Blackberries
- Thread starter TorontoJoe
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Figgin' A
Well-known member
I grow 6 haskap vareities and we all enjoy them mostly fresh. They have a very pleasant sweet and tart flavor profile. If you let them ripen until they start to drop on their own, they become quite sweet. Could be the variety too. They can have different flavor profiles. For me, though, one of the biggest reasons I love them is their tartness. They are like blueberries only with a much richer flavor and added tartness. I am not a huge fan of blueberries.... I like wild blueberries, they have a good flavor, but I miss tartness. I suppose it depends on your taste. I love some tartness in my frit and berries, which is why I will always pick minneolas over oranges and like eating my figs together with raspberries, sour cherries or strawberries.
Figgin' A
Well-known member
I tried to respond on my phone by the layout was all messed up. I didn't realize that got posted LOLChe?
Figgerlickinggood
Well-known member
Looks like it makes great tasting jam, jelly, cordialHow about this one?
Rubus 'Columbia Giant'
Columbia Giant Blackberry, Columbia Giant Thornless Blackberry
https://bambooplants.ca/product/columbia-giant-blackberry-thornless/
TorontoJoe
Administrator
All good. No matter how much the mobile experience is improved, there's no substitute to a computer. I keep a laptop as close as I can whenever possible
Figgin' A
Well-known member
I've never tasted saskatoon berries, but I've read that they differ from blueberries quite a lot. Blueberries are closer to haskaps in flavor profile, thogh haskaps have a much more intense flavor and more acdity.
I had several blueberry varieties but ditched all but one... my family preferes haskaps by a mile... I left Northland, just so I have one.... it grows very well for me, very cold hard with barely any or none tip damage in our winters unprotected and a prolific producer. I hear mature bushes can give 15-20 lbs at peak productivity.
FigLab
Well-known member
Very helpful discussion. This is my first year of getting berries. I also chose Heritage as the first raspberry to try, as well as Prime Ark and Chester blackberries, Gooseberries, Canadian black currants (Whistler and Thasis), and Sea Berries (those have a lot of tartness, @Figgin' A !)It was one of those things you see everywhere.... here, I found a picture for you.... I got mine from a small nursery by the highway near St Catharines, but I see these pots everywhere... HD, Rona, CT, etc. even Loblaws...
Interestingly, and that's something I did not know at the time, the raspberries in the picture look like black caps,
which is synonymous to black raspberries, but what I am growing looks like this:
Still, these are fantastic. We love them, and I already propagated more and will likely add another bush one this season, unless all those that I am evaluating this year wow me...
But I did add a couple of black cap varieties last year. These are also floricanes. Haven't tasted them yet, but they look great this year, and I hope to get a good harvest...
The question i have is about raspberries and blackberries growth habits. I was going to install T-posts with wires for support. But it looks like you are using tomato cages for individual plants. Are those easier to manage and/or better for the bushes?
Also, I received my Heritage plants bare root, and planted them... But only two of them have sprouted leaves and new shoots. The rest of them still look like dead sticks, even though when I make a cut and a scratch, there is nice green cambium and inside the cane looks healthy. Is that a normal thing for some of the heritage plants to not wake up as quickly?... It's been close to two months now.
Thanks!
BNaula1
Well-known member
They’re more cold hardy than other plants / trees so they should’ve woken up. How is your soil? Berries love acidic soil and thrive in it, also a bit of organic fertilizer in the planting hole usually gets them up and running. Maybe sprinkle some around the dormant plant? And I say organic because it won’t burn the roots like synthetics would
BNaula1
Well-known member
I use T-posts and make a Florida weave for my blackberries / raspberries. It’s easier for me to handle and gives them airflow underneath, I also tie the longer vines to them to hold the heavy crop up
For blueberries I use tomato cages because they are a lot smaller than the others. It’s not really necessary I believe but I use the tomato cages to keep the berries up and not touch the soil / water.
FigLab
Well-known member
Thank you!They’re more cold hardy than other plants / trees so they should’ve woken up. How is your soil? Berries love acidic soil and thrive in it, also a bit of organic fertilizer in the planting hole usually gets them up and running. Maybe sprinkle some around the dormant plant? And I say organic because it won’t burn the roots like synthetics would
Ive planted them via bottomless bag method, to elevate from our clay PA soil and improve drainage. Good soil (Bar Harbor, coast of maine, plus a little bit off espoma berry tone) - all the same conditions as for those plants that did wake up. And like I said, the stems still scratch green. I'm wondering if I should dig them up and look at the roots, but I don't want to disturb them in case if they have started below.
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FigLab
Well-known member
I'll have to learn what a Florida weave is.I use T-posts and make a Florida weave for my blackberries / raspberries. It’s easier for me to handle and gives them airflow underneath, I also tie the longer vines to them to hold the heavy crop up
For blueberries I use tomato cages because they are a lot smaller than the others. It’s not really necessary I believe but I use the tomato cages to keep the berries up and not touch the soil / water.
And I think i'm gonna do tomato cages for my blueberries too. That's a great idea
BNaula1
Well-known member
If you already have them planted I probably wouldn’t disturb them at this point by digging up. You can be generous with the berry tone
that’s what I use and I put about 2 handfuls on my established ones every spring and about a handful in planting hole for new ones. I have clay soil aswell, I amended my planting holes with pine bark fines, peat moss and perlite mixed with native soil. But this is all what I do haha you can take bits and pieces of advice from everyone, see what works for you
BNaula1
Well-known member
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Figgin' A
Well-known member
Getting berries is GOOD!!! Lots of berries is VERY GOOD!!!! Tartness in berries is GOOD!!!
I am constantly adding more, and I love the variety of berries we already have. Some berries are worth growing, some aren't. Raspberries may not seem like they are worth growing, you can find them everywhere, but once you get into it, you realize how bad commercial raspberries taste, especially from certain countries, not gonna name names... It's frowned upon here...
... big, gorgeous, perfectly shaped, but tasteless... not to mention always expensive... yet so super easy to grow in the backyard... gooseberries and black currants are fantastic... I grew up eating those fresh every summer... good luck finding them anywhere here... but I digress...About growing raspberries in containers... I grow about 80% of my crops in containers. That's not necessarily by choice, since my backyard is mostly paved, but I do find growing berries in containers quite convenient. My Texas Tomato Cages are 6 feet and can be extended to 8'. Some of my floricanes can grow 10-12 feet long... my Triple Crown blackberry grew insanely long canes last summer... So what I do is I sort of coil them around the cage as they grow... Then pinch at a certain height... and the following year they send out lots of laterals that fill out those cages. These plants look really nice by end of June, very full and neat... and very tall... vertical gardening... a great space-saving method... allows you to stuff more plants into the sunniest spots, too... harvesting is super easy too... and if I don't like a variety, and I culled quite a few over the past years, getting rid of potted ones is super easy, but not so much when they in the ground... my wife won't let me put raspberries in the ground anyway, as they look messy to her and spread like wildfire. In our old house, we had raspberries spread from the neighboring backyard, and they were everywhere.... I mean EVERYWHERE.... showing up as far as 10-15 feet away from the fence... in containers, they stay confined to one spot, look very neat and seem very productive there. If I had a choice and were to start over again, I'd most likely put them in containers.
If your Heritage plant is not waking up while the other two leafed out... it's not a good sign. I had that happen to one of the plants I received two years ago... it just sat in the pot for two months, then dried out... I asked for a replacement, and the nursery promptly shipped me a new one. I can't recall which variety it was, though... speaking about plants like that... My philosophy is that if a plant is not growing well from the start, especially when you can clearly see its siblings outperforming it... it's not worth growing. Most of the time, even if they pull through, they will be underperforming, or getting sick easily... I'd rather get another, healthy one... the initial cost is nothing compared to all the care you will have to put into it...
superdave336
Well-known member
Recently found out it’s illegal to grow gooseberries here in NC.
Figgin' A
Well-known member
I love berry tone, and that's what I use on my berries... well, sort of... I use holly tone instead, which is identical to berry tone... Berry tone is only sold in smaller bags, and it's way overpriced compared to holly tone, which you can have 27lbs for 18 bucks on sale at HD now.... the best I've seen for berry tone is 12 bucks for 4lbs.If you already have them planted I probably wouldn’t disturb them at this point by digging up. You can be generous with the berry tone
I have clay soil aswell, I amended my planting holes with pine bark fines, peat moss and perlite mixed with native soil. But this is all what I do haha you can take bits and pieces of advice from everyone, see what works for you
TorontoJoe
Administrator
There are two called Blueray and Bluecrop that sound very good! Both Northern HighbushAlso being in Toronto I would say look into northern highbush and half-high type blueberries. Those do best in our colder climate since we don’t have to worry about heatwaves and humidity
Figgin' A
Well-known member
That sucks.... To me, it's one of the most delicous berries in existence...
TorontoJoe
Administrator
Getting berries is GOOD!!! Lots of berries is VERY GOOD!!!! Tartness in berries is GOOD!!!
I am constantly adding more, and I love the variety of berries we already have. Some berries are worth growing, some aren't. Raspberries may not seem like they are worth growing, you can find them everywhere, but once you get into it, you realize how bad commercial raspberries taste, especially from certain countries, not gonna name names... It's frowned upon here...
About growing raspberries in containers... I grow about 80% of my crops in containers. That's not necessarily by choice, since my backyard is mostly paved, but I do find growing berries in containers quite convenient. My Texas Tomato Cages are 6 feet and can be extended to 8'. Some of my floricanes can grow 10-12 feet long... my Triple Crown blackberry grew insanely long canes last summer... So what I do is I sort of coil them around the cage as they grow... Then pinch at a certain height... and the following year they send out lots of laterals that fill out those cages. These plants look really nice by end of June, very full and neat... and very tall... vertical gardening... a great space-saving method... allows you to stuff more plants into the sunniest spots, too... harvesting is super easy too... and if I don't like a variety, and I culled quite a few over the past years, getting rid of potted ones is super easy, but not so much when they in the ground... my wife won't let me put raspberries in the ground anyway, as they look messy to her and spread like wildfire. In our old house, we had raspberries spread from the neighboring backyard, and they were everywhere.... I mean EVERYWHERE.... showing up as far as 10-15 feet away from the fence... in containers, they stay confined to one spot, look very neat and seem very productive there. If I had a choice and were to start over again, I'd most likely put them in containers.
If your Heritage plant is not waking up while the other two leafed out... it's not a good sign. I had that happen to one of the plants I received two years ago... it just sat in the pot for two months, then dried out... I asked for a replacement, and the nursery promptly shipped me a new one. I can't recall which variety it was, though... speaking about plants like that... My philosophy is that if a plant is not growing well from the start, especially when you can clearly see its siblings outperforming it... it's not worth growing. Most of the time, even if they pull through, they will be underperforming, or getting sick easily... I'd rather get another, healthy one... the initial cost is nothing compared to all the care you will have to put into it...
Woah! You can grow these berries in pots? I’d have thought the way the roots shoot out that they’d become root bound very quickly. Are these huge containers and do you have to prune the roots frequently? From the little I know about berries they’re heavy feeders and need a lot of space… I guess I’m going to need to rethink that
Figgin' A
Well-known member
Here are my new black cap raspberries in 6' Texas Tomato Cages that I planted last June, I believe, or late May... I need to go grab my garden gloves and spread out the canes more evenly... too thorny to do with bare hands... but already look very good, even though they will be much fuller in a month... I hear that black caps are some of the healthiest raspberry varieties, not to mention that they are sweeter, richer, and have a more complex flavor compared to their red brethren. I would look into trying at least one of these too...
