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successive ripening blackberry varieties?

Posted by lsoh (My Page) on
Tue, Oct 29, 13 at 13:08

After reading reports on blackberry varieties on this forum, I'm interested in the following blackberry / hybrid varieties based on reports of flavor. (I live in zone 5, but they will be grown in pots and overwintered inside.) I'm just a backyard gardener growing for fresh eating, so I'm looking for successive ripening. After researching, I'm guessing that the varieties I'm considering ripen in the following order:

Wyeberry
Siskiyou, Boysenberry (pretty much at the same time?)
Newberry (aka ruby boysenberry), black diamond, osage (pretty much same time?)
Triple Crown
Navaho

Can anyone correct or confirm any portion of the ripening order listed above?

I prefer fruit that is delicious fresh with only a little sugar at most. Am I missing a potential variety that is sweet enough on it's own? Any other suggestions regarding the varieties on the list?

Any ideas where to get wyeberry? After speaking with them several times, it sounds like edible landscaping has dropped them.

Thanks.


Follow-Up Postings:

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RE: successive ripening blackberry varieties?

I was one of the last people to obtain a wyeberry, and it may not survive my winter. If it does I will consider root tipping some in the future. I think you may want to add a primocane blackberry. They produce a fall crop on primocanes. Giving you late season berries. Much like fall bearing raspberries. Btw my raspberries are still fruiting abet slowly with the cold weather.


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RE: successive ripening blackberry varieties?

Blackberries as a group are not commonly perceived as sweet fruit when eaten fresh, but rather a complex flavor and usually on the tart side. So either you enjoy the berry flavor, or else add sugar in varying amounts. Consider using stevia powder instead of sugar. The Triple Crown will likely be the sweetest berry of your selected varieties.

A month is a long time for any one blackberry varietal to be of prime quality; with the exception of adding the primocane-fruiting variety, you might get a two-month harvest period out of the bunch. Loganberry is quite early, but is more raspberry-like.


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RE: successive ripening blackberry varieties?

Since your using pots, I assume you are more interested in thornless. If not, a food successive group is as follows: Arapaho - early to mid June; Chicashaw - Mid June; Cherokee - Late June; Navaho - Early July; Black Satin - Mid July; Apache or Triple Crown - Late July to Early Aug; Black Magic - Two times, June and September


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RE: successive ripening blackberry varieties?

Isoh,

I have been growing all of the varieties you mentioned except for Wyeberry. I started all of the trailing varieties in pots and overwintered most of them last year. If you want maximum production though, you are going to need a very large pot - 30 gallon to have much production. Triple Crown blackberry plants are huge, so I would maybe think twice about trying to grow that one in a pot.

Most of my trailing blackberries ripened around the same time (mid-June), based on my climate and the fact that they were indoors for a couple of weeks during the coldest part of the winter. Osage is new but supposed to ripen in mid-July, earlier in southern climates. Triple Crown and Navaho were in late-July through mid-August.

I would second Drew51's suggestion on primocane-fruiting blackberries. My Prime Ark 45's ripen in Late-June/ Early-July and after September 1st to the first freeze, although they seem to be still producing berries after several freezes somehow. Black Magic is another variety worth considering. If you want just the Fall crop, you could keep only a primocane crop and cut them down each season. You wouldn't have to grow them in pots this way.

I'm moved most of my trailing blackberries into ground earlier this year and they grew easily twice the size. I'm going to try covering them this winter to see if I can keep them going.


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RE: successive ripening blackberry varieties?

Isoh:

Pense Nursery in AR might have wye berry plants. Their webpage has a heading for tayberries, but the description that follows is definitely for wyeberries. Since I'd like to find some, as well, I sent them an e-mail for clarification. I'll be happy to let you know what I find out.

Since you're going to grow in pots (I'll be doing the same next year), I'm also curious about how you plan to train the trailing varieties. I recall a photo that fruitnut shared a while back in which he'd wound them in circles. That seemed to work well, but I've also been thinking about putting one of my homemade remesh tomato cages in a pot and winding them around that.


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RE: successive ripening blackberry varieties?

Thanks all, for sharing your ideas.

shazaam,
Please share what you here from Pense.

I've been growing triple crown blackberries in pots for 2 years and a boysenberry for 1. I've been using a rectangular frame made out of pvc pipe. I'm using 14 gallon rubbermaid rough totes with holes drilled in the bottom. The frame consists of one vertical piece of pvc pipe in each corner, maybe 4' tall?. Then a horizontal square of pvc pipes ties them together at the top. Looks sort of like a box kite. This works. But it's less than ideal with the new canes growing while the old canes are fruiting. I'm thinking that the next one will still be 4 vertical posts, but each post in the MIDDLE of a pot's side. Then create a horizontal cross of pvc pipe to tie them together at the top. Then, similar to fruitnut's approach, wrap one year's canes in a hoop using only 2 opposing verticle pipes. That leaves the other 2 pipes free for the next year's vines.

Seems like the issue to address is managing new canes versus old. Please share the ideas you come up with.


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RE: successive ripening blackberry varieties?

Unfortunately, Pense only has tayberries -- no wyeberries. Apparently, demand is so low that the lab (tissue culture, I suppose?) that supplies them no longer provides Wyeberry starts.


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RE: successive ripening blackberry varieties?

shazaam,
Thanks

Drew51,
You may have cornered the market on wyeberries. I hope you are thinking of going into business.


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RE: successive ripening blackberry varieties?

If I sold them, it would take all the fun out of it. As long as it makes it through this winter (it is a small plant, I begged edible landscapes for it anyway, they didn't want to send such a small plant), I'll offer some plants for others for sure next year, if another nursery doesn't offer them. Ironic as nobody has Kiwi Gold raspberry either, and I got one of the last one of those too! Great raspberry! Wyeberry, not sure how great it is really? But just not to let it disappear, I will propagate it.


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