Thanks for the reply. Well, if they yours are TC, and they have been good sized and tasty, then that’s something to look forward to.
Never heard of Ebony King BB, but from what I just read it’s mostly thornless and upright. Sounds like a good berry, but I guess you’ll find out eventually.
Yes there is a PA Traveler, it hasn’t been out in the public market but for a few years. In my endless research on berries, I just haven’t found a lot of reviews on it. It’s appeal, according to UofA, is that it’s a firmer berry, so it’d be better than a PAF to ship. For us home growers, that’s not an issue. It is also a smaller berry than PAF, but supposedly pretty good flavor. Plus, a firmer berry means that it should be more impervious to SWD infestation.
There are other PA varieties, but I think the main one still being sold is PA45, but it is a thorny version.
Frankly, I’ve never been a big fan of blackberries, we have many wild plants growing around the farm, and they are way too sour for me. They have to be almost falling off the cane to be palatable for me, but still pretty tart and not very sweet. Plus the berries are small and the canes have gnarly thorns, which is why I hardly pick any. My wife likes them, so I let her pick them.
But, my mind changed when we went to an orchard last year that were growing some kind of jumbo BB’s and they were very tasty. I don’t remember exactly which berry, but they had a few varieties, one of which I think were Hull Thornless. Anyway, I thought we’d try a few this year, along with a bunch of raspberries. I hope I am out of my tree planting stage, but now it’s progressed to berry obsession stage! Maybe I’m too impatient to wait on my trees and want some instant results.
Me too, it’s a bit confusing. Even some of the experts are still learning how to best prune these primocane BB’s for the best production. That’s why this forum’s members’ experiences and techniques are so
invaluable.