.I add compost and leaves in the fall and a little lime. The canes grew taller then I was and fell over to the ground ad attached themselves to the soil.When I pullled them loose they had roots.I then started the second bed of BB.
I planted Blk Rasp berries and was taught that if you wanted more berries to trim them at 4 foot and the your side laterals will begin to grow and then trim them at 20 inches.So I did the same with the BB and it works.I have berries galore .We fill a 7 Cubic freezer with just our berries each year.

 

[hoodat]

In pruning blackberries you only have to remember this. A cane makes its growth one year and fruits on that cane the following year after which that cane dies and a new shoot starts from the base of the old one. The berries are always on one year old canes. If you mow your canes to the ground every year you will have few if any berries. Once you have picked your berries you can cut out the canes that bore and leave the new ones.

 

[Collector]

Collector, I don't really have advice on blackberries other than this: make sure that you are getting blackberry cultivars and that your neighbor doesn't just have a wild blackberry for you.

I live in the same part of the world as you do. Three hundred miles to the west, on the other side of the Cascades, is blackberry heaven. I grew up in the blackberries of southern Oregon and northern California. We do not live there!

There are wild blackberry vines here - about every mile or so in the country, one can find some struggling plant. I lived near one in Post Falls. There was one on the path to my garden near the state line -- I walked past it almost daily for 7 years. There is a wild blackberry within 15 feet of my current garden.

I think that birds have brought the blackberry seed from hundreds of miles to the west. Once here, the plants just "exist" :/. The one in Post Falls has been there for over 40 years!

The one near my current garden probably gets more irrigation water than my vegetables. It has a few berries this year - small and quite insignificant.

The plant that I walked past for 7 years had years of no berries more often than it would produce a crop of a few "things," half the size of a raspberry. It also got irrigation water.

The blackberries on the coast produce a crop. The plants here often do not and when they do, the berries amount to very little.

On the other hand , I know 2 gardeners here who have thornless blackberries that do wonderfully! One has told me that his plants are "Doyle's." The other gardener didn't remember. I have been amazed how well their plants do given the struggle the wild vines that I have been watching so many years, go thru.

Now, someone who knows how to grow them can give you some advice.

Steve

Steve thanks for the advice, I spent most of this summer on the west side working on highway saftey projects. We foraged treats off the side of the road every chance we got. the wild BBs were loaded this year yum! The berry plants my wife is getting are not the wild ones like on the coast or growing around Coeurdalene Lake. THese BBs have smooth branches and look more like Raspberry plants. Do you think it still a bit warm here to transplant now?

 

[Collector]

Hi Collector, I put in some starts of Doyle's Thornless blackberries that my Gpa gave me last summer and they are still living, so I will attempt to answer your questions.

My DW and I are going to be getting some blackberry starts from a neighbor, We have some questions
1. What is a start : Is it a cutting, or a twig with roots attached?

Usually they are shoots that have come up beside the main plant. (That's how the wild blackberries take over and make a thicket--they send up shoots like crazy.) These tame ones will usually not make many shoots, so consider yourself loved if you were given some! My sister is still waiting for hers...

2.When is the best time to plant the, fall or spring?

Either. But if you've got them already dug up now, plant them now. Don't make them wait. They'll go dormant for winter anway and take off in the spring. I'd mulch them with straw after first freeze if you want to give them extra protection (especially if they're little), but mine did fine without it.

3. Where is the best place to plant ; sun shade 50/50?

Blackberries love full sun. They won't produce fruit well without it.

4. What would be the proper spacing do you think?

2-3 feet apart in single rows, rows 8 feet apart.

5. How would be the best way to plant A start?

I've found blackberries to be a bit sturdier than raspberries (which get choked out easily by weeds). Choose a sunny spot in your yard (if you plan to spray them, you could put them on the perimeter of your garden--otherwise I wouldn't because they host stink bugs, etc.) Till up your row, work in some compost and stick them in at the same level they were when they were dug. Water them in well. Blackberries will tolerate poor soil and it really isn't neccessary to load them up with too much compost/manure/fertilizer. Try to keep the area weeded out at least a foot out either side around your row. Once a year in the fall, I top dress my rows of established plants with compost. Which my stinkin' chickens take great satisfaction in scratching it out and making me rake it back up.


6. Do you get a crop the first season.

Nope, they put all their energy into growth, root and cane.

Any advice, thoughts, or ideas would be greatly appreciated T/Y in advance.

Once they do get going, tip prune your canes when they reach about 4 feet tall. This will cause them to make side branches with more berries. Sometimes support is needed to keep your canes off the ground (although some can get away without it). I thin out my canes to the best and strongest 3 or 4 per area of one square foot. Once they are established and bearing fruit, when fruiting is done you need to prune out the old canes to give more resources to the new canes, which will bear next years fruit.

Really though, they are low maintenance except for the pruning. You will love having your own fresh berries. Good luck!

Journey11 thanks so much for such valuable info. Wished we knew about the pruning to 4' before DW has like 6 raspberry plants, the canes are taller than the eaves of the roof around 10' tall do you think it is to late to cut them back now or should they just be left alone. Thanks again for the advice and tips we are thankful.

 

[Collector]

A neighbor got me started with BB when I move in and he saw I was planting everything I could get in the ground.
I planted mine in rows in a raised bed we had made for pumpkins the year before.I added barn waste and leaves in the fall .We mulched with grass clippings in the Summer. Then the next Fall I planted my BB.
We staked a metal post at each end of the bed and ran heavy wire we found from post to post.As the berries grew up we wove the branches through the wires.
as new canes appeared then I trimmed in the Fall,dead woody looking ones.I add compost and leaves in the fall and a little lime. The canes grew taller then I was and fell over to the ground ad attached themselves to the soil.When I pullled them loose they had roots.I then started the second bed of BB.
I planted Blk Rasp berries and was taught that if you wanted more berries to trim them at 4 foot and the your side laterals will begin to grow and then trim them at 20 inches.So I did the same with the BB and it works.I have berries galore .We fill a 7 Cubic freezer with just our berries each year.

Thank you for the pruning tips it will be a big help for us. Do you mean to trim lateral growth at 20", thats after cutting back to 4' verticle growth?

 

[Collector]

In pruning blackberries you only have to remember this. A cane makes its growth one year and fruits on that cane the following year after which that cane dies and a new shoot starts from the base of the old one. The berries are always on one year old canes. If you mow your canes to the ground every year you will have few if any berries. Once you have picked your berries you can cut out the canes that bore and leave the new ones.

Thank you hoodat for the advice . wished I would have known that a couple years ago. DW has a few raspberry plants and for the first couple years I would cut them back like rose bushes. Never could figure out why we never got any berries from them LOL I called them never bearing raspberries.

 

[digitS']

. . . Do you think it still a bit warm here to transplant now?

Summer came back, didn't it !?

I have had some trouble with moving perennials in the fall but that may just be me. It just seems more successful to sneak up on them before they've started to grow in late winter.

I haven't moved blackberries. They look pretty tough to me and if you soak the ground well in their new location after the move, I'd think that they'd get a start before shutting down for the winter. Just guessing tho' . . .

Steve