Jill @ Lilliworm
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Location: Pennsylvania

Multiplying Blackberries

I cut four really large stems from a blackberry plant and am trying to get them to take root so I can have more. I put them into pots with dirt/compost mix...how long does that usually take to happen before I can put them in the ground? Can I expect fruit the first year?

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applestar
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If you don't cut them but bend the canes to the ground, they will root from the tip. Once well-rooted, cut off the canes at midpoint (generally both end leaves are facing up now) and dig up the young plants.

Jill @ Lilliworm
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Good to know! There are a few other stems growing like crazy, so I'll try that next. My goal is to eventually have five or six going up the side of my small garden.
Do you suggest cutting them back at the end of the season? How far? Last year, I just had one and I think I clipped it back to about a foot high, but this year's plant seems much hardier with much thicker stems.

cynthia_h
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Blackberries are biennial; they have a two-year life cycle.

Wait until *after* a cane has borne fruit to cut it back. Then, after the cane has borne the fruit and gone dormant for the season/year, cut it back to just above the ground. Any canes that have not borne fruit that year must remain; those are the canes that will bear fruit the next year.

Blackberries propagate themselves via roots and tip rooting, so forgetting to cut them back at the end of a season can yield catastrophic results, once the plants are mature: the classic blackberry tangle/thicket/mess!

Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9

Jill @ Lilliworm
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Location: Pennsylvania

Yes, I want organized plants. I'm a huge organization fan, so no thicket mess for me. I'll be cutting them to the ground!



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