I am going to try the afternoon shade with Marionberry and Columbia Star and Colombia Giant that are in FedEx’s hands right now. I also will buy another Prime-Ark Freedom to put in afternoon shade.
Thanks much for your good info!
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Howdy.
All my blackberry plants are bearing now. One or two still have a few flowers left.
But, Kiowa is still a rule-breaking bad boy. I had posted earlier that the Kiowa ID was not fitting the format of erect growth. The growth was trailing, not even semi-erect. But, then, the new primocanes appeared en masse, and they all were as erect, or, more erect, than any other variety known to me.
When the new primocanes emerged, it was right before the first berries were ripening. Now, as most of the berries from the February/March blooming session have ripened, the new primocanes are about 6 feet tall, but, guess what these new primocanes are covered with? Bugs? No. Fungus? No. Flowers? YES! This bad boy Kiowa plant is determined to not follow the rules. Much like it was supposed to be erect, but, it didn’t comply until 2 years later, it refuses to fit the Kiowa floricane constraints.
It will be interesting to see if this is just temporary freakish behavior, or, if it will repeat this second floral flush next year, and for years to come.
I have a couple of ideas as to what environmental or cultural triggers may have caused it, but I am wondering if there might be a chance that this particular plant might be some sort of genetic sport/chimera. There are berries beginning to form now, but, frankly, they don’t look as good as the berries from the previous flush back in Feb/March. So far, at least. Time will tell. They may have been adversely affected by the heat here, but, that heat is now being moderated by the start of our summer afternoon showers.
Another Kiowa trait. I believe that Kiowa is patented, and, as such, vegetative reproduction is strictly prohibited. But, this bad boy is sending up so many suckers that Kudzu(sp?) vines are envious. I must have at least 10 suckers that are an average of 5-6 feet tall… I think that I am getting a new appreciation for the term “invasive plants”. One more question that I have is, “When these erect suckers are cut away from the mother plant, will they then revert back to the same trailing behavior that the mother plant displayed during its first 2 years in the ground?”
By the way, I am still very confused as to the “hierarchical architecture”, so to speak, of this forum. Sometimes, I can’t even find the computer location where I am writing this now! Hopefully, it will become more clear as I go along.
Happy Memorial Day Weekend, Folks!
Best,
Dan S.
Hi Dan,
I’m also here in New Orleans, and just starting down the road to having a background orchard. Information about growing berries here in 9b seems mostly to be in the form of “don’t do it”, but it seems you’ve had luck? I’m really like to know your real-world experience: what varieties have you tried, when did they ripen, and how successful / problematic would you say each has been?