i tried several techniques and wasnt happy with most of them. Im rooting some now and will post results next month or so. If this works i probably wont tip root anymore.
It would be nice at some point to have a reliable timing and method of rooting cuttings for Rubus folks… the fig and mulberry guys have a nice network going… i think it would be great if Rubus could also have that same potential.
At first I did like it. But that was because I was unfamiliar with cultivated varieties. I spend decades foraging wilds and I was excited to see large fruit and larger quantities in one plant. It was quite vigorous at first. But after a couple years it refused to produce edible fruit. The fruit dried out before ripe. Probably my fault. It needed more water. It’s worth looking into for yourself. It does appear to be sensitive to viral infection.
I think I pulled it out or it died.
I too would like to find best practice for rooting. Good luck with it!!
Most domesticated blacks seem to die out in my yard. Not really an issue with reds, some though too don’t thrive here compared to others. The wild Ontario black was the only plant that produced and thrived year after year. I have since collected seed of six other wild blacks that seem to have potential in breeding.
I’m giving up on the domesticated cultivars. They all seem sensitive to viral infection. We need cultivars that are not killed by viral infections. That one can grow them for decades and decades. That is one of my goals in breeding.
Seedling blackberries from MN zone 3b seeds. I plan to breed these to Chester. I consider it zone 3 as it has hit -40. Small fruit but does have a long fruiting period like the local 3b wild red raspberries. Growing these in 5b for breeding.
Sometimes seed if not scarified takes forever to germinate so don’t give up on them if they fail to germinate this year. They could very well germinate next year. So don’t throw them out!!
It looks like you have them growing but if you do more and others could appear in this pot. Keep in mind you may have to wait.
Yes I added it in 2017. Still doing very well too. I count on it. But different locations may have different results.
Himbo Top has been in my garden since 2013 and has spread and thriving. So has Prelude. Prelude though can be tart. I use it for syrups which are amazing with prelude. Himbo is used for fresh eating. Still has the highest amount of production followed by Prelude. A friend has a patch which is 30 years old and thriving. I have been asking him for plants a few years now. I’ll get him to give me one eventually.
He has no clue what they are? They are great for fresh eating I have tried them numerous times.
I have a red raspberry that my great grandmother grew when grand coulee dam was being built. It is low production, and not particularly sour. Do you know what cultivars were commonly available then?
Cultivars come and go so quickly. One would need to look at old catalogs. All the cultivars today are fairly new. The oldest I know is Meeker which was developed in 1968.
Latham was the most popular red rasp during that time i think. Still is very popular today 100 years later.
Could have been several others that are lost to history… Chief was another big name cultivar back then and was used in breeding alot of modern cultivars…
But only Latham has stood the test of time as far as i know.
Nice pics. Your climate is ahead of me by a month or more.
If those plants are young and/or in smaller pots dont stress out if the berries are pretty small… Mine dont size up until the canes get some size to them and the roots are established… YMMV.
Im 3 years into my Loganberries and hopefully this will be the first year of normal sized berries…at least im hoping.
Whats your setup now? Whats your plan going forward? I know there are a couple on here that grow in containers and root pouches… I tried wicking tubs for two years but that ended up being a waste of time, money and space for me.
I really like these pots if i were to go the potted route on some cultivars again.
good luck Jerry. we have the wild Canadian/ smooth blackberry here that is z3 hardy. is that what you’re using to cross with Chester? im excited to see your results as i thought of crossing them with a cold hardy commercial cultivar as well. i have nelsons from fedco that survived 3 days of -40 3 years ago, but fruit size isn’t much bigger than the wild ones. just more productive. good luck and i will be following.
My setup now are these 5 gallon nursery pots - Nursery Pot - Calloway's Nursery
I use bags of Calloways Tree & Shrub mix for the growing media, and mix in some cow manure and whatever fertilizer I have on hand at the time, along with a sprinkling of bone meal over the bare roots as they get planted, then I cover with pine mulch… they all seem to really love it
As for what my plan is, I have no idea. I bought way too many berry plants and have no idea what I’m going to do with them - honestly I’m hoping half of them die over the summer during the 100-110 degree days
when i first started collecting berry plants in June, I did plant a few along my fence, but that was before I learned that they spread like crazy and I didn’t want to ruin my yard (I have nice bermuda grass), so I starting buying containers and putting them in there. But now I’m at a point where half of my back yard is containers and I’m considering laying down landscape fabric over half of it and just giving up half the yard.
Maybe in a year or two I’ll settle down on the varieties I like, and buy large aluminum stock tanks and sink them halfway into the ground, and just grow in those… who knows
It is not the smooth Canandian type. I wish it were. Cass county MN is close enough to Canada that there could be some smooth blackberry. I have not found any.
ill send you some in the spring. i found one that was pretty productive but its far from here. its near a remote lake i fish at so it will give me a excuse for a fishing trip.
