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Planting, Growing, and Harvesting Blackberries
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We had a large blackberry plant "appear" last year (I think it came from neighbor's, spreading under the fence). I let it go, and we got over a gallon of berries! Not much fruit this year. It is about 12 feet from my raspberries currently. I have heard that this may not be good, as diseases may propagate between the species. Should I remove it?
Yes, plant blackberries and raspberries in different locations to avoid the risk of different viruses. Also, keep red raspberry plants away from other raspberry varieties (black and purple). Removing any wild brambles in the vicinity is also a good idea since older brambles are more likely to carry the disease.
I have thornless blackberries but they are sour is there anything to add to the soil to sweeten them i wait until they are completely ripe
Hi David,
Anything you added to the soil would not increase the sweetness of your berries. If harvested too early, blackberries will be sour. Even once they have turned black, you should wait to pick them until the shine has gone away and the berries are dull. The sugar levels increase as the berry becomes a dull color.
Hope this helps!
I believe this comment is incorrect:
"If you have primocane-fruiting erect blackberries, cut all canes off just above the ground in the late winter for the best fruit."
I have the Prime Ark Freedom. According to various online sources, canes should be pruned to the ground after the second fruiting year.
In terms of the modern blackberries that fruit on primocanes, you could do it either way. 😄 The floricane crop will be harvested in late spring/early summer, whereas the primocane crop is harvested in late summer/early autumn. Double cropping does not reduce the yield of primocanes, and if you cut down the canes after the primocane crop, the next year you’ll get a bigger primocane crop. So, for those primocane fruiting varieties, you could grow them either way and still have berries.
I have a crop of blackberries that have some light brown spots on some of the berries. They taste okay but are they diseased?
The plants are 1-3 years old. This is the first time we have had this problem.
We've noticed the same thing on our fruit. It turned out to be the leftover bloom that turned brownish and kind of stuck to some of the fruit. We run our berries through a juicer after rinsing to make seedless jam and cordials. The old blooms don't seem to hurt anything.
Checking on my blackberries that are about three years old, I found more than a few canes have tipped over and grown into the ground. Should I cut the end off and remove it from the ground or leave it? Last year as not a good year for our berries and this year the long stems seem bare of leaves on the middle of the stem but leafy on the ends and at the ground. Any Information would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
Mary, your plants that tip over and seem to ‘grow into the ground’ are merely doing what God intended them to do which is go forth and multiply. This process of tipping is much like that of strawberry plants sending out runners and starting new plants. Once the tip has ‘stuck to the ground’ it has essentially rooted a new plant. You can simply cut the original cane off about 1’ from the ground and carefully dig up the new area and transplant it somewhere else or place in a pot to cultivate and give to a friend. If you simply want the original cane back up to train just cut it off where it has attached to the ground - no harm done.