Anybody tried this? I have room to put it in the ground, but I thought it would be difficult with bird, insect, and weed pressures to get any kind of harvest. So this spring I took a small plant and got a big pot and put it in full sun front of the house. Well the runners got so crazy I build a trellis out of the pot and I’m wrapping it around in a hurricane pattern. No, I’m watering it in the morning heavily, and by the afternoon the whole thing is wilting.
Additionally, it had a few berries in the early summer, but all of them were covered with small stink bug like black insects, each one piercing a drupe, disgusting.
How are people able to grow these in pots? Or how on earth can you grow in the ground without having all the berries completely destroyed?
I dug up some at a buddy’s and planted most of them at my sisters but have (2) Triple Crown and (1) Chester here at my place. One of my Triple Crown now on third leaf is 7’ tall I’d guess. Strong upright canes. Full of berries. Right beside it are Japanese beetles congregating on my raspberries. Not a single bug of any kind on the blackberries.
Chester tastes like water while Triple Crown is sweet and tasty. I’d put them in the ground if I were you. Stress (wilting) says something different need be done. I truly believe all the suckering plus the original plant have rooted so well that there isn’t enough room for expansion. With stress comes insects and disease. Hope that helps.
Dax
Thanks. I actually have grown the thick upright came type thornless blackberry the last two years, and I know a neighbor that grows them very easily in her ditch. I haven’t been able to get a harvest yet for other reasons, and my transplant died recently. They should grow well if I get them a good location though next year.
The one I’ve got in the pot is different, kind of long thin branches that tend to fall over on the ground under their own weight.
Apart in front of my house has the least past pressures of anywhere. And the berries came early in the season before it started getting water stressed. So I was wondering if they are very susceptible to insects on the fruit, and not worth clearing space in my garden for.
The wilting seems to just be water stress from an incredible amount of leaves, that even a large pot can’t satisfy in full sun.
That’s what I was trying to say was the roots are so congested that you’d need to water a couple times a day to stop them from wilting & the reason to plant it in the ground. The wilting is drawing insects, Kevin. The only way for you to learn if the attacks on your plant stop is to give the roots the room they need to continue on and to thrive. That’s how I see it. And the only way for you to be sure is to not take others advice but to see what happens at your location.
I believe the reason the canes are falling over too and not bulking up is due to the lack of root power necessary.
Best I can say.
Dax
check out the baby cakes dwarf blackberry at jungs or stark bros. supposed to do well in containers. only 3ft. tall and thornless. zone 4 hardy. i planted 5 in my rasp. patch last spring. they also supposed to produce a primocane and florocane crop.
I must say Steve you never cease to amaze me! I don’t think I have ever seen blackberries trained in that method before! Truly unique. Of course I want to try that now!
Drew
If the pot is small enough, it may be rootbound already. Blackberries need a lot of water, so it is possible your mix is too dry.
I also grow in pots and have had good success, and some bad outcomes too. I grow Marion, New Berry, and Siskiyou in containers. I keep mine in partial shade. In 15 to 30 gallon root pouches. A 30 gallon root pouch can hold as many roots as a 60 gallon regular pot.Plenty of room for roots! I mostly use 15 gallon. And Fruitnut’s is a lot smaller! Mine are outside and they do get dry, so you water them. I have done this for 3 years now, have no plans to change anything.
Wow Fruitnut those are nice looking plants!
I’ll assume they grow best in full sun in the ground with deep moist soil that never dries out? And pots need to be constantly kept wet, or kept in partial shade? Was my plant unusual in that all of the berries were attacked by stink bugs or something?
I have moved mind a partial shade for now until I can figure out what to do with it. I think my pot is larger than fruitnuts:
Yeah to me I could never grow outside in those small pots. I also find blackberries can tolerate dryness well.
I love the way these are growing in the pots, it will be my next project. They look absolutely lovely curled up against the wall.
Me too. That wreath training is just awesome. Mine are planted in ground at the base of my pergola
I think they’re Triple Crown bb
Those look great! I’ll bet they are awesome too.
Drew
How did your baby cakes taste and do? Just picked one up clearance at Walmart
the canes never hardened off for winter and all died. many new canes coming up right now. i should get some to taste in sept. these are very sensitive to rich soil. before planting i added compost and worm castings. in hindsight i should have planted them in unamended soil.
My thought my floricans all died but I had a few flowers this spring. Unfortunate they where insufficiency pollinated, so I am counting druplets not fruit. Hopefully there will be a second flowering.
The taste is not that great even when fully ripe. It has a slight astringent taste. Not sure if soil amendments or otherwise could help improve it. They are very useful for me though as I can freeze them and use them in smoothies.
I also don’t know what variety it is. Thornless, and the berries are normally bigger and longer than the ones in the photograph. You only get about one day’s grace to harvest them when they’re ripe, otherwise they deteriorate pretty quick.
Impressed with low care and high productivity, I was considering getting raspberries as well. Can I expect fairly similar behavior? I’m not sure the variety as they’re not marked. They’re also offering yellow raspberries.
Raspberry productivity is less in general than blackberries. Also productivity varies greatly between cultivars. Sometimes productive in one zone and not another. Pest pressure varies a lot too.
The most productive I have tried are Himbo Top and Prelude. For me they out produce everything else. I grow 14 cultivars. Not counting black raspberries.