Blackberries

[Gardian]

We planted a blackberry plant last Autumn and it over-wintered fine. It has now set fruit at 'body' height and all is looking well, except that the main stem is doing a 'Jack-in-the-Beanstalk'.  It's now up to about 2.2m, with no side stems or fruit from about 1.6m up.

Any views as to whether I should nip off that top growth so that it concentrates it's efforts lower down?

[Gardengirl]

Not a blackberry expert, Gardian, but that's what I'd do.

[confused of chalus]

Gardian, is your blackberry on a frame of some kind? If it is, bend over that main stem so it is going hortizontally. It may not do anything this year, but next year it will 'break' and you'll get lots of fruit. This is our third year and the two blackberry plants with training, now form a 2 metre high wall 4metres long covered in flowers. The next year, after you have got your fruit you cut it back to the ground and tie in the new shoots that will be coming from the base.

Cultivated, thornless blackberries are very vigorous and need to go on a frame with wires or, as we have done, made from hazel thinnings.

Good luck - apple and blackberry pies for the whole village next year, if you treat it right!

Kathy

[Gardian]

CoC ................

Well, a sort of frame.  2m high posts, with wires at 50cm intervals.

Thanks v much for the advice.  That main stem certainly doesn't feel as though it wants to be 'bent', but I'll give it a go.  Maybe a bit at a time.  Will let you know.   You're right about it being vigorous!

As for the apple & blackberry pie, the locals would be very suspicious of any 'Anglais' grub. [:(]  More fool them.

p.s. thanks GG - that was my instinct too, but better knowledge prevails, eh? 

[Richard51]

Generally horizontally trained branches flower (and so fruit) much better than branches allowed to grow vertically. (Hence why espalier trained fruit trees do so well).  The same applies to roses as well as fruit.

[Gardengirl]

Right, so treat it as though it's a climbing rose or espallier fruit tree. I'm always learning on this forum! Apple and blackberry pie - yum! In UK we usually have tons of apples, and this year there was an amazing amount of blossom, and blackberries picked on walks down by the lake - one of the benefits of losing summer!  [:)]

[Frederick]

Mine is along a wire between posts and against a wall. Reach over the flower bed to waist high to pick... I have a friend with his whole garage wall covered by a thornless blackberry ...huge fruits on that one .