Update from last spring’s planting (pictured in post #19)
Natchez- Has grown well and has a few berries which look almost ripe
Arapaho- Grown well (only slightly better than Natchez) and has a full crop of small, good tasting berries.
Osage- Not grown much
Prime Ark Freedom- Not grown much
Over half of the Aparaho crop is done, and my Triple Crown are just starting, so it looks like I can mostly avoid SWD with them. I haven’t noticed any yet this summer- knocks on wood…
I’m still hoping that Osage and PAF are just slow getting started. But there is something to be said for blackberries which can hit the ground running like Arapaho. I should mention that while sweet and good tasting, they lack the rich, interesting flavor of Triple Crown.
In my opinion PAF is the better tasting compared to Natchez and Arapaho. I also like the taste of TC but it starts ripening about this time of the year at my place so our hot and humid weather damages a large portion of the berries. The TC has a vigorous growth habit and I wish it would do well here. Just an opinion but I would think it would do well where the summers were not so hot. Thanks for posting as it is always good to see comparisons from others.
Averaged over 10 tons per acre with Ouachita in high tunnels.
I have gotten 13 tons /acre with Navaho but it has rust issues, druplet formation problems and gets small towards the end of the season.
Has anyone evaluated yields/taste on Traveler floricane crop? I know commercial growers that are growing PrimeArk 45 like a regular floricane crop and disregarding the primocane fall crop because of the high floricane yields.
Ouachita is a good one. Sometimes has sunscald, but overall has a nice consistent size and decent flavor if it is allowed to ripen all the way. The canes are hard and flexible which makes them easier to train.
Thanks! This was years of research with many other contributors than just myself. Take a look at some blackberries photos I took in California and central Mexico.
You need a commercial marketer set up to move fruit. These were packed and sold under the Driscolls label. Tunnels ripen a little earlier but the main reason is the difference in marketable fruit. It’s all marketable and production forecasts can be more accurate. The fruit would be ruined if it rained 3-4 inches in a few hours. Swd controlled by sprays.
How big is the gap between Freedom and Triple Crown? Is it necessary to have another variety in the middle to fill that gap? Would Traveler (grown as a floricane) fill that void?
This is my first year (second leaf) getting berries from osage and kiowa. I would definitely agree with others that have mentioned superior flavor of osage compared with other thornless. It really is a lot better tasting. The berries are even tolerable to me when black but not dead ripe yet. My other thornless are only worth eating when the berries just about drop off into my hand with out pulling. Kiowa is similar in that it must be absolutely dead ripe to sweeten up. I also planted triple crown last year and it grew a bunch but was very late to leaf out this year and did not flower. Does it need high chill hours or does it only start to produce in year three?
I’m having major problems with crown borers. I skewered nine of them the other day. I chopped into the crown to get them out. I hope the plants recover. They seem ok for now. So far have only seen them in the thornless plants. No sign of them in the Kiowa. I think I need to start hitting them with an insecticide or I will continue to lose plants.
You are right about the Kiowa having to be dead ripe. Once they are, I really like them. How do the ripe Kiowa compare to Osage?
Crown borers eventually devastated my Kiowa planting. Eventually I let the plants run about 6 feet from the original planting, and ripped out the few remaining struggling originals. If you find a solution I’d be grateful if you post it.
My friend here in West Central Georgia has some very productive triple crown. Odd yours didn’t produce.
This plant is not vigorous. The berries are not “pure white” but are not black. The color is more brownish. Only a few drupelets set per fruit.
So it might not be deseased after all. Before you rip them out please consider passing a few a long. I would like to grow it and the other cultivar you have.
My Osage planting continues to thrive with very little care. I used to like the Orus 2711-1 more, but it is not as durable so Osage might be my best one at this point. Orus 2816-3 is another super durable one, I had a planting on a hot and sunny hill of 10 or so varieties and I realized this spring that all faded except for the 2816-3’s which are going strong. It is similar to Osage.
To me the osage has a less aggressive flavor than the other thornless I have had. Much more mellow. The other ones are very intensely flavored. Even when ripe, the flavor almost has a harsh edge to it. The osage may not have any more sugar, but it lacks the harsh edge. That’s the best way I can think to describe it.
My triple crown has not sent up any new canes. It is growing new canes off of last year’s, which seems weird. Should I cut off all of last year’s canes to force new ones? I have them trained to a two wire trellis so new canes coming off the old ones messes up my training plan. I’ll hack them back to the ground unless someone convinces me otherwise.
