Thornless Blackberry Progress Report. 5.7.19

Blackberry Floricanes.  R is Triple Crown.  L is Arapaho.

New Primocane Growth for Prime Ark Freedom Blackberry.  5.7.19

The floricanes for blackberry Triple Crown ate growing rapidly and have flower buds.  Arapaho is less vigorous and behind Triple Crown in growth.

The floricanes of Prime Ark Freedom died this winter, somI have go depend on the new primocanes for berries.  That should not be a problem, since these are a primocane bearing variety.  However, Im not sire if spotted leaf drosophila will be an issue for the later berries.

Fall Chores. Collecting Tree Leaves for Mulch. Blackberry Maintenance. 11.17.18

 This is a good time to collect tree leaves from around the neighborhood, for mulch and for compost if there are enough leaves.

During 2018, the leaf mulches helped a lot.  They keep the soil more moist, prevent most weeks from growing, cool the soil, and add to humus and nutrients.  Last year's mulch is almost completely degraded, so needs replacing.

I already mulched around many of the fruit trees.  This time, I cleaned up the blackberry bed and mulched that.

This year, I pulled out all of the Cascade Star blackberries.  They didn't produce enough, and they are more trouble, compared to Prime Ark Freedom and Triple Crown.  I also pulled out the Ebony King - way to thorny, not as productive, and the berries are not as good as PAF and TC.

That left Prime Ark Freedom, Ebony King, and two one-year-old Arapaho.  I'm not that impressed with Arapaho, but giving them another chance.  I did move one out of the main blackberry bed, and replaced that with a Prime Ark Freedom that was crowding the other two of that variety.  I also pruned them to about 6 feet tall, pruned out all of this year's floricanes (canes that already bore fruit and are dying off), and pulled the few weeds that are present.

Then I mulched with about 9 inches of loose maple and sweet gum leaves.  Those will flatten to a couple of inches, over the winter.  I repaired the trellises, and that's about all.  Now they are ready for winter and for next year.

Blackberries: Comparing Three Cultivars in the Pacific Northwest.

Prime Ark Freedom.  Harvested 7.13.18

 These are my three mature, producing blackberry plants.  I planted them in 2016.  Each had a taste last year, but this year are producing bowls full every day.

Prime Ark Freedom.
The largest berries of the three.  Bush-like, highly vigorous canes.  This is the floricane crop - the primocanes will be this fall.  Some people complain about the seeds.  I don't mind them.  Some people think Columbia Star has better flavor.  I like Prime Ark Freedom better.  Producing for about 5 days now.  Totally thornless.

Columbia Star.  Harvested 7.13.18

Columbia Star.  Producing for about 2 weeks now.  These are a little smaller than the first ones.  They are not as juicy as Prime Ark Freedom.  They need to ripen until they are falling off the plant, to get best flavor and sweetness.   Totally thornless.











Ebony King.  This is a very old cultivar.  The berries are smaller and rounder than the other two.  Just started producing.  I think not as productive as the other two.  On some days, I think the flavor is better than the others.  Today I think PAF won that contest.  I think, fewer seeds.  The thorns can be annoying.

I also have one-year-old "Arapaho" and "Triple Crown".  The "Triple Crown" is the most vigorous of those two, although maybe not as vigorous as "Prime Ark Freedom.".  They have a few berries from their first-year floricanes, not ripe yet.  Arapaho looks pretty vigorous, very tall growing.

All of my blackberries are in fenced beds now.  Thorns are there for a reason, and deer and rabbits are quick to discover the joys of thornlessness.  I also have bird nets, although so far birds have not been a big problem.

Of the producing berries, here are my favorites.

Flavor:  (1) Prime Ark Freedom.  (2) Ebony King.  (3) Columbia Star.

Convenience.  (1) Prime Ark Freedom.  (2) Columbia Star.  (3). Ebony King (mainly due to thorns).

Productivity.  (1)  Prime Ark Freedom.  (2)  Columbia Star.  (3).  Ebony King.

Vigor.  (1)  Prime Ark Freedom.  (2).  Columbia Star.  (3).  Ebony King.

Seediness.  I can't tell much difference.  Maybe PAF is more seedy, but it doesn't bother me.

Hardiness.   Too early to say.  PAF may not tolerate the coldest winters, at least in its first year from tissue culture.  Last winter the primocanes overwintered without problems.

Disease and inset infestation:  No problem with any of these, so far, even in ground that was cleared of Himalayan Blackberries the year


Of the two newer plants, I am prepared to really love Triple Crown.  I've read many rave reviews of that cultivar.  It will have a few berries this year, but for a fair test, I should compare them to the others when the plants are more mature next year.  Ditto for Arapaho, which I bought hoping for extended season.  As of now, both Triple Crown and Arapaho will give me a taste on the florcanes that grew last year, but the primocanes that grew this year dwarf last year's growth.  Even so, PAF is more vigorous, so far, than either of those.
It's very nice being able to pick blackberries and eat them by the handfulls, while out doing gardening and chores.  Most do not make it back to the kitchen, regardless of the cultivar.

Ebony King.  Harvested 7.13.18

Blackberries trellised, penned, and ready for winter. 11.23.17

These are the main blackberry bed now.  I built the trellises using logs salvaged from fallen trees, last year, and bamboo poles from our stand of bamboo.   I like the rigid cross beams, instead of wire or string, because rather then pulling inward, they provide some strength.

There is also a small fig tree in the blackberry garden.  I thought that tree was killed last winter, and just hadn't gotten around to removing it yet.  Smith fig.  If it doesn't bear next year, I might remove it anyway.  That's 5 years with less than 1 fig per year, so far.  I think Smith needs a hotter summer.  The origin is Louisiana.

The deer fencing is a recurring theme here.  Not much I can do about that, unless someone gets a permit to harvest the deer.  Might not be possible or safe in a neighborhood, however rural, with children and other people around.

The blackberry garden is completed for winter and beyond.  All I can think of as needed now is dormant pruning, and provide a bird net, next summer.

Prime Ark Freedom seems to have no sense of season.  It's still blooming.  If there is no true dormancy, that doesn't seem good for winter.  However, survival was sufficient last winter to provide a taste.  They are excellent, delicious, sweet, huge berries.  Since we are going into this winter with bigger, more established plants, they might survive better than they did last winter.

This is my first try with Arapaho and Triple Crown.  If Prime Ark Freedom isn't suitable, maybe they will be.

Kitchen Garden. 6.11.17

Tomato Plants.  6.10.17

Today I planted the 4th batch, probably final batch, of sweet corn seeds.  The variety was Bodaceous, which I bought last fall at Fred Meyer on close out.  I don't think I will try to keep sweet corn seeds any more, they are less able to remain viable with time.  Still, one year old should be OK.

Bodaceous is a yellow sweet corn, SE type (sugary enhanced) - not the supersweet type, but remains sweet longer on the plant - matures in about 75 days, has improved disease resistance, and is well adapted to the Northwest.  Since I'm not planning to save the seeds another year, I planted the entire packet in 4 rows, and will thin to a foot apart if germination turns out to be good.

I noted that a blackberry plant - Arapaho - had purple leaves.  Researching that, it appears to be caused by phosphorus deficiency.  I will need to find a supplement for that.  In some cases, I read that plants with deficient magnesium in the soil, are not able to take up phosphorus.  Since I know from soil test that my soil is magnesium, and probably not phosphorus, deficient, I will apply some Epsom Salts, 2 tablespoons per 2 gallons of water, for more of my kitchen garden plants.  When I did that for Saijo Persimmon, the result was dark green leaves, instead of the usual pale green / yellow leaves.  So I think it helped.  I applied that amount of Epsom salts solution for the tomatoes, peppers, sweet corn, and chestnut tree saplings, then ran out.  That kind of gets away from the concept of phosphorus deficiency, but phosphate was normal to high in my soil.  Other side of yard, but that I what I have to go on for the time being.

I don't know if I blogged on this - I added another horticultural blackberry, Triple Crown.  My readings pointed me to this variety, tetraploid - as is Prime Ark Freedom but I don't know about Ebony King.  Triple Crown is described as disease resistant, highly productive, and a delicious fruit that works well in Pacific NW.  I bought the plant at a local nursery, already green and growing; bare-rooted it carefully, removed planting compost, and planted in the native soil of my garden.  I protected from deer and rabbits, with chicken wire.

I read that primocanes should have the growing tip removed, with both primocane-bearing and  floricane-bearing, varieties of blackberry, at around 3 feet tall.  My brambles are young, and only two have primocanes that tall, so I tipped them.  Tipping means the growing tip is snapped off by bending.  That promotes growth of branches, resulting in much higher yield and stronger plants.