After doing some investigation on my own Wild Treasure blackberry plants and someone else’s I’m starting to think that they need some shade in summer. The berries seem to dry out before they can fully ripen. So you are left with sour, flavorless husks. This year has been pretty good weather for them and they’re still screwed up.
Question is: What percent of shade cloth should I use? And can I just drape the shade cloth over the plants or does the cloth need to be supported? Like building a tent?
Berries drying up before they ripen… believe it or not that happens alot with overwatering during hot weather. Also RCB and other issues.
anthracnose could be an issue also.
I dont like to diagnose anything just saying that it could be other things… but if you think shade cloth is the answer then maybe it is.
I have seen some of the finest berries and plants in high desert areas that get much more sunlight than not…
Most all of my rows are dry as a bone right now… i have been weeding the past couple of days and the weeds are struggling as its so dry and harsh. We have had some brutally hot weeks… and my brambles are all doing amazing… beyond amazing really.
Wow, even in the PNW you need shade cloth. I’m in the desert in west Texas and the nicest biggest berries are always down in the canopy in the most shade. Berries in full sun are as described by @Purrfur . I’d suggest about 50% shadecloth. I’ve got 30% and that’s not enough. Two layers of 30% ~ 50%, is about right.
Unless you’re seeing a bunch of white, sunburned berries, i could be wrong but i doubt it’s the sun that’s causing it.
I’m in Washington as well and my area is about 10 degrees hotter than Seattle and surrounding for most of summer. My plants are also in full sun from 6am to about 7pm right now. The only dried berries I’m seeing are when the birds peck at them but don’t eat all of them. Not sure where you are but sunburned usually comes up as white druplets and not just dried out berries so in my personal opinion without seeing any photos or knowing anything else except western Washington, i would say that it may be other issues and not a sun issue unless you’re also getting white druplets on most of the berry along with dried berries.
Here in Kent, we never use shade cloth, the more sun berries get, the higher the brix and less sour taste. I never water my blackberries
Dennis
Kent, wa
I have never used shade cloth… but I always find the best berries on the north side / more shady side… of my canes. Especially the last half of their ripening period when we are getting lots of sun and heat.
Too much heat will shut down blackberry ripening here in south Louisiana. Some years that’s in May if we get an early heat wave but by end of June my plants are done. Shade cloth may help but that seems a lot of hassle unless you only have a few plants?
Holy cow, someone else is growing this! I have been looking for someone else growing Wild Treasure for years.
I honestly don’t know if shade cloth is the answer. I have had this issue with the berries drying up before ripening for years. My favorite u pick farm grows Wild Treasure and I went to get some yesterday They seemed to be having the same problem. And they know a lot more about the proper way to grow Wild Treasure than I do.
I do tend to water when it’s really hot… I generally water once a week. More than that if it’s really hot. But that usually only happens in August.
I don’t run into any issues with my black caps or tayberry. They ripen just fine.
I’d love to pick your brain about how to grow Wild Treasure. I love the fruit but I get so few good berries.
The flavor you probably like in the Wild Treasure is Waldo which is in the breeding of Wild Treasure. Waldo was from a cross of Marion which most people also love.
I myself and others have had trouble growing Wild Treasure… and not many tales of success out there. I think its too finicky with lots of issues to grow here and looks like elsewhere as well.
If you want the same (likely better) flavor but better breeding and a much better plant try Columbia Sunrise which also has Waldo as well as Marion in its breeding… Siskiyou and others…
To further the point…its one of the earliest ripening so should avoid all the issues folks are having with sunscald/heat and soon to be talked about SWD.
Just my opinion… but i think you would be happier moving on. YMMV though.
Good point. No sun burned white drupelets. They just dry up before they sweeten and ripen. With other blackberries they usually ripen completely before drying
My climate is the same as Corvallis, OR and I have never had a good quality harvest. Quantity yes. Good plant health, yes.
I have been at this for years now. I have tried more water/less water, more fertilizer/less/no fertilizer, short canes/long canes, more canes/fewer canes, tipping canes/not really tipping canes. Everything.
Every time the vast majority of berries are sour and flavorless and eventually dry out. My black caps and tayberries are in the same area and are fine.
The Wild Treasure was developed for commercial cultivation but I know of only one place in the world that grows them commercially.
What am I doing wrong? This is something like year eight. What is the trick here?
Dead end…its in Europe now and i doubt it will ever come back.
That wasnt what i gained from the breeders papers… but you could be correct. (see below PDF)
Chad Finn and the creators said that it would be difficult to commercialize it due to its susceptibiltiy to disease…not to mention the small fruit size etc. They go on to talk about the sprays needed along with the higher amounts of fertilizer needed and so forth.
Obsidian rated higher than Wild Treasure on just about everything… I and others on here tried to grow it but it has way too many issues it seems to even talk about it any more.
So perhaps if you do all the sprays that the creators did along with the fertilization… you can overcome all of its weaknesses and downfalls… and get the crops that they describe. I didnt and i pretty much failed at my attempts also…along with Obsidian and others that are more susceptible to things than not.
I wish you luck… but i think its going to take more than luck to overcome some of this plants issues. YMMV though.
I was there last week. That’s how I discovered Wild Treasure in the first place.
Their berries seem to have the same problem. Most dried up before ripening. The exceptions were ones at the bottom of the plants in the shade. Hence why I thought of shade cloth.
I talked to the owners several times. They said they didn’t run into any problems. But they only have a couple of rows and fee people pick them. The owners mentioned the two chief developers of Wild Treasure are dead. So no one to ask questions of.
Their plants are on drip irrigation. Don’t know about their fertilizer regimen. I think West Union is the only commercial grower of Wild Treasure in the world
If it was here i would say RCB… but i think you guys in the PNW have other kinds of borers and issues due to the high density and commercial production of many many various canefruits.
The Obsidian i tried to grow had some kind of issue that i failed to resolve… the leaves looked like broccoli and the canes looked worse.
The Wild Treasure that i tried to grow got nailed by my RCB and every single cane was worthless.
My guess is that you have some kind of cane or crown borer… with that description… but you would have to examine the canes and crown to fully know a better answer.
If your canes and leaves have spots or lesions i would suspect anthracnose.
