Blackberries in a range of ripeness, in West H...
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Viv has a question about growing berries:

Viv’s Question: My brother needs some “info ” about boysenberry and raspberry, how to plant and care for them. He has some planted, but they are having problems. Something to keep them healthy, or what to give them to make them happy? Anything you can provide will help him.

A. I have this fabulous site from Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service for you to read in depth and print out the pages for him. Here are some portions:

Boysenberry – the berries are large, strongly flavored, soft, and medium to late maturing. When disease free plants are used, Boysenberries may produce well for 4 to 6 years. One selection is thornless, the other has very small thorns.

Cultivated blackberries do best on sandy loam soils with added organic matter. However, they will tolerate a wider range of soil types than will most other fruits. Good soil drainage and 2 1/2 to 3 feet of unrestricted rooting area are necessary for best plant performance. A site with a slight, north facing slope is preferred to help prevent spring frost injury and to protect plants from southwest winds in summer. Additional wind protection may be necessary, because succulent first year canes exposed to strong winds may be blown over and broken from the root system.

The crowns and root systems of blackberries live for many years. However, new canes arise from the crown each year and live for only two years. During the first year, the canes grow to their full height. The second season, these canes bear fruit and die. During their first growing season after planting, erect blackberry plants often produce prostrate to semi-erect canes. Erect canes will be produced in the following years.

Berries should be permanently mulched with about 4 inches of organic material such as pine bark or wheat straw. This mulch will help control weeds, conserve soil and moisture, and prevent winter injury to crowns. Mulching also promotes growth of the extensive fibrous berry root system. Since the need to cultivate for weed control is reduced by the mulch, fewer berry roots are broken, producing fewer unwanted sucker plants between the rows.

After the first year, apply fertilizer to the berry plants at bloom time to stimulate plant growth, increase berry size, and boost total production. A second application of fertilizer should be made following fruit harvest to stimulate vigorous cane growth for next season’s production. Use a total of about 10 pounds of a complete fertilizer such as 10-20-10 or 5 pounds of ammonium nitrate per 100 feet of row. Apply one-half of the fertilizer at bloom time, and one-half soon after fruit harvest.

First-year plants are allowed to produce as much growth as possible without pruning or training to a trellis. Established plants grow new canes while the old canes are fruiting. During the summer, prune off the last few inches of new canes, leaving them 3 to 3.5 feet tall. This is called “tipping.” Tipping forces the cane to develop lateral shoots from buds near the top portion of the cane. Fruit produced the following year from pruned canes will be at a convenient height for harvest. The fruits will be larger, cleaner, and of better quality than if canes are not pruned, because most of the fruit will be farther from the soil.

http://www.okstate.edu/OSU_Ag/agedcm4h/pearl/hort/frtnuts/f6215.htm

Member Diane writes

I live in Ohio and just bought 4 blueberry bushes. Can you tell me what kind of ground to plant them in? Is there any thing special I have to do?

A. Soil: Blueberries grown anywhere love an organic, slightly acidic soil, very well-drained, so that the roots breathe well and the water flows downward. Till in before planting to enrich the soil. For existing beds, mulch as described below.

Water: Make sure the plants get enough water. Blueberries form most of their flower buds for next year’s crop from July until October. Water stress will reduce next year’s crop.

Pruning: Once blueberry plants attain the desired size, major pruning should be done immediately after harvest. Confine the cuts to the removal of dead, broken and low-hanging limbs. Large limbs that drooped from an excessively heavy crop should also be headed back. If the plants are taller than can be conveniently harvested, reduce height by selectively removing the older canes.

Fertilizing: On established plants (3 years and older), apply 3 ounces of either 16-4-8, 12-4-8 or ammonium sulfate fertilizer per plant. This application is to encourage good, healthy flower buds for next year’s crop. Many people want to grow all their fruit organically, without applying pesticides. Few fruits can be grown entirely without pesticides. However, the amount and frequency of the use of pesticides can be greatly reduced if you follow a few simple guidelines.

First, select varieties that are recommended for the area.

Second, good sanitation is essential. Remove dead or diseased limbs and fruit as they appear. This may not control the problem completely, but it can help to check the spread.

Third, follow correct cultural practices. Excessive nitrogen fertilizer or heavy pruning will stimulate vegetative growth. The new growth is frequently the site of initial infections of diseases and insects.

Finally, weed control is much easier if plants are mulched. Mulching will also help conserve soil moisture. Remember, pesticides can be valuable tools in growing fruit, but a little common sense and fast action can help cut down on the need for spraying. A number of small fruits have excellent ornamental characteristics, at least in the eyes of a fruit enthusiast.

Above edited from: Sid Mullis, University of Georgia Extension Service office in Richmond County.

Give them full sun for most of the day. Fertilize them in the early spring as buds break. Do not feed heavily. I think for a couple of years you want to let your plants establish a good root system so plucking the flowers off would be okay, and then in the 3rd or 4th year allowing them to fruit.

Mulch heavily in late fall and again in early spring, with grass clippings/leaves [especially acidic Oak]/pine needles, which reduce the soil pH, which is very good!] Mulching in this manner helps acidify the soil, helps improve moisture retention, and ‘feeds’ the plants, as well.

Make sure not to disturb the roots, as this seems to set the plants back. Better to mulch heavily and gently pull the weeds than to cultivate as the roots are very sensitive to the soil being worked.

Whatever you do, stay away from the Aluminum sulfate some garden centers/nurseries sell as a blueberry fertilizer/soil acidifier. If you MUST do something further to lower soil pH, get some iron sulfate. Fertilizing with MirAcid should help also.

Jane writes – When do I cut my black raspberry back?

A. Plant black and purple raspberries with one plant per hill. Thin all but 7 or 8 of the strongest and thickest stems as the new plants grow. Either after harvest or the following spring, prune off close to the ground those canes that have borne fruit.

If waiting until spring, prune before the buds begin to swell but after danger of frost has passed. In the summer top the first-year canes to encourage a strong plant with fruitful side branches. Top new canes of black raspberries when they reach 24″ tall by cutting or snapping off the top 2-4″ growth.

Repeat with purple raspberries when the canes approach 30″ tall. During the following dormant season, cut back the side branches on new fruiting canes to increase berry size. On black raspberries shorten the laterals until they contain 8-12 buds or are 6-10″ long. Prune purple raspberries, which are more vigorous, back to 11-16 buds. Then cut back any spindly or short laterals.

Ideally the plant should have 4-5 strong fruiting canes remaining. Use the same procedures described for black and purple raspberries for red raspberries but eliminate the summer topping. Topping reduces yields of red raspberries.

These raspberries normally do not produce any side branches because the canes are not topped to encourage branching. Grow red raspberries in a hedgerow and do not let the row spread wider than 18″. Thin individual canes by cutting them at ground level so they are spaced 6-10″ apart.

Leave the largest diameter canes which are the most productive. After the harvest remove canes that have borne fruit. During the dormant season, head back canes growing within a wire support by one quarter of their length.

If there is no support, keep the canes at about 3′ tall.

Treat everbearing cultivars similarly, but leave the first-year canes that have just fruited intact in the fall. They will fruit again in summer after which they can be removed.

When planting blackberries in a hedgerow, restrict upright cultivars to three or four canes per plant and cut or pull out the rest. Allow 12-18 shoots per foot with trailing types. Prune blackberries the same as black raspberries with one exception: Leave laterals on second-year canes 12-18″ long.

Thin trailing blackberries to 7 or 8 canes per plant by removing unwanted canes at ground level. Shorten the canes to about 5′ long and tie to a stake or trellis. Omit the summer topping.

On upright-growing blackberries top new shoots back to 30-36″. Cut or pull out excess sucker shoots during the summer or the plant will develop into an unruly thicket. Like the other bramble fruits, these berries are biennial and require annual pruning.

Support the canes on a 36″ wire stretched between two poles. In spring thin all but 5 of the first-year canes and remove the old fruiting canes. Let the new canes grow on the ground until they exceed 36″. Then tie them to the support and head them just above the wire to encourage strong lateral branches.

The following spring cut the laterals to 18″; they will fruit later in the summer. Remove fruiting canes at ground level after harvest. Each type of bramble has a unique growth pattern that needs an individual pruning technique.

To understand how to prune brambles such as raspberries and blackberries, realize that these are biennial producers. Each spring new shoots arise from the crown but do not flower or bear fruit until the second year. Cut these canes back to the base when they die after fruiting. Unpruned plants develop into a thicket that gives the name bramble true meaning.

There is an exception to this life cycle. Canes of everbearing brambles produce a crop late in the first summer and repeat with another crop in midsummer of the second year before they die.

Assistance from: http://www.gardenadvice.com

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