I can’t remember and the bed has been torn out for a retaining wall. I want to say it was around 42 inches. It would have been fine a fine width if it hadn’t needed fencing in but it was too narrow once the plants started filling in. Anytime a shoot would poke through the fence the deer would snip it right off.
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Admittedly being lazy by posting this instead of doing more research…
First time blackberry grower.
I planted PAF In October 2019. Last summer being first growing season of course. The canes just kinda flopped all over the place and are rather messy and in the way.
Will I lose fruit this summer if i cut these back now? #dumbquestion
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For all you zone 9+ people (i am zone 10)…my 2 years old PAF’s are getting ready to flower. They looked very budded up! Super excited about that…
Any other SoCal people growing these?
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The canes left from last year are the ones that will bear berries this spring. They will then die out. New canes will emerge that will bear berries this summer. (They need to be kept low and well supported). Those canes will bear fruit again next spring. The canes that die out after producing berries this spring should be cut out.
You get two crops of berries on each cane: summer and the following spring. That cane will die as new ones sprout.
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You could prob prune them like any other floricane bearing blackberry. That is, cut them down to an acceptable height for picking, about 4-5 feet. You also could prune back any of the lateral shoots to about a foot or so. You may have to support them with some kind of trellis. As floricanes, they should bear lower on the cane, and not the tips like a primocane bearer.
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You have more experience in growing PAF than me. I was just going on what I’ve done to my floricane bearing Triple Crown blackberries. Do you cut back your PAF floricanes at all, or does tipping them year the before keep them from getting too high?
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Thanks! The primocane fruiting characteristic was throwing me off.
Since the existing canes will bear and then die, I will leave them and just remove when done.
The new canes I gather will be erect.
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I thought @erect-and-thornless was growing them. I think he’s in SoCal. But, he hasn’t posted since last fall.
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Sometimes they get cut back if they are scraggly and the mower gets them. My first crop on them will ripen in early May so I try to keep them going until after fruiting.
Yes, the new canes will be erect and will get to 5 feet tall before you realize it. They look very strong but if you don’t tip them about 2 1/2-3 foot they will break when they get loaded with berries and you will lose fruit. My greatest problem with PAF’s is keeping the new canes tipped (cut back) to a reasonable height. Tip them at about 30 inches then tip the new laterals at about 20 inches. The laterals want to shoot straight up instead of running lateral and hence the problem. You will have 6-7 foot canes before you can blink and then you’ll have to figure out a way to support them…
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perfect time to check in again! the last year has been bonkers.
yes, my PAFs are flowering right now. i don’t see any new primocane shoots, though. maybe that’s a sign of age? (the plants’ age, not mine. 
)
one of my PAFs got huge last year, and the primocane snapped. (i should have trellised it earlier.) the damage wasn’t bad enough to kill the plant or the developing fruit, and the fruit ended up being quite tasty. but this year, as a floricane, the same cane is putting out buds only below the injured area. above the damage point, the plant is definitely green and alive, but not putting out any blooms.
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Didn’t you also have some other blackberry or raspberry plants?
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only PAF remains, as my cascade gold produced no fruit (but some white fungus) in 2020. in 2021, i’d like to branch out to a thornless raspberry and maybe ponca blackberry.
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Too bad about CG. I would think raspberries would just about be a no go for your climate. Blackberries tho, ought to do well. I’m trying Ponca, got two on order, along with Caddo and Natchez. Should get them next month.
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After planting my gooseberries and Haskaps I doubled down and ordered 2 PAF from edible landscaping. the plan is to grow them on the outer edge of my veggie garden with drip irrigation in 15 gallon grow bags (the largest size I have on hand right now). do you think this will work? I’m in Zone 7b Maryland.
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You probably only need to fill the bags 8 or 9 inches deep, but they should work fine.
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i planted primeark freedom and primeark 45 both spring 2019 … not sure what you want to know about them. They didn’t fruit in 2019 so I let the canes over-winter instead of cutting them down and wow, there was an abundance of fruit in spring of 2020 and also in fall. I didn’t cut the canes down in fall of 2020 either but its obvious now which ones to get rid of and which ones to keep.
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My first primocane berries to ripen started this week. We have had a ton of rain this spring and summer. Nice big berries.
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received and planted 2 PAF plants this year and the growth that was already present when they were purchased has leaves with red edges. all new growth appears to be just fine, but growth overall is stunted. its only grown a few inches in the month since I planted it. any help would be greatly appreciated. I’m in zone 7b and watering is done via drip irrigation once every 2 days (.5 GHP dripper on for 180 minutes). they are planted in 15 gallon grow bags.
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Assuming it’s last year’s growth with the red leaves this is normal. In fact you can just cut the woody stem off at dirt level. The new growth is what you will let grow to produce berries for next year. The couple of paf that I have are very vigorous and have noticeable growth from day to day. Young plants seem to be a crap shoot with my limited experience, some take off like a rocket, some take a few years to get well established.
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Question, is Prime Ark freedom blackberry a thornless variety?
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