If anyone is interested lessen canyon nursery has Columbia Giant Blackberries available. Only plugs and 5 minimum at $4.
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I should have fruit of that variety this yr. It was just planted last yr but I got good growth. Also have Black Diamond, Obsidian, and Columbia Star. In my greenhouse they never stopped growing all winter, just slowed down.
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Fruitnut, I would love to see photos of how you grow your blackberries in your greenhouse. I want to try to train my blackberry in a pot, and up through a big tomato cage.
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Interesting, I only found out about that variety a couple months ago. I was going to get obsidian too but I am on the hunt for Columbia Sunrise black berry instead. I will check back with you later in the year to see what you think of the flavor. Thanks!
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Have your Columbia giant ripened yet? My boysenberries are sizing up so I know its not much longer, my one Columbia star is neck and neck with boysenberry.
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Yes long done. The fruit is bigger than Columbia Star but tasted about the same. Both were good.
Cool thanks. Sounds like I will like the taste then, I wondered if the flavor would be less sweet. Thanks again.
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Anybody know any sellers of Columbia Giant?
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Lassen canyon nursery has tissue culture but it’s 5 minimum @ just over $4. I’d have to look but off top of my head it was about 35 all together.
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Nope just looked it was $46.03 with shipping
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I remember splitting an order for Columbia Star,from them,a couple years ago.Maybe that can be done again. Brady
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Does anyone have a source for Columbia Giant Plugs for 2019?
I am in Ontario…just bought some at Lowe’s…I am not sure if they will be any good here…by the time my Triple Crowns, Chesters, Black Satin and PrimArk start to flower and produce a few fruit…the nights start getting cooler, so production potential is not very good…pulled out all my Illini Hardy Blackberries this spring…just were not doing much but producing a lot of spikey greenery…may give up on blackberries… sure taste great tho…I just bought 3 Loch Ness this spring and planted against the south wall of my goose house…hoping that will speed things up a bit. I understand they are frequently grown in high tunnels even where the season is longer. I am in zone 5b so I don’t know if the Columbia Giant will even make it here.
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I’m in 5b too and don’t have any trouble growing any of those. Must be something else. Chester is later, but the others are mid season. Even though Chester is later it fully fruits here.
Are you coastal ?..I think that makes a big difference with long season fruit like blackberries…your extreme low may be the same but season may be longer ?..It gets hella hot here in the summer but the season is not nearly as long as say Victoria, where I saw blackberries growing in great abundance in a huge ,10 foot high …30 foot long mound about 100 feet away from the ocean shore.
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One of my gardens is on the coast of the St Clair river. The other is 40 miles away from water. 5b/6a here. It’s been a fair year for me. I’m rebuilding my blackberries, so many were moved and such.
I mostly want to grow Newberry, Marion, Siskiyou , wyeberries, and tayberries. Depends if I can keep them alive here. Mostly because they have the best flavor for me. I love these . Marion and Siskiyou are not as hardy and will probably die, but we will see…Both are excellent.
New Berry has strong raspberry tones, delicious!
Tayberries are super sweet, almost no acid, almost taste like strawberries.
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So…another year and poor blackberry …I wouldn’t even call it a “harvest” …just a taste on some of the plants…If it is not the longer coastal season compared to our…mid continental location (albeit surrounded by lake and bays.( Iam not on the water tho)…I cannot imagine what the problem is…our soil is rich clay to clay loam…everything grows well here…drainage is not great but it is ok for most things except cherries…which need to be raised…and somewhat amended for drainage improvement…the black berries get all day sun…we have plenty heat in the summer…moisture is sufficient…they are all planted with a handful bone meal…some are mulched with duck/goose manure…others simply growing through black plastic…some are primocane others are not… Prime Ark. Freedom…Chester. … Black Satin…Triple Crownbeen in the ground 2, 3 , 4, 5 years some plants…and new this year Lock Ness and Columbia Giant…(so they don’t count)…but otherwise hardly worth growing in this zone as far as I can see. As I stated…they don’t begin to produce fruit and flowers until late August…by then nights are cooling off and therefore slowing growth and ripening potential. Am I wrong ? …black berries seem poorly suited to this zone…I have wonderful large harvests of black raspberries…which are a raspberry/ blackberry cross if I am not mistaken…what could possibly be the problem…I have given them a chance for years now…and they do very poorly…only because I love their distinct flavour have I kept them in the ground…otherwise not at all worthwhile.
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i have the babycakes dwarf blackberries and they are loaded and ripening right now. these are z4 rated , thornless and produce on primocanes and florocanes. maybe you need more short season, cold hardy blackberries that ripen sooner? i tried PAF here and ran into the same issues. i also have nelson blackberries that are supposed to be z4 maybe z3 hardy from fedco. its their 1st season. only fertilizer i give mine is some compost in the spring with a fresh 3in. of wood chip mulch. how is your plant vigor?
Some plants don’t flower at all or look as if they are about to flower just before the cold weather arrives…those that do are late to flower sparse and few/small fruit…again they are in the same soil and (some) are in same growing conditions as my black raspberries which produce abundantly. While I realize they are probably better suited to more southern climes…I really thought I could grow them here…not sure why harvests are so poor…
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