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Archive for the blackberries tag

How and when do I train and prune thornless blackberries?

February 19, 2022 • Leave a Comment

How do I trellis thornless blackberries? I have several 2- to 3-foot-tall plants that have many hard-to-tame shoots pointing in every direction. I planted them last spring and none had fruit last year. I wound the longest ones around the wire between the metal fence stakes, which are about 3 feet high. How and when do I prune?

Thornless blackberry primo canes tend to grow along the ground like a vine for the first two years after planting. They also do not produce a large crop the first season. Proper pruning and strong wire support are needed. For thornless blackberries, you need two wires at heights of 3 feet and 5 feet from the ground between posts 20 feet apart. Because of the vine-like nature of this bramble fruit, individual plants should be 10 feet apart.

Now for pruning. Cut back the main trailing canes at the top by several inches in late winter to 4 to 6 feet. That would be roughly March, before bud swell. This pruning forces development of sturdier, more fruitful canes. Keep them tied to the upper wire. For wild lateral shoots, select only those parallel to the wires, trimming them back to about 12 inches. Guide and tie them to the lower wire. Remove cane shoots that go out perpendicular from the wire trellis. This forces the plant to concentrate its energy on the remaining canes for healthy growth and better fruit production. Make sure you prune out any damaged or weak, spindly canes. Proper pruning and trellising will bring your thornless blackberries to an enjoyable production level.

Can I grow sweeter ‘Black Satin’ thornless blackberries?

September 26, 2010 •

I have several high-yielding ‘Black Satin’ thornless blackberry bushes. The blackberries are large and plump, however, they are so tart I can only use them primarily for jams. The bushes are about four years old with good sun exposure. Is there something missing that might sweeten them, or is ‘Black Satin’ supposed to be tart? What about fertilizers – what should I be using? Currently the bushes get frequent waterings, but I don’t fertilize or spray.

The ‘Black Satin’ cultivar of blackberry is a semi-erect, thornless blackberry. The thornless varieties are generally less sweet than the erect (thorny) berry. Research data does not show any greater yield from erect blackberries than from thornless blackberries. Erect types generally do not require a trellis, so other than the thorns cultivation is the same. ‘Black Satin’ is considered to be a tart berry. It is recommended for jams, jellies, and pies. So your experience is not atypical. ‘Black Satin’ has only a fair winter hardiness, so with the fairly mild winters that we have experienced over the last couple of years, you most likely have seen little winter die back.

No, there is not anything that can be done to make ‘Black Satin’ grow any sweeter. Blackberries benefit from a great deal of organic matter in the soil. As the amount of organic matter increases, the need for fertilization drastically decreases. Three to four top dressings of fully cured compost would be recommended, as well as an early spring and mid-summer very light feeding of a balanced fertilizer (10-10-10). Be careful not to apply too much nitrogen. The recommended application rate for an established planting of blackberries is only 30 pounds of actual nitrogen per acre per year. Too much nitrogen will yield a lot of leaves but poor fruit production.

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