Arapaho Blackberry

In addition to grapes, I am also training this Arapaho Blackberry on my T trellises. I used to sell this cultivar when I operated a nursery and obtained it in trays of 72 tissue culture from AgriStarts. This particular one was planted out about a year ago. It is evergreen here and has two main crops in late spring and late summer, plus sporadic blooming throughout the year.

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Richard, have you or anyone used the TPUPS pruning method for blackberries? I’ve had a time training my thornless blackberries to this but Dr Arlie Powell says this method greatly increases yields. Here is another video with some details.
My problem is that I can’t get the primacane to branch. Maybe some varieties will do this and mine is just stubborn.

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Nope. Arapaho has an upright form amenable to training onto a trellis. I’ve also never had trouble with fruit production in Rancho Peñasquitos or here in Vista.

Hi Anne. Dr Powell has a system that appears to work very well for him. The variety he features in his youtube video is Kiowa. It is a trailing blackberry that lends itself to his pruning style. I have walked through his place (Petals From The Past) and it is beautiful. If you are ever nearby I would suggest seeing it. Bill

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What variety do you have?

Hey Bill, I wish I knew for certain. They may be Navaho? I picked them up at a plant sale because they were thornless and my grandkids like them. Thought I’d grow some nice organic blackberries that they could pick (reach) without the thorns. Oh my. I put them in my propagation beds until I had a place cleared for them and they took over, LOL. OK I’ll see what happens this year. I do more gardening/preserving than orcharding until last year. Growing edibles is not without problems, but it’s not without its solutions either. :slightly_smiling:

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Having a blackberry morning …

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incoming …

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Man your setup is so sweet. I would love a trellis like that for hardy kiwi. I could build that easily enough.

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Ripe Arapahoe blackberries along with a few Bababerry raspberries.

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Getting ready for a berry good time!

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looks like youve got some deficiencies going on, maybe chlorosis, do you think there might be a PH issue?

Last month I applied herbicide to some nearby root suckers and the plant has been complaining about it.

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1st pint of the season :slightly_smiling_face:

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Nice! My Arapaho blackberries are still a couple of weeks from being ripe here in 7B.

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Mine are just blooming, but they are still really small so might not develop fruit…

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