Nothing compares to plucking a plump, juicy-looking blackberry from your backyard and placing it into your mouth.
Homegrown blackberries have an unmatched tart, sweet flavour.
You’ve come to the proper location if you’re wondering whether you’d be able to produce giant berries like the ones you see in the store if they’d be smaller, or how long the gorgeous fruits have been around.
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We’ll cover all you need to know about growing your blackberries in this article.
What Are Blackberry Plants?
Blackberry plants are shrubs that produce fruit. They are members of the Rubus genus, which is part of the Rosaceae family of roses.
Blackberries are the fruits of blackberry bushes. Blackberries, like their near cousin the raspberry, are abundant in antioxidants such as vitamin C, vitamin K, potassium, and dietary fibre.
They have a low total fat content and no saturated fat. They have a minor bit of protein, but the majority of their calories come from carbohydrates.
When To Plant Blackberries
Early in the spring, while the canes are still dormant, is the best time to plant.
Seeding can also be done in the late fall, but it should be delayed until springtime in severely cold areas because low temperatures can harm some hybrid varieties.
Blackberries and their variants all are self-fertile, therefore they don’t need a lot of plants to yield fruit.
Choosing And Preparing A Planting Site
- For the finest fruit yields, choose a location that receives full sun.
- The soil must be fertile and well-drained. To enhance your soil, add organic matter.
- Make sure your blackberries are planted far away from wild blackberries, as they may carry (plant) illnesses that harm your plants.
How To Plant Blackberries
- Semi-erect cultivars should be planted 5 to 6 feet apart. 3 feet between erect cultivars is a good rule of thumb. Plant trailing varieties at a 5- to 8-foot spacing. The distance between rows should be roughly 8 feet.
- Put them one inch deep in the soil than they were when you bought them from the nurseries.
- Based on how you’ve grown erect, semi-erect, or hanging vines, you may need to use a ladder to support them.
- In colder climates, dark-coloured materials should be mulched to save heat and moisture.
- Light-coloured mulch can help keep the roots cool and moist in hotter climes by reflecting some of the sun’s heat.
- Cover the plant entirely with straw in the winter. If you live in a snowy place, the snow will cover the straw and provide excellent insulation from the cold.
How To Care For blackberries
Soil
Your blackberries will last for around a decade if you choose the right location for them. The best soil for these plants is slightly acidic with good drainage; they do not thrive in clay soil.
Not only would an elevated site or raised beds aid drainage, but they will also protect flower buds from late April frosts. Remove any weeds that may compete with your blackberries for nutrients or water, as their weak roots are vulnerable to this conflict.
Always keep a thick layer of mulch over the root zone. This will nourish the plants, preserve water, and keep weeds at bay.
Watering
Blackberries require a modest amount of water, about 1 inch per week, which can be obtained from rainfall or ground-level irrigation. Wet soils are not conducive to blackberry growth.
Temperature
Blackberries require a period of cold dormancy to germinate, but due to their shallow root systems, they do not thrive in locations where temperatures often drop below zero degrees. The greatest growing zones for blackberries are zones 5 to 8.
Plant death may result from the combination of cold winter temperatures and damp spring soils. The opposite climate of hot, dry winds is equally detrimental to blackberry growth, resulting in stunted, seedy berries.
Fertilizer
Use a balanced 10-10-10 formula to fertilize your blackberries in the spring when they emerge from dormancy. Apply manure and compost to plants again in the fall to fertilize them while also suppressing weeds and improving soil tilth.
How to Harvest Blackberries
- Choose only berries that are black in colour berries are enormous but tough, with rich black colour and a tendency to fall off the vine without being yanked.
- Berries do not ripen after they have been harvested. As the blackberries ripen, they must be harvested frequently—every couple of days.
- While picking the fruit, keep the central plug in place.
- Harvest later in the day, when the weather is cooler. After picking, keep berries in the shade and refrigerate them as soon as possible.
Blackberry Varieties
Blackberries are mainly classified based on how they grow:
- Erect thorny blackberries grow upright with no need for cane support. The canes feature razor-sharp spines that can rip through clothing.
- Erect thornless blackberries are identical to thornless blackberries, but they don’t have spiky thorns on their canes. They, too, do not necessitate the use of trellis supports.
- The sprawling canes of trailing thornless blackberries require a trellis or a system of wires to keep them above ground.
Pruning Blackberries
The roots of blackberries are perennial, but the canes are only biannual. This means that after harvesting, second-year canes that have produced fruit must be clipped away.
New canes that haven’t yet fruited should be tip-pruned to around 3 feet in summer for an established shrub.
The new canes will branch out, as a result, increasing the amount of fruit produced. These canes should be removed from the ground as soon as the fruit is harvested once they have produced fruit.
Remove any canes injured by the winter in early spring, before new growth begins, and thin out the surviving canes to the four or five strongest canes.
Propagating Blackberries
Blackberry plants can be propagated easily from stem cuttings. In late spring, when temperatures are mild and rainfall is plentiful, cut a 4-inch portion from the end of the stem.
It should be planted in the soil and kept moist. In two to four weeks, roots will appear. You can either plant these newly begun seedlings in the fall or keep them in a covered spot and plant them the following spring.
Pests And Diseases That Are Commonly Encountered
Anthracnose, stem blight, and crown gall are all problems with blackberries. To avoid disease, get disease-free plant stock from reputed nurseries and plant your blackberries away from disease-carrying wild brambles.
Smelly bugs and raspberry crown borers are two insect pests to watch out for. Insects will be less likely to harm your plants if you keep them healthy and vibrant.
Viruses infect blackberries on occasion. Both the raspberry bushy dwarf virus and the blackberry calico virus induce leaves to develop brilliant yellow splotches. It will be necessary to remove and destroy any plants that have been affected.
Finally
You now have all of the knowledge you need to start planting the blackberry patch of your dreams.
However, if you have any problems, concerns, or tales to share, please let us know in the comments box below. We’d be delighted to hear from you!
