Growing Blackberries in Your Home Garden, EC 1303 (Oregon ...

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as they grow. Bundle the canes and use twine totrain them straight up to the top wire. If canesgrow longer than the top wire, start wrapping themcarefully around the two training wires, spreadingout canes (Figure 1, page 3, and Figure 2). Thesecanes will fruit next year.Training the canes to a multiple-wire trellis(Figure 3) or an existing fence is another option,but training is more difficult with these methods.Erect blackberries. Erect blackberries produceshort, stiff canes from both the crown andthe roots, thus forming a hedgerow. A simpleknee-high “T” trellis with a 1 1 ⁄2-foot-wide top willsupport the canes. You can make this type of trelliswith rebar. String twine or wire down each sideof the row. Erect blackberries can be trained tothe trellis used for trailing blackberries if you aregrowing both types.Semierect blackberries. These plants arevigorous and are easiest to manage on a “doubleT” trellis. Use sturdy end posts, and bury one endso that 6 feet remains above ground. Use 2x4s forcross arms. Install one cross arm at the top of thepost; this cross arm should be about 4 feet long.Install a 3-foot-wide cross arm about 2 feet belowthe top one. Run high-tensile wire along the rowon each side of the cross arms; you’ll have fourwires.FertilizingIn the planting year, fertilize each plant with½ to 1 oz nitrogen (N), depending on soil fertility.Use a well-balanced fertilizer such as 16-16-16. Tocalculate how much product to apply, divide thedesired amount of N you need to apply (for example,1 oz) by the percentage of N in the fertilizer:1 ÷ 0.16 = 6.3 oz of fertilizer per plant.Do not apply all of the fertilizer at once.Divide the total into thirds and apply the first onethird2 weeks after planting, the next one-third1 month later, and the final one-third 1 month afterthe second application. In the above example, youwould apply 2.1 oz of 16-16-16 per applicationper plant (6.3 ÷ 3 = 2.1). Distribute the fertilizerevenly in a small area around the young plants.Irrigation and weed controlSupplement rainfall with irrigation as neededto supply about 1 inch of water a week. Keep thearea around plants free of weeds.No fruit is produced in the planting year.A12"12"12"24 to 36"BCFigure 2. Marion blackberry trained in August. Picturetaken in February.Figure 3. Multiple-wire trellis for trailing blackberries, inthe growing season (leaves not drawn for clarity): (A)Canes that just bore fruit and will die. (B) Wire guide fornew cane growth. (C) New growth that will bear fruit thefollowing year.4
How much should I fertilize?A good guide for fertilization is to observeplant growth. Primocane leaves should be ahealthy green; a pale green or yellow colormay indicate nitrogen deficiency. Canesshould grow well.Care of establishedplantingsFertilizingAfter the planting year, apply fertilizer annuallyto maintain good growth and leaf color.Apply from 1 to 1 1 ⁄2 oz N per plant (6.3 to 9.5 oz16-16-16 per plant) per year. Divide the total intothirds, and apply one-third at each of three times:(1) when the new primocanes start to grow,(2) at the end of May, and (3) at the end of June.Spread fertilizer over the entire surface of the soilin the row. Irrigate right after fertilizing.If you use manure, apply it in late fall orearly winter to a depth of 2 to 3 inches in the row.Reduce the rate of nitrogen fertilizer applied byone-half. Manure applied early in the fall maycause blackberries to grow late in the season, makingthem more susceptible to winter injury.If you use organic mulches for weed control,you may need to apply additional nitrogen fertilizerto assist in breakdown of the mulch.IrrigationEstablished blackberry plants need 1 to1 1 ⁄2 inches of water per week from mid-Junethrough late summer. Irrigate when rainfall doesn’tprovide this amount. Plants need more water inextremely warm and windy conditions. To avoidexcessive disease to canes or fruit, it is best to usedrip irrigation or under-canopy sprinklers.Weed managementCultivate to control weeds. Cultivate no deeperthan 1 to 2 inches to prevent root damage. You canuse a mulch or landscape cloth (weed mat) aroundtrailing and semierect blackberries to controlweeds. Weed mat is not recommended for erecttypes as it will prevent primocane emergence fromroots.Pruning and trainingPruning instructions vary by the type ofblackberry.Trailing blackberryTrailing blackberries produce new primocanesin the spring at the crown of the plant. (No rootsuckers are produced.) After growing upright for ashort time, these canes turn down and grow alongthe ground.After the first year, there will be fruiting caneson the wire, while new primocanes will grow fromthe crown starting in spring. To avoid damage tonew primocanes, keep them trained in a narrowrow beneath the bearing canes (Figure 1, page 3).If you have more than one plant, train all theprimocanes in one direction down the row (ratherthan what is shown in Figure 1). This will helpprevent primocanes from tangling and make trainingeasier. Do not summer prune or tip primocanesduring the growing season.After fruit harvest, the floricanes start to die.Unless there is a lot of cane disease, it’s best todelay cutting off the canes as long as possible.This allows the dying canes to move nutrients backinto the crown and roots, making for a healthierplant.In western Oregon, it’s best to train the newprimocanes on the trellis in late August. The riskof cold injury increases if you wait to train inSeptember through fall. In eastern Oregon andWashington, leave the primocanes on the ground.In areas with frequent low winter temperatures,you can try to protect the canes through the winterwith a straw mulch. Then train the primocanesonto the trellis in late February, after any danger ofsevere cold has passed. Training canes during coldtemperatures is not advised, as brittle canes breakeasily.5
Page 1 and 2: EC 1303—Revised March 2008 u $1.5
Page 3: Black Diamond.Dig, plow, or rototil
Page 7 and 8: primocane-fruiter for only the prim

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