it’s sister cultivar from OSU, Columbia Star, is way different and so far not the best. I need more time for evaluation. It is trailing thornless, and very flexible. The canes are easy to place without breaking. I myself detect little raspberry flavor. See how it does this year? Tayberry is strong raspberry but it is a very tart berry.
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Don’t leave us hanging there, Bill! What was your opinion of the taste and texture?
I have only a few of the earliest crop left to finish ripening, but there are more blooms and buds forming.
I wish I didn’t have so many disease and insect issues with this one, because I really like the berries for fresh eating. It’s the first black berry that I really enjoyed fresh as a stand alone.
Thanks
Thanks…
My opionions of the PAF
-Larger berry than my others (Apache is slightly smaller)
-Early ripening so it escapes some heat issues.
-Requires less watering during the ripening period because there is still some moisture in the soil at the spring ripening.
-No thorns so I can let my Grands just pick and eat without worrying about them.
-Upright growing so I don’t need as much staking (still needs some).
-To me it taste somewhat like the wild berries I picked as a child.
-Seems a little sweeter than my others.
-I’m not sure how well the summer/fall berries will turn out. It might be too hot to properly ripen during this period.
-Cane borers damaged some of my canes but they damaged my others also.
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Drew, I don’t grow Columbia Star but planned on getting some this winter. Are you saying it is way different than Newberry or different than other blackberries you grow? I thought Columbia Star was basically Newberry without thorns. Newberry has little tartness when ripe.
My Columbia Star are usually tart to very tart. They are very good when sweet enough to balance out the tartness. I’ve had some this yr I liked better than the blueberries and sweet cherries ripening at the same time. So I’m keeping mine. My Newberry in a pot was over watered. They weren’t very good but not a fair test.
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To me it didn’t taste like Newberry (well i didn’t detect any raspberry flavor, it could be me though?), it was the first year it fruited, and only had a handful of fruits. This year I have three canes of fruit to try. I can give a better opinion. All of us who tried it were not that impressed with berries. It is supposed to be more productive than most, and I didn’t really see that either. It tasted like a blackberry, not much different than others like Triple Crown etc. Again though final opinion yet to come.Newberry is better. i also tried Loch Ness. A trailing thornless. I thought berries were better than Columbia Star, but canes are stiffer, and break easier. I also tried Black Diamond. It is the least hardy of all I have tried, and I have yet to produce a berry in 3 years.I will have a few this year, I can see removing it, or transferring to a container for more protection in the winter. I will probably tip root a new plant in a container. Not nearly hardy enough otherwise. Newberry growth this year is extremely impressive. I’m sold on that one! I have yet to taste but should get a few handfuls this year. New primocanes are bigger than any other blackberry right now. A very impressive grower. I did have it in a container and usually they start earlier. So part of it is that. Kept in the garage.
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Thanks, did not know Columbia Star was tart, will stick with Newberry.
My PAF primocanes grew so fast and I got most of them tipped at 4-5 feet. Most of the laterals went straight up from there and are about 20-24 inches long. I reached up to tip some of them this afternoon and they have bloom buds on them! All of them! I have never raised blackberries much less primocanes and I just thought the next crop would be in the late summer/early fall. There are a few lateral shoots lower down but they are still small. I know I should have tipped these earlier but they are growing so vigorously that they have just gotten away from me. Is this extra early for them to bloom?
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Maybe it’s extra early, but my primocanes are also setting buds, even as the last of the berries ripen on the floricanes. Last year, their initial planting year, I had a trickle of berries throughout the season and into fall. That year’s berries weren’t enough to give me a good sampling, and the canes seemed to be being hit with one pest or other problem after another. This year, the original canes still have issues, but at least they gave me a somewhat decent crop of berries and sent up plenty of what appear to be healthy primocanes.
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Katherine/Muddy. As of now I don’t have any primacane buds. There is still so much for us to learn about PAF. When I started growing blackberries I though they would be so easy. I would like to think I’m learning a little more how to manage them. My mostly organic practices keeps me from using some practices. With al that being said to me the backberry is well worth the learning curve. Thanks for posting. We can learn from each other. Bill
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Bill, and others in hot summer areas, might be interested in the article that begins on page 15 of http://www.smallfruits.org/Newsletter/Vol16-Issue2.pdf. In the article the breeder talks about how primocane fruiting is drastically reduced in hot summer areas for the prime-ark series. It seems early floricane production is very good though, which matches your experience.
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Haldog and others. Looks like the summer/fall berries will be limited by the heat and I have lowered my expectations for that time slot. It is just to hot in my location. Colder areas might get a good crop in late summer. I really like what I’m seeing for the early berries. The PAF is winding down well before my Natchez has even started to ripen. Bill
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They look healthy. I had not considered planting where they would get some shade. Hope they do well, Bill
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I read that they would do okay if they got six hours of sun and I thought I would try it with these. So far they have done well. Looks like a lot of fruit on the primocanes. I’m hoping the shade helps them fight July and August heat. I have another set of what is supposed to be PAF’s in full sun. (I really don’t think they are PAF’s. I guess I will know for sure if the primocanes fruit.). The ones in full sun had a much heavier fruit load on the floricanes but did not fruit as early. In fact they are just now coming ripe. (Another reason I don’t think they are PAF’s.)
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My primocane berries are ripening. The flavor of these berries are even better, sweeter!
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I’ve got ripe berries again! So far I’m really loving these PAF’s. I did let them get away from me though and I let a bunch get too high before I tipped them so ended up with a bunch of broken canes. I got very diligent with tipping them and the more I tipped the more those delayed budding and fruiting. So I now have fruit ripening for the “third time” this year.
Next year I will know more how to manage them I hope. It was heart breaking with broken canes. They just grow so fast.
Katy
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This is a characteristic that I noticed last year and If my PAF do well in my area I would like to try pruning as a way to delay ripening to a cooler time of the year.
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