Fall Bearing Blackberries

10 years ago

I'm enjoying fall blackberries with the Prime Ark 45 blackberries that I planted last year. They started fruiting at the end of August and they are about 50% complete although there are a number of canes still blooming. They could produce berries for another 30 days but we usually have our first frost about mid-October. I'm going to cover them up and see how long I can keep the fruit going.

Since the Prime Ark's produce early on the floricanes and late on the primocanes, it really extends my fresh berry season. At $4.00 per half pint for fresh blackberries this time of year, I finally feel like I'm recovering some of my investment. I'm getting a half pint every other day.

I'm thinking about adding a second variety of primocane fruiting blackberries. Has anyone tried the "Black Magic" Blackberry sold by Gurney's?

This post was edited by jtburton on Sat, Oct 12, 13 at 21:00

Comments (2)

bob_z6
10 years ago
I'm getting some decent Prime Jan. They aren't anywhere near as good as the Triple Crown from around August 1st, but they are something. SWD is still here, though the spoiling process seems slower in the colder weather. Even so, they are pretty tart. I shared a few of the riper ones with my daughter today and she made a face at them (sour!!).

Next spring, I'll cut the PJ floricanes to the ground, to focus everything into the late fall crop. The summer crop just isn't worth it when there are better blackberries around.
jtburton
Original Author
10 years ago
I have had several rounds of pests this year. First it was birds, then stink bugs, and finally yellow jackets bees. I finally realized that if I removed the fruit they had started to eat, they would just start on another berry. I don't let the berries hang on there too long. My house is covered with the brown mamorated stink bugs but they don't seem to be interested in my blackberries.

My Prime Ark's started ripening in early July and were my most productive variety of blackberry, so I'm going to keep them producing twice a year for now. I have a bunch of new blackberry varieties ready to produce next year, so maybe I'll have a few to freeze.

My triple crown blackberries ripened in the middle of July and the birds just wouldn't leave them alone.They had a good, sweet flavor when I got to eat them. I'm going to do a better job of protecting them next year.

Next year I'm looking forward to my first full year of Ouachita. My Kiowas have doubled in size in their 2nd year and should produce well. I have a couple of marionberries that could produce a lot if I can protect them from the cold this winter. I have one marionberry plant with a cane that is 20ft long and still growing 1ft a week.... and a number of other trailing varieties that will need overwinter protection. I'm actually really excited to find out if I can overwinter them.