The patent expires today. This is the first off patent primocane bearing blackberry. In about a month and a half, the patent expires on Prime Jim. To celebrate the patent expiration, I planted one in a clearing in a very overgrown part of a local park. Imagine my surprise when I noticed that there were already blackberries of unknown type growing back there.
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That’s great! Maybe they will be available more places now. I’ve been looking for Prime Jim the last 2 years with no luck.
Prime Jim and Prime Jan are described by the U Ark folks as “obsolete.” It you ever happen to be in St. Louis, let me know good and ahead of time, and I’ll give you one. They sucker like crazy in my back yard, and I’m always digging them up.
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I just bought an Arapaho from ALDI for $3. I also got two Bluecrop and one Jersey blueberry, also for $3 each. Such a deal. If you ask a lot of the best blackberries, “Who’s your daddy?” they’ll say Arapaho. OK, maybe Arapaho was the female parent, or grandparent, but still.
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@Bryan_G_Simmons would I be able to come visit you this summer and get a prime Jim?? I live over in Columbia and I’ve been searching for months online and no one sells them.
I’m so very interested as this is really the only non patented primocaine varieties I have heard of. Listen I will drive over there any day that works for you.
You can, but you will have to be the one who digs it up. My email is BRANGSIMMONS@GMAIL.COM except insert a “Y” the obvious place. After Easter I could be around most days, as I’m retired. I’ve got plenty of pots, but you should bring some good soil. After digging them up, I always give them 6-8 weeks to get over the shock before I put them in the ground. I live in Richmond Heights.
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I agree with them. I grew Prime Jan for 10+ years and quality was only OK and they have nasty thorns. I completely eliminated them from my yard a year or two ago.
The floricane fruit on my Prime Jims tend not to be all that good, but we have gotten great primocane berries. The thorns are necessary for anyone who lives where there are deer.
Yeah I mostly want them for the primocaine fruit, I sent you an email @Bryan_G_Simmons and I hope we can set up a time to meet for those transplants.
Being off patent means they can be tissue cultured with no legal problems, and I think that may be the most efficient way to get my first orchard going
I didn’t get the email for whatever reason, so go ahead and email to bryangsimmons@yahoo.com There are definitely some dig-uppable shoots. I also have some Jewel black raspberries that you could dig up if you want.
I’m always interested in growing a few of each new plant or variety. I only have one raspberry right now but I expect it to be many by the end of the year. It’s not heritage, I forget the name off the top of my head.
I have seen some raspberry growers focusing on the primocaine fruit and then just mowing down everything at the end of the year. Have you tried that method? It looks incredibly low maintenance. I’d probably never put raspberries in ground but you could do it with raised beds and a chainsaw.