Blackberry Growing instructions
Blackberry Growing instructions
Plant 3-6 feet apart and 8 – 12 ft between rows. Plant in late afternoon or evening and water in well after planting. New plants need to be watered daily if your temps are 65 degrees or higher. Add compost and plant in an area with good drainage and as much sun as possible. If planted in full shade, the plants will not produce fruit. Do not plant where tomatoes, peppers eggplants, potatoes, or strawberries have been grown in the past 3 years, as diseases these plants have will infect your new blackberries.
Trailing Blackberry Varieties:
Boysenberry
Loganberry
Marionberry
Tayberry
Triple Crown
Have a 2-wire fence down the center of the row. Tie up the year-old canes. After they fruit, prune out the canes that have fruited. The next spring repeat, tying up the one-year-old canes. Fertilize with a balanced fertilizer in late spring. A compost mulch is beneficial.
Upright Blackberry Varieties:
Apache
Arapaho
Prime-Ark ® Freedom
Upright Fall bearing and primocane varieties of blackberry benefit from tipping. When the cane grows to 18 - 20 inches tall cut 1 inch off the tip to force branching. Tip again when the cane reaches 30 inches tall. This will increase yield and force earlier fruit production.
* Plants are shipped with leaves in Spring and Summer and without leaves and dormant in Fall and Winter.
Best Fruit production is obtained if planting in the ground. If planting in a container or raised bed, Do Not Kill Your Plants with the Wrong Potting Soil or Fertilizer!
When planting in containers or raised bed it is very important to have the right potting soil and fertilizer, or it will kill your plants. Unless you are experienced with growing perennial plants and trees in containers, there are many things that can cause you to fail. Growing in the ground in good native garden soil is more forgiving.
Potting soil needs to have very good drainage. 25-30% stone grit (3/8- Pumice, fine crushed gravel, very coarse sand, 1/4 decomposed granite or very fine pea gravel). Then add 30% 3/8- fine bark, 15-20% peat, 10% perlite and 10% garden soil or compost. Do not use Big Box or Chain Store potting mixes meant for vegetables, annual flowers or house plants or you will kill your plants with root rot. Even the name brand potting mixes advertised on TV will kill your plants, they are not designed for strawberries, raspberries, any plant, shrub, or tree that is not an annual. Do not use any mix that has Moisture Control or water gel.
In a Container:
Fertilizer needs to be low salt. Organic fertilizers like fish, alfalfa, bat guano, kelp, bone meal and rock phosphate are OK, just keep the nutrients balanced, and watch the nutrient level so you do not add too much or too little. Do not use "hot organics” like blood meal or fresh chicken manure under 1 year aged. Chemical fertilizers should say on the label "for container growing". Do not use 10/10/10 or 16/16/16 and similar fertilizers as they are high salt and will burn your plants.
Cold Weather Protection:
Google your State or nearby State Ag college for your specific cold weather blackberry protection, as it is different in different parts of the country. Here are a few sites with growing info:
http://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/1957/18929/ec1303.pdf
https://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/fruit-nut/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2015/04/blackberries_2015.pdf
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/hs104
https://ag.missouristate.edu/assets/MtnGrv/B39GrowingBlackberriesinMissouri.pdf
https://extension.tennessee.edu/publications/Documents/SP284-C.pdf
https://ohioline.osu.edu/factsheet/hyg-1431
http://cesonoma.ucanr.edu/files/27140.pdf