Blackberry Season
Tips on establishing and growing the berries at home
By Shani Hay
Planting and establishing blackberries in your home garden probably brings memories of scratched up arms as a kid and endless pruning and trellising of vines .
But with new varieties available , gone are the days of thorns and trellises .
Home plantings of improved cultivars of blackberries offer high-quality fruit and ease of harvesting without the inconvenience of pests found in wild blackberries . I don ’ t know if you have priced berries in the grocery store , but they are more expensive than filet mignon !
Although trailing types will grow here , the erect or upright blackberry is the most popular type grown in Mississippi because they require little or no trellising .
Blackberries can tolerate many soil types but grow best in full sun and well-drained soil . The most suitable soils are high in organic matter and have a pH of 6.0 – 6.5 . Sandy loam or loam soils are best .
Blackberries can be grown on sandy soils if a good irrigation system is used . In general , their root systems do not tolerate wet soils . Avoid clayey , poorly drained soils .
Raised beds are recommended for locations with poorly drained soils or in areas prone to flooding . Using raised beds with consistent irrigation produce the best results with berries . Another option is to grow them in large containers .
Blackberries are self-fertile , so there is no need to plant multiple cultivars unless desired . Bees are the primary pollinators , so encourage their activity as much as possible .
Establish blackberries in late February or early March by planting plants or root cuttings . Container-grown blackberry plants are more expensive , but these will also grow well .
For commercial plantings , bare-root plants are the most common . Root cuttings are collected from healthy plants during the dormant season . They should be four to seven inches long and one-eighth to one-half-inch thick .
Space the root cuttings or plants two feet apart within rows that are 10 – 12 feet apart to form a hedgerow . Place the root cuttings one to two inches deep in well-prepared soil .
Fertilize the plants one month after planting with 10-10-10 or 13-13-13 and again in late June ( using 5.5 pounds per 100 feet of row in a two-foot band ). Increase the fertilizer rate the next year to 11.5 pounds per 100 feet of row applied in February and 5.5 pounds per 100 feet in June .
Spread the fertilizer evenly over a two-foot band . In following years , use 11 pounds of fertilizer per 100 feet in March and 5.5 pounds of fertilizer per 100 feet of row immediately after harvest , evenly applied over a 3-foot band .
In the first growing season , canes from erect blackberries will be semi-erect or almost trailing . Keep them within the row area since they will produce fruit the next year .
New canes produced in the second and later years will be erect and need to be topped at three to four feet in June to encourage lateral branching . Vigorous plants may require topping two to four times . Prune hedgerows to a width of three to four feet .
Blackberry canes are biennial . Vegetative canes develop the first year , bear fruit the second year , and die after fruiting . Fruiting canes must be removed after harvest .
New canes from the roots will replace these canes . The new canes will have fruit the following year .
Growers sometimes mow plants to ground level immediately after harvest and then dispose of all mowed plant material . A longer growing season in southern Mississippi allows time for growth of new canes in summer and fall .
Annual mowing may weaken the plants so a two-to-threeyear mowing rotation may prove satisfactory . Frequent mowing may result in fewer disease problems and fewer dead canes in a row . Less frequent mowing can produce higher yields .
Rosette or double blossom , a fungal disease , is a significant factor limiting blackberry production in Mississippi . No thorny cultivar is immune to this disease , and it must be controlled by a spray and cultural program .
Eradication of wild blackberries aids in control . Thornless cultivars have some tolerance to the disease . Other pest and abiotic issues include cane borers , spotted wing drosophila fruit fly and white drupelet disorder . See your local county MSU Extension office for more information on specific pest control options .
Shani Hay is a Extension Agent I with Mississippi State University ’ s Extension Service in Newton County .
26 • MERIDIAN LIFE