Home

Blackberries

PrintPrintEmailEmail
Leave a comment
Your rating: None Average: 4.1 of 5 (12 votes)

Botanical name: Rubus fruticosus

Plant type: Fruit

USDA Hardiness Zones: 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

Sun exposure: Full Sun

Soil type: Sandy

Soil pH: Acidic


Blackberries are a very easy fruit to grow. However tempting, do not grow plants unless you are certain they are virus-free since viruses are a widespread problem with blackberries. Select high quality plants from a nursery with a good reputation. Blackberries are also called dewberries. Boysenberries, loganberries and marionberries are blackberry varieties and not different species altogether.

Planting

  • Make sure you plant your blackberries far away from wild blackberries that may carry viruses.
  • The ground should be well fertilized and trellises for trailing varieties should be constructed.
  • Blackberries and hybrids are all self-fertile.
  • Planting may be done in late fall, however, it should be delayed until early spring in very cold areas as it could kill some hybrids.
  • Plant shallowly: about one inch deeper than they were grown in the nursery.
  • Space upright varieties 3 feet apart and trailing varieties 5 to 8 feet apart. Space rows about 8 feet apart.

Care

    • Mulching is important throughout the season to conserve moisture and suffocate weeds. Keep a thick layer of mulch surrounding plants at all times.
    • Water one inch per week.
    • The roots send up an abundant amount of shoots, called canes. Keep order by pruning away the majority of them so that the survivors can produce lots of berries.

Pests

  • Raspberry Borers
  • Fruit Worms
  • Gray Mold
  • Viruses

    • If your plant is suffering from the blackberry disease known as Raspberry Bushy Dwarf virus, the leaves will be have some bright yellow on them, and the leaves of the fruiting vanes may have a bleached look in the summer. The disease known as Blackberry Calico will cause faint yellow blotches on the leaves of the plant.

Harvest/Storage

  • Pick fruits regularly keeping the central plug within the fruit (unlike raspberries)
  • Although fresh fruit is always best, blackberries can be stored by canning, preserving or freezing.

Recommended Varieties

  • Early - 'Brazos' 'Cherokee' and 'Comanche'
  • Late - 'Black Satin' 'Smoothstem' and 'Thornfree'
  • Hybrid - 'Boysenberry' 'Loganberry' and 'Marionberry'

Recipes

Wit & Wisdom

Blackberries and strawberries are very high in ellagic acid which is an antioxidant that acts as a scavenger to help make potential cancer-causing chemicals inactive. Ellagic acid reduces the genetic damage caused by carcinogens like tobacco smoke and air pollution. They also contain other antioxidants that help lower cholesterol and ward off cardiovascular disease.

Comments

When I pick my berries I

By Gilbert Marrero on June 18

When I pick my berries I sometimes have a small green stem attached. Do you pick this off or is is safe to eat?

It sounds like you are

By Almanac Staff on June 19

It sounds like you are picking too early. Ripe blackberries will release easily from the stalk.

My Blackberry bush has load

By Peggy Spinelli on June 16

My Blackberry bush has load of unripened blackberries. I noticed there were about 8 thck branches with no fruit gorwing in the middle of the plant from the ground up.. I cut those back to the ground. Ever since i cut those back the leaves and plant appears to be dying..did cutting back those brances cause the plant harm?
Thank you for your assitance
Peggy Spinelli

Hi Peggy, The pruning of the

By Almanac Staff on June 18

Hi Peggy,

The pruning of the plant should not have caused it harm. Keep watering and hopefully the plant will recover.

I have a small bush that is

By cdsouth on June 14

I have a small bush that is very healthy looking. It blooms every spring, but the fruit dries up after the petals fall. Is this a black raspberry or blackberry? I transplanted it two years ago to a sunnier spot and made sure it had plenty of water this spring, but it still doesn't produce. It had black raspberry looking fruits on it years ago. Is it just too old? It produces beautiful new shoots. HELP!

Fruit drying is often a sign

By Almanac Staff on June 18

Fruit drying is often a sign that the plant needs more water. Remove some of the new shoots but keep one or two and see if they will grow into fruiting plants. Then remove the old plant.

I have a wild blackberry tree

By Joe Gangemi on June 14

I have a wild blackberry tree at my work. We just picked some today. When we soaked them in water we noticed very small insects that look like very small grass seed. What are they and what should we do. If we hadn't soaked them we would not have found them. Are they something to worry about?

It's hard to tell what insect

By Almanac Staff on June 18

It's hard to tell what insect you spotted. Thrips and mites sometimes cause damage to the berries. Usually blackberries are attacked by bigger bugs, like stink bugs and Japanese beetles.

I purchased 2 plants from a

By DANIEL BROWN SR on June 5

I purchased 2 plants from a store at 2 different times. neither plant has sprouted/

When is the best month for

By robin abington on May 31

When is the best month for picking blackberries

When you pick blackberries

By Almanac Staff on June 3

When you pick blackberries depends on your location in North America as well as the variety. In general, blackberries are picked during June in the South, and in July and early August in the North.

How do I know if the

By Sandy Jonsson on May 27

How do I know if the blackberry plants i purchased have a virus?

Unfortunately, blackberry

By Almanac Staff on June 3

Unfortunately, blackberry plants may show no evidence of virus just by looking at them. You will know your plant has a virus if the berries do not produce well, they mature in a misshapen way, or the berries grow but are very small.

potatoes and berrires

By Anonymous

why do you not plant potatoes and berries near
each other and how far apart should they be

According to our cooperative

By Almanac Staff

According to our cooperative extension: Do not plant raspberries where tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, or eggplant have been grown within the past four years, because these crops carry a root rot called Verticillium that can also attack raspberries. Destroy all wild raspberry and blackberry plants within a distance of 600 feet of your planting site if possible, to reduce the possibility that virus diseases might be spread to your planting.
Blackberry plants should be set 4 feet apart in rows 8 to 12 feet apart.

Sour Blackberries

By Anonymous

I have a raised bed of blackberries, the production is great. Some of the berries are more sour than sweet. Is there anything I can do to reverse this situation?

Sour blackberries

By Anonymous

Pick your berries when they are fully ripe for the most sugar content. Blackberries appear pretty and black before the sugar accumulates in the fruit. Wait until the shine dulls a bit for the best taste - and nutrition.

Fertilize in the spring as

By Almanac Staff

Fertilize in the spring as growth starts and make sure to water well when the blackberries flower and start setting fruit.

Zone 10 Blackberries?

By Anonymous

I've only ever picked blackberries up north, had no idea they grew down here...now I want to try, but what varieties do well down here and when do you plan them? Thanks for all the info!

Most blackberry varieties do

By Almanac Staff

Most blackberry varieties do not grow in zone 10. You need varieties with "low-chill" hours. We'd advise you to ask your local cooperative extension. Some readers have had success with: Natchez, Apache, Kiowa, and others. Planting is best performed from December through February.

Pruning

By sbolejack

New to blackberries and need to find out about the pruning process. Do they need to be cut back to the ground?

Pruning blackberries

By rosecottage4corinne

My blackberries have now grown over the trellis all the way to the ground. My trellis' are about 4 feet high. I'm wondering if 6 foot trellis' would be better and how to prune the tops.

Pruning blackberries

By Anonymous

First year blackberry canes (primacanes) don't fruit but become the 2nd year (flouracanes) that do fruit. I allow 1 primacane to grow to 3' and and 1 to 6' (from each crown) before pruning the top and encouraging branches left and right on a wire trellis. Cut off all other primacanes at the base. I space my crowns about 5' apart. BobR

Pruning blackberries

By rosecottage4corinne

I was given thornless blackberries this year and planted them with trellis'. Now they have grown taller than the trellis and I wonder if cutting them off so they don't grow any taller and hopefully encouraging new growth from the bottom is the proper way to care for them.

Thank you for a wonderful newsletter.

Corinne

Post new comment

Before posting, please review all comments. Due to the volume of questions, Almanac editors can respond only occasionally, as time allows. We also welcome tips from our wonderful Almanac community!

The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.
By submitting this form, you accept the Mollom privacy policy.