Most of the “wisdom” says to tip prune erect blackberry primocanes somewhere between 3 and 5 feet high.
Most advice says NOT to do this to trailing types…and semi-erect? Seems like it depends who you ask.
What do you all do?
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I’ve always tip pruned my Triple Crown.
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I have found trailing types get too long try to tip root I myself prune them.
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With trailing types you will get branching and more fruit if you chop the tip off the cane. Though possibly too much fruit.
If you choose not to cut the tip you need to wind the cane around something to keep it from hitting the ground. Otherwise it will tip root and you don’t will have a dozen new plants where you didn’t want them.
That is what happened with my Wild Treasure blackberries. They tip rooted and I now have probably twenty plants smacking into each other.
Keep an eye on new canes from trailing types. If they hit the soil they will tip root.
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TC is “semi-erect” right? I have Arapaho (Erect) along with Galaxy and Natchez (both “semi-erect”) but so far their growth habit looks the same to me.
My Columbia Giant trailing is growing one single primocane at a 60 degree angle though.
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Since I am a home gardener and only require 10s of pounds maximum per variety, I tip and prune to contain the growth to the trellis system, rather then follow wisdom intended to maximize crop yields.
If a caneberry variety is new to you, or caneberries in general are new to you, it requires patience to see how individual varieties grow in your garden, before pruning. Some varieties spontaneously form laterals, others benefit from forcing it.
I like to let the canes do their thing, as long as they can still be trained within the trellis.
For ease of harvest, laterals that form parallel to the row are more desirable than laterals that form perpendicularly, or at large angles, to the row.
Self-tip-rooting of canes (without deliberate action of the gardener) is a process that takes many weeks to occur. It can be avoided with weekly care of the berry patch, keeping tips off the ground, pruing, etc.
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I think you’re correct regarding TC, but if they aren’t on a trellis, in my growing experience they flop over and will tip root.
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Here is a good video I come across. He is very knowledgeable and is been doing it for many years.
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