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Gary350
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Joined: Mon Mar 23, 2009 1:59 pm
Location: TN. 50 years of gardening experience.

Has anyone here done Blackberry cuttings?

I dug up 2 blackberry plants from the other house & moved them to the new house only 1 lived. This is too slow it will take 5 years to get 10 gallons of berries. Cuttings are easy to root in spring but I have never tried it in fall I wonder if I am wasting my time. If I root 100 cuttings in spring 90 will grow. If I can get 50 cuttings rooted now I could plant them in April and have a huge crop of berries in 2 years.

Has anyone here done black berry cuttings?

PaulF
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Joined: Tue Nov 09, 2010 5:34 pm
Location: Brownville, Ne

That is a lot of blackberries. Two years ago I dug up six shoots from one patch of thornless blackberries and transplanted to another spot in the garden. This summer they produced like crazy...more like three gallons of berries. They were transplanted in the fall. They were watered in well and kept watered until the ground froze. A thick layer of straw mulch helped winterize them and it was a success. I have never tried cuttings; mine were dug up runners.

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Gary350
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Joined: Mon Mar 23, 2009 1:59 pm
Location: TN. 50 years of gardening experience.

If you cut the canes 8" long then dip them in a pan of water mixed with rooting powder they do very well. Put about 20 to 25 canes in a 2 gallon pot with 50%/50% organic material and soil keep them outside in the shade in 75 degree weather and water them all summer. Soon as they sprout roots they grow tops too. When the tops are about 8" tall dump the pots and separate the plants. You can plant these in rows or a patch but they need shade in hot summer weather other wise transplant each plant to its own pot. If you plant them in the hot sun they die so you need to hang tarps between trees or on poles to shade the plants. If you live in a different geographical location where it does not get 100 degrees for 2 months the plants might do good in full sun.

I am thinking I can root these cuttings inside the house where it is warm by the time they have roots and tops it will be Christmas or January. Maybe I can separate the plants then transplant directly to the soil. That might be a big shock to the plants 75 degree temperature inside to 20+ degrees at night & 40 during the day outside. My plants are wild TN Cumberland Berries they are as large as a quarter with very few seeds. I have been growing these for 40 years.

The past 15 years I experimented with several thornless blackberries they grow like watermelon vines all over the yard. I do not want 40 foot long vines, I cut them all down. It is too much work to build a fence for vines to grow on plus I don't want to tie vines up all the times. I use to have a 6'x25' berry patch I got 10 gallons of berries in 3 weeks. Blackberries are an interesting plant if I pick every day to make sure ALL berries are picked they make berries until frost in November. If I miss just 1 berry that tells the plant to stop making berries. I usually get tired of picking by Oct and quit. First crop is big after that it is 1 gallon per week if I pick for 8 more weeks I get about 8 more gallons.

Is anyone growing thornless that is not vines that makes large berries with few seeds?



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