A 90 year old friend, told me to dig all the blackberries I wanted...
I planted 100' of trellis 2 years ago, they are huge plants and have 50+ suckers I'm making more rows.

I know the feeling. We have a huge tangled mess right now. I need to get back at it.

I've trimmed about half of them, then the monsoon started...

Can anyone recommend the sweetest variety (for the north)?

SusieQ wrote: ↑Fri Jan 10, 2020 6:24 pm Can anyone recommend the sweetest variety (for the north)?

How far north? You may be about the same as here. I've got Triple Crown and positioned between 4b and 5a. Really sweet at their peak but hard to get there. They would be fine during the winters when we are 5a but not 4b. Only took a couple nights around -20ºF last winter to kill them to a foot above ground. Most still produced floricanes but ended with less than 10% normal harvest. Word around here is to mulch high and grow them as bushes instead of vines. We've had 1ºF for low so farf this winter and most leaves are still green. Fingers crossed that most of those 15' primocanes will survive whatever winter remains.

Martin

Edit: 15' primocanes, not 15". They need tall and long trellising.

SusieQ wrote: ↑Fri Jan 10, 2020 6:24 pm Can anyone recommend the sweetest variety (for the north)?

It depends from year to year... They could be a great year or just mediocre next.

Paquebot wrote: ↑Fri Jan 10, 2020 7:24 pm

SusieQ wrote: ↑Fri Jan 10, 2020 6:24 pm Can anyone recommend the sweetest variety (for the north)?

How far north? You may be about the same as here. I've got Triple Crown and positioned between 4b and 5a. Really sweet at their peak but hard to get there. They would be fine during the winters when we are 5a but not 4b. Only took a couple nights around -20ºF last winter to kill them to a foot above ground. Most still produced floricanes but ended with less than 10% normal harvest. Word around here is to mulch high and grow them as bushes instead of vines. We've had 1ºF for low so farf this winter and most leaves are still green. Fingers crossed that most of those 15" primocanes will survive whatever winter remains.

Martin

Great info - thanks. Every now and again we get down to -30 F, but a typical winter hovers between -10 F and -20 F. (Kinda frosty. )

In southeast Nebraska mine are Arapahoe and are sweet and huge every year for the past five years. Not nearly as cold as yours but still fairly cold.

All thornless that I know of shows Zone 5 as coldest. That's why it is a roll of dice as to winter hardiness. Roots will always survive but the primocanes will die back. If we have a Zone 5 winter, I've got lots of friends chomping to be allowed a day to pick. If it's a Zone 4 winter, they are mulched a foot deep with whole oak leaves and pine needles. Floricanes will develop from the surviving section and give us plenty to snack on from the 8 vines. Being tip-rooters, easy to propagate. I've got about 20 transplanted in a "nursery" area now for friends in another forum. To be safe, they are also under a pile of oak leaves. I'd be nervous about sending them into the cold half of Zone 5.

Martin

The head of berry research at the University of Illinois pioneered a unique way of growing them on a hinged fence. In winter, the fence folds down against the ground, and row covers are applied. He said the canes live through the winter and produce berries 30 days faster. The fence can be angled back like a solar cell when blooming. When the berries are ready to pick, angling the fence forward makes the fruit hang down and be extra easy to pick.

My stepdads berry patch has been a dud for two years in a row. They are not thornless. They seem to be getting some sort of fruit fly that bites the berry and turns them to mush.

SusieQ wrote: ↑Fri Jan 10, 2020 6:24 pm Can anyone recommend the sweetest variety (for the north)?

Loch Ness
Asterina - somewhat sweet even when not fully ripe
Navaho

Cole_Robbie wrote: ↑Sat Jan 11, 2020 12:12 pm They seem to be getting some sort of fruit fly that bites the berry and turns them to mush.

I bet it's the spotted wing drosophila. Wreaks havoc on production. It has been found in South Carolina, but I pray it doesn't find my berries.

https://www.clemson.edu/public/regulato ... s/swd.html

Greenvillian wrote: ↑Sat Jan 11, 2020 2:27 pm

Cole_Robbie wrote: ↑Sat Jan 11, 2020 12:12 pm They seem to be getting some sort of fruit fly that bites the berry and turns them to mush.

I bet it's the spotted wing drosophila. Wreaks havoc on production. It has been found in South Carolina, but I pray it doesn't find my berries.

https://www.clemson.edu/public/regulato ... s/swd.html

I think my research a few years ago came to the same conclusion, that name sounds familiar. Malathion would be the standard chemical solution, I'd guess. I don't know what else would be effective as a less toxic treatment.

We picked a couple of gallons of TripleCrown today.

Best year we have had on Blackberries. Picked about 6 gallons so far & they need picked again now.

wildcat62 wrote: ↑Thu Jul 09, 2020 6:08 pm IMG_5457.JPG
We picked a couple of gallons of TripleCrown today.

Beautiful berries and hello from a newbie around here also from the Bluegrass State!

Whatever kind you plant, you might find that more sun equals more flavor. Ours were shaded by trees until we got the trees removed, and they've been super tasty ever since! I still liked them before, but the extra sun was a massive improvement.

Triple Crowns are expensive to buy as most places are $10 and up plus shipping. If anyone wants 7 or 8, they can be had for exact cost of postage. I have 15 rooted tips in water right now and too nice to throw away. Seven have already gone to Colorado for the cost of a medium Priority Mail box. Important thing is only Zone 6 and below.

Martin

Very interesting that everything said about thornless cultivated blackberries is exactly true for the thorny wild ones I have here. Extra sunshine makes all the difference. Otherwise, they will make scrawny berries, later and fewer. They are tip rooters and since I don't train or bother them this is what they do, creep along and root every foot or so. I guess that allows them to survive winter as well.
If these could be trained on a fence I'm sure they would keep everything out! So thorny.
Those Triple Crowns are enormous! Beautiful

Paquebot wrote: ↑Thu Oct 01, 2020 8:34 pm Triple Crowns are expensive to buy as most places are $10 and up plus shipping. If anyone wants 7 or 8, they can be had for exact cost of postage. I have 15 rooted tips in water right now and too nice to throw away. Seven have already gone to Colorado for the cost of a medium Priority Mail box. Important thing is only Zone 6 and below.

Martin

I received the seven that Martin sent and they were well rooted tips. I would agree that if you have the space and location, it is a good deal.