# Blackberry cuttings



## Jerry1 (Jun 13, 2012)

Due to the drought last year I lost 43 blackberry vines. Could not get enough water to them and the heat was almost unbearable. I really think the heat got them and not the lack of moisture. Due to the cost of repurchasing that many vines I have to learn about cuttings. The wife would kill me if I bought that many plants at one time. All of the info I have found tells me to collect the cuttings when the plants go dormant. Doesn't say anything about primacane or floricane cuttings. Which one do I cut? You'd think it would be intuitive to use the primacane as it will be viable through the winter months and then be the floricane. No where have I been able to find that statement. I have always removed the last cane to fruit per instructions. Is this a viable cane after fruiting? Is it suitable for cuttings? I'm going to have a few of them this winter and can probably get back about 20 or so of the vines if they can be used. I almost got wiped out. Advice is greatly appreciated and solicited. jer


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## BobF (Jun 13, 2012)

There's a guy in TN that roots primocane cuttings when he tip prunes. When I got ready to tip prune mine this year, I got his advice. Basically, after hours of searching for info online, there is zero discussion about doing this. The guy claims nearly 100% rooting success.

Mine haven't been stuck long enough to know if they're taking or not, but the cost is really low to try rooting something you're going to prune off anyway.

Remove leaves/stems from 2 nodes. Stick into 50/50 sand/peat. Remove all but a small leaf at the tip. Keep moist out of direct sun.

2-4 weeks is the time for rooting.

http://www.winepress.us/forums/inde...opagation/page__hl__blackberry__fromsearch__1 is the link to the topic.

Sorry for the reference to another forum, but Wade is the blackberry guru!


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## Jerry1 (Jun 13, 2012)

*Prima or flora cane*

Bob, thanks for the link, most informative. Only problem it still didn't answer whether to use primacane or if you can use floracane after it has done it's due. I've never left the canes on after gathering the fruit so I don't know what the cane does in the third year. 1st year...primecane 2nd year floracane 3rd year...?????. Do they just fall off? Are they good for taking cuttings? I would think nurseries would use primacane for cuttings as they aren't interested in gathering fruit In your case you used prima cane tips. I don't have any primacanes as yet. Everything is just sterting to come up good. Just trying to find out what to do so I can get ready for it.


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## Deezil (Jun 13, 2012)

Blackberries are pretty "weedy" by nature.. Theres a few ways you could propagate them...

If you can get the growing-tips of your current canes, to touch the ground - they'll root right there.. Then when they have good roots, cut them from the main plant (leaving the starts about 1ft tall) & start the main plant back up straight then take your new start and plant it where you need it.

If that doesnt fancy your style.. Get some Rootone - depending on your variety, because some are more "weedy" than others, you might not need it but its always a safe bet... From what i've seen, you want 4-6" long cutting with 3-4 nodes on them... Cut the cane right below the lowest node - make sure you're holding the cutting the right way - and dip the lower two nodes into rooting hormone and bury them beneath soil. Since the cuttings dont have roots, you have to keep their environment about 75-80% humidity because they'll be drawing water through their leaves to stay alive until they establish roots... Some sort of clear hard plastic covering will keep the moisture in but still let light in.

Also, variety-depending, you can wait for the "runners"... The little canes that come up 1-3ft from the main clusters.. If you have a spreading variety like that - some just stay as plants, in little mounds, and dont spread into "patches"... But those runners are perfect for relocation to help the roots recover through the soil


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## Deezil (Jun 13, 2012)

You want primocanes - the green ones.... They're the canes with the most life
Floracanes are only coming back to life the 2nd year to bear fruit then they're dead & need to be cut out to keep down on disease


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## TJsBasement (Jun 13, 2012)

A book I have around here also shows wrapping plastic around a ball of dirt/moss right around a stem, keep the dirt damp and you dont have to do any cutting until after the roots form. I read this so I have no real world experience with it.


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## BobF (Jun 13, 2012)

There are several reliable methods mentioned here. Which method you use depends in large part on the basic type your blackberries. If they're an upright variety, layering isn't practical but air rooting, cane cuttings and root cuttings will work.

If you have a trailing or semi-trailing variety, air rooting isn't practical, but layering and root cuttings should work really well.

There are differences in quantity also. Primocane tips from pruning uprights can yield more than one start from each cane. Root cuttings can yield large numbers of starts. Air rooting will yield one start per cane.

It all comes down to the variety you're working with and which of the methods appropriate for that variety you are most comfortable with.

Here's a link with some info:
http://www.gardeningknowhow.com/fruit-gardening/propagating-blackberries-cuttings.htm


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## Jerry1 (Jun 13, 2012)

*Cut the primocane*

I got it. Use nothing but the primocane tip cuttings. Going to take a couple of years to get back to where I was, but it's still going to be fun watching these things grow. Thanks all. jer


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## WildBill (Jun 14, 2012)

It is amazing how much TLC some places need to grow something like black berries. I cant get them to go away. I have a full 1/4 acre of them. This year I am pulling them out with the excavator. After a fortune in sprays, they always come back..........


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## Jerry1 (Jun 14, 2012)

*Blackberries*

Yeah, I use to live in Federal Way. Friend of mine had about 1/2 acre of vines. He finally quit trying to kill them and went into the control mode. Was much more successful. I would go over and gather berries of course. I have a son over in Port Orchard that is fighting with them. Told him to forget it or buy a front loader and figure out how to sift the top soil. Might get rid of them that way.


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## Deezil (Jun 14, 2012)

Jerry1 said:


> Yeah, I use to live in Federal Way. Friend of mine had about 1/2 acre of vines. He finally quit trying to kill them and went into the control mode. Was much more successful. I would go over and gather berries of course. I have a son over in Port Orchard that is fighting with them. Told him to forget it or buy a front loader and figure out how to sift the top soil. Might get rid of them that way.



Find the spots early in the year where the healthiest canes come shooting right out of the ground.. I can only assume you're talking about the Himalayan blackberries that have taken over almost everything... Anywho, when you find those healthy canes that grow straight up & like 4ft in no-time.... Thats where the "Big" roots are... grab those canes by the base, and put your body in it.. If you get a root thats about a foot-long, you did good...

Then spray the rest, but get those big roots out of there early so they dont have all year to feed on them... A bit more work, but its more effective...

The only thing that sucks about Himalayan blackberries, is that even if you cut the cane down... You cant just throw it in the compost bin because it'll start to grow - i've read stories where guys were clear-cutting a patch & left the cut-out canes to hang dry in their barn for 2-3 years so they didnt root when they tried to toss them out


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## BobF (Jun 14, 2012)

There's difference between growing wild blackberries and cultivated varieties. I'm covered up with wild berries, there are two problems; thorns and irrigation. Around here there is seldom enough moisture to get a good crop. They start out good, but dry up before the bulk of the berries are ripe.

Cultivated varieties can be thornless, have better flavor/berry size, and are growing where you put them - where they can be properly cared for through a successful harvest.

The down side is that they aren't always as well adapted to the soil and climate as the wild varieties. That's the reason they can be more work.

Here, the extra work is mostly up front during establishment in the first and to a lesser extent, the second year.

It's a labor of love.


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