Does anybody use shade cloth on their blackberries? I have a Chester blackberry in full sun that gets damaged fruit every year. The berries that are ripening in direct sunlight burn while the shaded berries hiding deep in the plant are picture perfect i.e. large, juicy, plump and oh so good. I have read that they like full sun but the combination of 100 degree temps, low humidity and high UV is just too much. The berries turn brown and shriveled on the sun-ward side as well as having stunted growth. I’m considering installing some light shade cloth over the trellis to help with this. At the moment there are hundreds of blossoms just starting to open that are in direct sunlight. It would be a shame to loose so many of them again this year. Any pointers or recommendations for what percent shade cloth to use?
P.S. the past few years it has been suffering from moderate chlorosis. I recently gave it some EDDHA iron and have gotten the chlorosis under control, would this factor into this? Thanks Greg
Shade cloth might help, my one attempt resulted in damaging the berries that directly contacted the cloth.
The experts out here (Oregon State University) are referring to certain types of blackberry damage as “UV / heat”, implying that heat alone could cause the damage. I would think shade cloth would help to reduce damage on sun-facing sides of the fruit.
I have a small percentage of damage even on the north-facing berries.
New reply to an old post… but in this really hot year, I’m having the same problem in a commercial planting. So I ponied up $600 for a really big shade cloth and built a big arch with 3/4" pvc. It covers three rows of blackberries and is doing a good job of stopping the scorch – and it makes it nice to pick under. I need to come up with something more permanent but with hotter summers and the high value of blackberries I think we will need this kind of investment.
Wow looks great! I just learned to live with some of them being scorched but if i was farming them for money i probably would figure out some way to protect them.