blackberries

[Sniper-T]

I picked up 5 plants this spring and tossed them into a couple boxes, not knowing what to expect... Am I ever happily surprised, while not thick, they have been producing a steady stream of ripe berries at a couple per day since mid summer. As long as they survive the winter, I am going to buy a bunch more and continue the blackberry grove. Damn they sure are sweet!

Anyone else grow them? any tricks to ensure they overwinter? how about to maximize next years crop?

http://i605.photobucket.com/albums/tt140/Sniper-T/garden/0828141733b_zps6a242a54.jpg (http://s605.photobucket.com/user/Sniper-T/media/garden/0828141733b_zps6a242a54.jpg.html)

http://i605.photobucket.com/albums/tt140/Sniper-T/garden/0828141733a_zpse9aa8bd3.jpg (http://s605.photobucket.com/user/Sniper-T/media/garden/0828141733a_zpse9aa8bd3.jpg.html)

http://i605.photobucket.com/albums/tt140/Sniper-T/garden/0828141733c_zpsf1836bcc.jpg (http://s605.photobucket.com/user/Sniper-T/media/garden/0828141733c_zpsf1836bcc.jpg.html)

[helomech]

We have them wild every where. Ours die out over winter, but come back every year.

[bacpacker]

We have wild berries in our fence rows and had a wild one right in front of the house. It came up under our nandinas and had a bunch of berries for a week or so. I usually prunr the dead canes out. Ours only has fruit on new wood. Once the quit producing and due back. Plenty of new growth underneath.

[Sniper-T]

I would love to get them growing enough to go wild in an area. I love blackberries!

[ak474u]

Mine made big fat berries this year. Birds got quite a few, but they were tasty. I have ours staked up on a decorative 5' iron trellis about 4 feet wide at the back of a 6x6 tomato bed so it can shade the maters. I pruned out dead canes after it stopped producing, and now I've got new growth canes 1/2" in diameter 10 feet long. It's taking over. I can't even find the trellis anymore. There's a really good but kinda long video on blackberries from texasprepper2 on YouTube He's got an impressive setup. As far as winter survival goes, north texas is gonna be much different than the North Pole where you live. Ours stayed green through the snow and ice, but its in direct sun if the sun is up, so I'm guessing it stayed warm enough to survive. This is our first year of production with raspberries, blueberries, grapes, and blackberries, so I'm a novice too.

[Sniper-T]

I have a decent producing raspberry patch (5' X 25') that is basically on it's own with little to no loving care, and produces well year after year; so I am hoping these guys will do the same even though they are in raised boxes. I am going to trellis them next year to get them growing up instead of out and into the fence for the deer to nibble on from the outside.

Last winter I had 5+ feet of snow where my raspberry patch was, which is a little more than, but not much beyond the usual. Hopefully the blackberries are as hearty.

I'll check out that video later. tx.

[ladyhk13]

Just cut back the old cane (the one that just produced) and the plant will go dormant until the Spring. You can add a little fertilizer in the Spring, trellis them if they get too big and just sit back and enjoy them. We have tons of wild ones we just let go and do nothing to but also a thornless one that put out 2 gallons of berries (that I didn't have to share with the birds or jap beetles) that were bigger than your thumb. I picked them every day as they were ripe, put them on a cookie sheet in the freezer to harden and then into ziplock bags. Need to make them into jam soon. Yummy.

[Sniper-T]

sounds awesome LH, tx! :)