Blackberries

[jjdward]

I bought a blackberry bush this spring and I have some questions. One, should I expect any fruit the first year? Two, do blackberry bushes require any specific fertilizer mix (10-10-10, 10-15-10, ect.) Thanks

 

[saddina]

I have no idea, they don't live out here, but there's alotta good info here:

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/

 

[AngieChick]

They are a noxious weed out here in the Pacific NW. Plant with care, make sure you keep it well behaved (if possible where you are) or in a pot.

Nope, they shouldn't need anything special at all. Give it something to trail over so that it's easy for you to pick,, and that's it.

 

[Paganbird]

LOL... I was just thinking to myself: you bought blackberries?
It's just that we have soooo many bushes & we hack them down & they come right back.
They seem to be pretty easy to care for - just try to kill them & they'll come back bigger & bushier next year. The berries are good, though.

 

[jjdward]

Quote:

The bush I bought has no thorns and I don't think it spreads like the wild ones do. We have the wild ones here too but they spread like kudzoo and have thorns galore!!!

 

[Paganbird]

I've seen the thornless ones in nursery magazines. You'll have to let me know if they taste the same. That was my biggest concern.
We get so many berries, we usually don't even have to get that close to the branches.
The dog eats them. The horses eat them. The chickens eat them. The wild birds eat them. And still, STILL we have more.
DH wants to cut away a bunch of them this year & see if he can burn where they were so they don't come back. (About 10 of our wooded acres have the bushes scattered/clustered.)
So, yeah, let me know how those thornless ones taste!!

 

[jjdward]

Quote:
you bet

 

[Sharons7]

Jj why don't you allow those berries to work for you? jelly, jam, frozen, sell them by the quart, sell them to the local grocery store. A little time picking them could bring you some extra cash..

 

[cooper401]

I have two thornless bushes and this is my second year, the first only gave me afew berries. This year is better. MOst perennial plants follow this same rule.

The first year they sleep, the second they creep and the third they leap.

I have raspberries the grew like wildfire, my blackberries are thornless and are behaving so far. You should look at this site
http://asktheberryman.com/planting_guide/brambles_guide.html
I do the second diagram works well so far. It is also good for raspberries.

 

[CrazyChickieMama]

we just walk across the road to the ditch and pick them by the pound...although I would love to have thornless...my heavy duty gardening gloves were green...now they're purple!!!! we plan on planting thornless by our back fence next year. along with raspberries and blueberries. YUM!!!! let us know how it goes!!!!