Blackberries

[Figgin' A]

Well, his advice then is almost as bad as the one I got in a NC nyrsery about fig trees not growing in PA.

I heard of haskaps long ago, while we were still in Russia, so i'm quite curious about them. It might be too late for this spring, perhaps I can try them next year.
Thanks!

Well, nurseries here still delliver them. I got my last two vareities in June IIRC. I would definitely advise getting them this year, as there will be no harvest this year, and very little next year, and the following year you will get a cup or two from one bush... then more and more the following years... It's painful to wait

 

[TorontoJoe]

Do any of you pinch off flowers in the early years after planting?

 

[Figgin' A]

I don't know that I've ever noticed waxwings around but it stands to reason they're here. I'll trust you on that and cover up. The blue jays and cardinals get all the attention it seems. I'll invest in some bird netting early....



Do you think something like the Surround WP could help with this? I'm itching to try this stuff on my cuc's... maybe It might work on the berries.... For larva anyways.... I doubt it would put the birds off.

Waxwings will show up once you have their favorite dinner in your backyard Here is a picture of the haskap farm I visited.... the entire field is under a huge net ...

Once the larva is there, I doubt it will help much... But I find that it's pretty effective at confusing bugs and preventing them from laying eggs on the leaves. I found it quite effective on cukes, preventing cucumber beatles getting on the leaves, it looked like it cofused them. I'd still get a few here and there, but it definitely helped control the numbers and i got no bacterial wilt while I was spraying... but man, that stuff gets on everythibg and having to constantly re-apply on new growth and after rain quickly became a PITA. It was also pretty effective a repelling Japanese beetles from my grapes. Kaolin clay is also very effective at controlling/preventing thrip and flea bettle damage on tomatoes and peppers. I still use it on my peppers. I don't know about berries, but it may helo mask them so birds won't find them... don't how easy it would be wash it all off themn berries... I am telling you, that stuff is so hard to get off my concrete sidewalk

 

[snarfing]

Do any of you pinch off flowers in the early years after planting?

Nah. Ime berry fruits and small fruited plants dont need this

 

[TorontoJoe]

Waxwings will show up once you have their favorite dinner in your backyard Here is a picture of the haskap farm I visited.... the entire field is under a huge net ...

Once the larva is there, I doubt it will help much... But I find that it's pretty effective at confusing bugs and preventing them from laying eggs on the leaves. I found it quite effective on cukes, preventing cucumber beatles getting on the leaves, it looked like it cofused them. I'd still get a few here and there, but it definitely helped control the numbers and i got no bacterial wilt while I was spraying... but man, that stuff gets on everythibg and having to constantly re-apply on new growth and after rain quickly became a PITA. It was also pretty effective a repelling Japanese beetles from my grapes. Kaolin clay is also very effective at controlling/preventing thrip and flea bettle damage on tomatoes and peppers. I still use it on my peppers. I don't know about berries, but it may helo mask them so birds won't find them... don't how easy it would be wash it all off themn berries... I am telling you, that stuff is so hard to get off my concrete sidewalk

it's been so bad recently that I'm good with that! Heck with the sidewalk! I cant eat sidewalks!

That may be the biggest net I've ever seen! Wow!

 

[Figgin' A]

Do any of you pinch off flowers in the early years after planting?

Never!!!

I got a handful of berries from several of my newly planted raspberry plants last summer... they were delightful! Waiting a whole year to try a new variety is painful to me, so I will take anything a plant will offer to me... and the plants look great this year. Huge!

My phylosophy is that if it can set fruit and ripen it, there is no harm in that...I see no point removing flowers from young plants. I never pinch off flowers from tomato or pepper seedlings before they get transplanted as many gardeners seem to do... I dont' understand why anyone'd want to do it.... it's definitely not a problme for me. I transplanted my tomatoes just a few days ago... check this out, would i see this if I pinched off the early flowers?

My peppers haven't been transplanted yet but some already have tiny peppers on them.... Peppers in late June here... awesome!

And dont' get me started on removing figlets from 1st year figs trees.... say, how can I refuse this generous offering from my newly rooted Cessac? It would be a figgiecide if i removed them

 

[TorontoJoe]

Never!!!

I got a handful of berries from several of my newly planted raspberry plants last summer... they were delightful! Waiting a whole year to try a new variety is painful to me, so I will take anything a plant will offer to me... and the plants look great this year. Huge!

My phylosophy is that if it can set fruit and ripen it, there is no harm in that...I see no point removing flowers from young plants. I never pinch off flowers from tomato or pepper seedlings before they get transplanted as many gardeners seem to do... I dont' understand why anyone'd want to do it.... it's definitely not a problme for me. I transplanted my tomatoes just a few days ago... check this out, would i see this if I pinched off the early flowers?

My peppers haven't been transplanted yet but some already have tiny peppers on them.... Peppers in late June here... awesome!

And dont' get me started on removing figlets from 1st year figs trees.... say, how can I refuse this generous offering from my newly rooted Cessac? It would be a figgiecide if i removed them

Very cool. I've never totally understood the "pinch tomato sucker" movement for instance. I tried it on some plants to assess... they were a train wreck.

My only conclusion is that Youtube is a bad place to seek growing advice.. Not like every video is wrong..... Some are outstanding! but there's so much conflict in processes with little to no insight on who's posting. It's not like someone here can't get something wrong. Of course, it happens...... but, on social media, content is protected based on how popular it is... not on how correct it may be.... And in those situations... who's keeping track of ... Mr, Ai?

 

[Figgin' A]

Very cool. I've never totally understood the "pinch tomato sucker" movement for instance. I tried it on some plants to assess... they were a train wreck.

My only conclusion is that Youtube is a bad place to seek growing advice.. Not like every video is wrong..... Some are outstanding! but there's so much conflict in processes with little to no insight on who's posting. It's not like someone here can't get something wrong. Of course, it happens...... but, on social media, content is protected based on how popular it is... not on how correct it may be.... And in those situations... who's keeping track of ... Mr, Ai?

IMO, YouTube is great for getting inspired. It helps me generate new ideas rather than blindly following someone. I like to explore and experiment a lot and stick with what works for me. My personal experience is my guide... Some may choose to follow someone else's experience, trusting their expertise... for whatever reason... they may lack time, skill, or desire to experiment on their own... if the results they get are good enough for them, that's all that matters, I suppose. Being correct can be quite relative... we do our gardening sometimes very differently from one another... what's correct while being a part of my process can be quite incorrect in someone else's...

 

[snarfing]

Very cool. I've never totally understood the "pinch tomato sucker" movement for instance. I tried it on some plants to assess... they were a train wreck.

My only conclusion is that Youtube is a bad place to seek growing advice.. Not like every video is wrong..... Some are outstanding! but there's so much conflict in processes with little to no insight on who's posting. It's not like someone here can't get something wrong. Of course, it happens...... but, on social media, content is protected based on how popular it is... not on how correct it may be.... And in those situations... who's keeping track of ... Mr, Ai?

Never!!!

I got a handful of berries from several of my newly planted raspberry plants last summer... they were delightful! Waiting a whole year to try a new variety is painful to me, so I will take anything a plant will offer to me... and the plants look great this year. Huge!

My phylosophy is that if it can set fruit and ripen it, there is no harm in that...I see no point removing flowers from young plants. I never pinch off flowers from tomato or pepper seedlings before they get transplanted as many gardeners seem to do... I dont' understand why anyone'd want to do it.... it's definitely not a problme for me. I transplanted my tomatoes just a few days ago... check this out, would i see this if I pinched off the early flowers?

I only remove fruit from large fruited trees where there is a serious risk of breaking the branch. Paw paw, apples, pears, peaches, so on. Cherries and mulberry stay

 

[Figgin' A]

I only remove fruit from large fruited trees where there is a serious risk of breaking the branch. Paw paw, apples, pears, peaches, so on. Cherries and mulberry stay

Ah, you are absolutely right. I forgot that scenario. I only have a couple of dwarf apple trees, but I also remove some fruit when branches are overloaded. I've read that thinning out blossoms on apples can help have a better production every year as opposed to heavy prodcution every other year and barely anything during the other years, but I haven't experimented with that yet. And I also don't touch my cherries.

 

[Figgin' A]

I also read that Blue Ray is really good in flavor. Im trying Sweetheart this year (northern and southern highbush hybrid), which supposed to have a unique feature of doing two harvests... (Although the later harvest might be a problem, given the SWD around here)

@Figgin' A , i was thinking about growing hascaps. But when I went to the nursery, the guy there said that blueberries are much more productive... That you can get the same amount of fruit from three blueberry bushes did you get from six haskaps. Has this been true for you?

Speaking about SWD, we have a significant problem with it here. I suspect that several early wild apple trees growing nearby attract them, and they easily spread to my backyard. Suffice to say, any strawberries, raspberries, or blackberries that ripen starting in the second half of August and until late September quickly become infested.

I started experimenting with insect netting two years ago, and last year I covered all of my vulnerable crops with it. It worked exceptionally well for me.

This is one of these products I use:

PE Material Fruit Tree Protective Net Bags with Zipper and Drawstring

 

[FigLab]

Never!!!

I got a handful of berries from several of my newly planted raspberry plants last summer... they were delightful! Waiting a whole year to try a new variety is painful to me, so I will take anything a plant will offer to me... and the plants look great this year. Huge!

My phylosophy is that if it can set fruit and ripen it, there is no harm in that...I see no point removing flowers from young plants. I never pinch off flowers from tomato or pepper seedlings before they get transplanted as many gardeners seem to do... I dont' understand why anyone'd want to do it.... it's definitely not a problme for me. I transplanted my tomatoes just a few days ago... check this out, would i see this if I pinched off the early flowers?

My peppers haven't been transplanted yet but some already have tiny peppers on them.... Peppers in late June here... awesome!

And dont' get me started on removing figlets from 1st year figs trees.... say, how can I refuse this generous offering from my newly rooted Cessac? It would be a figgiecide if i removed them

Man, you are KIllING me!!

At that same nursery they told me to pinch off all the flowers on my blueberry bushes. The bushes were small, but they were loaded with flowers and even beginning berries. I only kept one cluster on each plant, so I could try them for flavor.

AgggRR. Im not going to shop there anymore.

 

[FigLab]

Speaking about SWD, we have a significant problem with it here. I suspect that several early wild apple trees growing nearby attract them, and they easily spread to my backyard. Suffice to say, any strawberries, raspberries, or blackberries that ripen starting in the second half of August and until late September quickly become infested.

I started experimenting with insect netting two years ago, and last year I covered all of my vulnerable crops with it. It worked exceptionally well for me.

This is one of these products I use:

PE Material Fruit Tree Protective Net Bags with Zipper and Drawstring

That net looks good. The one I ordered from Amazon had such strong plastic that it heated and cooked plants more than anything else.

Your berry bushes are loaded! WOW. Whatever magic dust you have, I hope it rubs off on me by association

 

[Figgin' A]

Man, you are KIllING me!!

At that same nursery they told me to pinch off all the flowers on my blueberry bushes. The bushes were small, but they were loaded with flowers and even beginning berries. I only kept one cluster on each plant, so I could try them for flavor.

AgggRR. Im not going to shop there anymore.

There is a real possibility that I don’t know what I am talking about… so keep that in mind too

 

[Figgin' A]

That net looks good. The one I ordered from Amazon had such strong plastic that it heated and cooked plants more than anything else.

Your berry bushes are loaded! WOW. Whatever magic dust you have, I hope it rubs off on me by association

That’s Heritage. It’s been very productive from early on. The berries can be a bit crumbly, but as the bush matured its roots, it got much better. I also thin it out more, I think it helps too. And the berries looks larger.

 

[FigLab]

There is a real possibility that I don’t know what ob talking about… so keep that in mind too

The plants in your pictures tell a very different story

Though i really i appreciate it that you share your challenges, not just your successes. I can definitely relate to the feeling when I tried something on my plants and "they all croaked nearly immediately, within minutes."

 

[Poplee]

Here is a old blueberry I plan on picking in the morning. Lost the tag and can't remember what it is. It's about 6.5 ft. tall. Birds have already hit it because I have blue poop stains on my truck hood.

 

[Higueras]

OK... reading the link I now have the same questions about the giant finger-berry monster! It doesn't say

Also... and everyone please share your opinion on this...... with something like a berry... when they offer smaller plants cheaper and larger plants more expensive... Given the growth habits of this sort of plant... is a small plant really going to mature and deliver any differently than one a bit bigger?

They don’t seem to grow as fast as figs so maybe worth buying a bigger plant IME

 

[pjmac]

That sucks.... To me, it's one of the most delicous berries in existence...

Added gooseberries and jostaberries this year

 

[pjmac]

Meeker raspberry is loading up with fruit