Post by Okwes on Jun 14, 2007 10:56:23 GMT -5
*Blackberry Planting Information
*
Planting Bare Root Blackberry Plants. Plant into a
grass and weed free strip that is minimum of 24" wide.
If you use a tiller,two passes will make a good width
for a plant bed. Make a furrow along the center of
this strip. We use the furrow attachment on our rear
tine tiller. On a smaller scale, the planting furrow
can be made with a hoe. Any composted organic matter
that can be incorporated into this planting strip will
be a plus factor for the new plants.
Plant the plants in the furrow 3"-4" deep and 24"
apart in the row. Space rows 10'-12' apart. Pack dirt
around the bare roots. Then water each plant to insure
good soil contact. Ideally the row is then mulched. If
no mulch is available the 24" strip along the plants
will need to be hoed to minimize competition. Mulching
is much easier and the plants love it. The soil can
not be allowed to dry out until the plants have
developed a root system.
Blackberries need adequate water. We have drip tape on
all our berry rows. With irrigation as needed
blackberries are very dependable. In 20 plus years we
have had only one crop failure. Our first year we had
two rows of "Cheyenne"-thorny in full bloom when a
hail storm hit. In about five minutes the hail had
stripped all the leaves and blossoms off of the
plants. The plants leafed out again and did great, but
we did not get any fruit that year. We have had good
crops on at least one variety every year since. But,
we have had several years with late summer droughts
that would have killed the majority of the plants. We
avoided those disasters by irrigation as necessary.
Pruning
Topping The Canes When the plants are in full fruit
production, the roots will be sending up new canes
that will bear the harvest next year. Where as these
first year plants are from 30"-42" tall depending on
the variety, these new canes grow to the light and get
up above the plants that are bearing the fruit. During
the picking season we have to go through and cut these
new canes off at 36"-42" tall. Picking time is a busy
time and it's not unusual for these new canes to get
up 7'-8' tall before we get them trimmed back. If they
are topped too early, the lateral branches start
growing and will get in the way of picking.
Deadwooding When the fruiting season is over, the
canes that bore the fruit this year will all die. By
that time, there is a pretty full hedge of new canes
so your row is all renewed. Then it's time for the
pruning phase that we call "deadwooding." We take
pruners and cut the old wood that just finished
bearing fruit off at the ground, pull it out of the
row, and haul it to the burn pile. Burning this
deadwood is recommended for disease control.
Fruit Production In the dormant season, January and
February, we prune back the laterals that grew out
during the summer. How many buds do we cut off? It
really depends on the vigor of the plant. All the
limbs will have buds on them. Every bud has the
potential to produce a cluster of 6-8 berries. If the
limb is slender there should be about 6 buds left on.
If the limb is strong, there can be up to 12 buds left
on. There is a temptation to not cut off enough buds
but the better pruned the plants are, the higher
quality fruit they will produce.
New Plants The first cutting on new plants will be the
fruit production phase. Check the limbs to see if they
will be able to support the buds that are present. If
not, trim as suggested above. In the first dormant
season you will want to cut off all the bottom limbs
that are close to the ground. It is worthless to have
the fruit trying to grow where it gets on the ground
and is difficult to pick. It is better to encourage
higher growth.
*
Planting Bare Root Blackberry Plants. Plant into a
grass and weed free strip that is minimum of 24" wide.
If you use a tiller,two passes will make a good width
for a plant bed. Make a furrow along the center of
this strip. We use the furrow attachment on our rear
tine tiller. On a smaller scale, the planting furrow
can be made with a hoe. Any composted organic matter
that can be incorporated into this planting strip will
be a plus factor for the new plants.
Plant the plants in the furrow 3"-4" deep and 24"
apart in the row. Space rows 10'-12' apart. Pack dirt
around the bare roots. Then water each plant to insure
good soil contact. Ideally the row is then mulched. If
no mulch is available the 24" strip along the plants
will need to be hoed to minimize competition. Mulching
is much easier and the plants love it. The soil can
not be allowed to dry out until the plants have
developed a root system.
Blackberries need adequate water. We have drip tape on
all our berry rows. With irrigation as needed
blackberries are very dependable. In 20 plus years we
have had only one crop failure. Our first year we had
two rows of "Cheyenne"-thorny in full bloom when a
hail storm hit. In about five minutes the hail had
stripped all the leaves and blossoms off of the
plants. The plants leafed out again and did great, but
we did not get any fruit that year. We have had good
crops on at least one variety every year since. But,
we have had several years with late summer droughts
that would have killed the majority of the plants. We
avoided those disasters by irrigation as necessary.
Pruning
Topping The Canes When the plants are in full fruit
production, the roots will be sending up new canes
that will bear the harvest next year. Where as these
first year plants are from 30"-42" tall depending on
the variety, these new canes grow to the light and get
up above the plants that are bearing the fruit. During
the picking season we have to go through and cut these
new canes off at 36"-42" tall. Picking time is a busy
time and it's not unusual for these new canes to get
up 7'-8' tall before we get them trimmed back. If they
are topped too early, the lateral branches start
growing and will get in the way of picking.
Deadwooding When the fruiting season is over, the
canes that bore the fruit this year will all die. By
that time, there is a pretty full hedge of new canes
so your row is all renewed. Then it's time for the
pruning phase that we call "deadwooding." We take
pruners and cut the old wood that just finished
bearing fruit off at the ground, pull it out of the
row, and haul it to the burn pile. Burning this
deadwood is recommended for disease control.
Fruit Production In the dormant season, January and
February, we prune back the laterals that grew out
during the summer. How many buds do we cut off? It
really depends on the vigor of the plant. All the
limbs will have buds on them. Every bud has the
potential to produce a cluster of 6-8 berries. If the
limb is slender there should be about 6 buds left on.
If the limb is strong, there can be up to 12 buds left
on. There is a temptation to not cut off enough buds
but the better pruned the plants are, the higher
quality fruit they will produce.
New Plants The first cutting on new plants will be the
fruit production phase. Check the limbs to see if they
will be able to support the buds that are present. If
not, trim as suggested above. In the first dormant
season you will want to cut off all the bottom limbs
that are close to the ground. It is worthless to have
the fruit trying to grow where it gets on the ground
and is difficult to pick. It is better to encourage
higher growth.