Maybe some varieties respond better to water restriction than others and others may perform better without water restrictions
This variety produce at least two time a year here.
1 Like
That’s great to know!
Mine hasn’t produced yet. Does it set multiple crops on second year canes?
No, he grows new canes several times and they flower and fruit on same year
Water restrictions is definitely next level. My goal is just to keep things alive.
Speaking of water, I am in a place where water doesn’t fall from the sky for 6 to 8 months (depending on the year). Do those in similar circumstances do anything special with the water they use for watering? I’ve read that tap water has problematic chemicals. I’ve been purchasing distilled water. Is that crazy or completely sensible? I’ve read that people with blueberries add vinegar to their water to get it closer to the ph of rainwater. Crazy or sensible?
Thanks for your thoughts.
2 Likes
@MTGian here are the pictures that we discussed about growing some trailing varieties in pots. Steven has it figured out as you will see below. Truly inspirational for those that dont have the space or desire to trellis.
@fruitnut (if you dont mind me sharing your work).
8 Likes
Wow! These are fantastic! Well done, @fruitnut.
Figuring out something like this was on my to do list for this winter. This was exactly what I had in mind. Thanks!
3 Likes
Ive read recipes that use vinegar to kill weeds…so thats next level for me…
Anyways… just use tap water… if you want to get crazy then soak some pine bark in a tub or bucket and water with pine bark tea… i use it for my younglings and it seems to make them happy.
If you havent read my thoughts on potting soil… make sure whatever you use that you read the bag… most potting soils are neutral to cover all things that grow. Many contain lime. I mix potting soil with pine fines and sand myself on all new plantings… then i may add some Hyyield sulfur or Azalea/etc fert if they seem to struggle… but that is only my younglings.
Again YMMV and that is just what works for me… there is no real wrong or right way.
3 Likes
If you have a lot of white residue on top of your soil or from your terracotta pots if you use them, then you have really hard water.
I can only speak from experience and every location is different but in Colorado Springs, the tap water was killing my plants slowly. It turned my potted soil alkaline and the build up of salt was burning and killing my plants. I had no idea until right before i moved.
1 Like
Wow, mine definitely don’t do that. How long after winter is the first bloom?
If you start to develop crispy tips of your plants and it keeps getting bigger, that’s usually a sign of salt damage. Can be from fertilzers or the water you’re using depending on your area.
Strawberries are most sensitive, peaches and plums not as much. Blackberries as well are sensitive, raspberries aren’t as sensitive. Blueberries are sensitive as well to salt damage.
1 Like
I had a very similar thing going on until about oct 11th. Looks like the rain found us.
Thanks! My strategies might be wrong, but nothing is dead so I’m happy!
I like to keep my plants in ground, so I based my my strategy of this: when picking wild blackberries around Santa Rosa, I found the sweetest and tastiest are always where its the sunniest. In remembering this, I planted mine in one of the hottest, sunniest spots on the property and gave them plenty of water and fertilizer with hopes to make plump, tasty berries and vigorous plants.
During the hotter dry months when they’re growing and have berries, I water 90 mins per day with 1/2 gallon/hour drip emitters (=1.5 gal/day/plant) and water less before berries form. I will note that at one emitter it leaks and sprays a little area. The plant nearest to the leak is the strongest in the patch, so I’ve been contemplating switching over to spot sprayers.
(This year, it produced a single untipped cane which last I checked, was somewhere over 30 ft long and had produced 4-10ft laterals at nearly every leaf for the first 10ft.)
I’ve never mulched and may try soon, but thus far I only fertilize and have found blackberries grow through my topsoil (aka clay hardpan) just fine. We used to fertigate around every 14 days during the growing season, but now that they’re older we’ve gotten lazy and just throw a handful of fertilizer around each plant in the spring. Previously we used some junky triple 16 from Walmart, but I wouldn’t recommend that stuff as it really messed things up early on (burns and curls). Last spring I used YaraMila 15-15-15 and it worked much better compared to the previous stuff. Coming next spring, I plan on using that again and probably some of the extra Romeo 18-6-12 slow release we have laying around. YaraMila is basically everywhere, and the Romeo seems to just be a cheaper osmocote.
Here are a few more pics in my established patch as of 10/11:
This is some of the larger TC I harvested this August:
Sweet and tasty to me, but who knows how krismoriah’s compare.
2 Likes
Anyways… just use tap water… if you want to get crazy then soak some pine bark in a tub or bucket and water with pine bark tea… i use it for my younglings and it seems to make them happy.
Cool idea! The vinegar is supposed to eventually create problems (it leaves a residue).
If you havent read my thoughts on potting soil… make sure whatever you use that you read the bag… most potting soils are neutral to cover all things that grow. Many contain lime. I mix potting soil with pine fines and sand myself on all new plantings… then i may add some Hyyield sulfur or Azalea/etc fert if they seem to struggle… but that is only my younglings.
I have read some of your older posts, but I’ll give them another look before doing my repotting this winter. I did a deep dive into soils last week. I’m aware of the ph (on the low side, but not as low as blueberries) and drainage needs (well draining). Thanks!
1 Like
Nice looking fruit! Im not really into TC or Chester… due to August ripening… I am going to try Black Satin just for sake of it. I know going in that it will be a SWD magnet for me.
August here is peak SWD and this year it was worse due to the heat and drought. Victory is my workhorse here due to ripening from late June into mid July is its peak. By that time i have all of the ‘blackberries’ that i could ever want. My neighbor who also picks and makes jams with me made an excellent point… why are you growing any other blackberry than this one… I am pondering it. But then again im sure i will end up with Celestial which also fruits in that late window… just because i want to try it…
Early ripening blackberries and hybrids are keepers for me… a few early ripening rasps… then fall bearing rasps are welcome. Im whittling down my black rasps as well… most are just too much work for the result. Late July/August and early Sept… is just too much BS going on with SWD and yellowjackets also my wasps feed on the swd larvae… so i just lost interest in that window altogether.
3 Likes
To be a SWD magnet or not to be a SWD magnet, that is the question.
2 Likes
the answer is simple - because you enjoy it!
on the topic of Victory, I could swear it’s been growing six inches a day lately, it’s crazy
1 Like
My victory were growing very well until the deer found them. Hopefully next year I’ll have the electric fence up because last I checked, they’re just bare sticks.
Those deer must eat nails for breakfast considering they chewed on my kiowa some too.
2 Likes
My Navaho blackberry has made it through two frosts and is still trying to bloom and even has a few berries still on it. I did not get it planted until well into June so maybe that is why it is fruiting so late. I don’t know, as I am really not familiar with its habits yet. I thought it tasted pretty good, and the berries are reasonably large. We will see what I think next year.
I am still waiting on my Prime Ark Freedom to try to make even one berry on its primocanes. It has huge probably 8 feet tall healthy primocanes but nary a flower or fruit. It did give a pretty good floracane crop this year since we had a mild winter. In harsh winters here in southern Indiana, the floracanes die back some. I really do like the taste and berry size of it, though, so I will let it stay even though it seems it will never give me any berries on its primocanes despite being in the ground for several years.
Sandra
1 Like
Looking forward to seeing how it does for you. Not sure where you got the plant from… but there is a slight chance it might not be Navaho… Navaho should have berries forming mid June and ripen for a month or so into Mid to late July.
The trick to PA Freedom in our climate is to not get the canes get tall and healthy…unless you have a heated greenhouse and want fruit in November/December. At least thats how they act here. To get a decent crop of primocane berries i need to tip at 2 feet or less and then those new laterals will fruit at about 4 feet or 5. Otherwise all the energy gets spent making those tall canes and maybe want to bloom during my first frost.
The crappy thing is that the floricane crop will be at ankle and knee level with a successful primocane crop… also factoring in some winter damage after spent tips are removed.
3 Likes
@krismoriah, Thank you for that most helpful tip to try and get primocane fruit off of my PA Freedom. I will definitely try it next growing season. I don’t think I will have trouble picking low growing floracane fruit, as my back is about the only body part I have that never gives me a lick of pain no matter how much bending I do. So thankful for that.
I got the Navaho on a whim at Lowe’s in late spring. So it could probably be about any variety. I thought it might be blooming so late because the deer gnawed it down once and I also got it planted in the ground pretty late. I noticed it has a pinkish bloom and I wonder if that is characteristic of Navaho or maybe color was affected by the cold and frost. I guess I will find out more next spring/summer.
Sandra
1 Like