Hi. I have a mixture of blackberries planted in a corner area of my back-yard, and each year I only get maybe 5/20 canes that produce berries. Why is this? Note that these are all plants that are between 5-10 years old. The canes that come up all look good, but just don't produce berries! Thx Bob P.S. I have a thread about a raspberry problem I am having in the 'pests and diseases' section. Should that be here, in this section, instead?
Do you prune them at all? The only thing I can think of is that blackberries are biennial, the canes grow one year and produce berries the next, so if you do prune, you might be taking off the canes that would produce. Of course, this is my first year dealing with blackberries (I recently planted a Navaho thornless ), so I don't know what all can go on with em ^_^ I also got this fron wikipedia (Blackberry): Maybe something like not enough pollenation, or virus? Sorry I cant be of more help
Hi. Yes, I do prune (and say each year that I have to prune and thin more..... but I hate to cut down 'good' canes! ) But I only prune out (cut at base) those canes which are basically 2 years old, whether they produce berries or not. These canes are usually dead looking, brownish, and these are the ones I cut off and throw away/burn. Bob
I don't understand..... culling? Don't blackberries produce berries on 2 year old canes? In other words, the canes that come up this year should produce berries next year? Same as raspberries?
Are you waiting until they show leaf growth before you prune out canes? Or maybe the soil is just depleted of nutrients if they have been grown in the same area for a long time. Brambles are heavy feeders. You could feed them with a food made for roses since they are in the same family.
