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Planting Blackberries Everything you need to know to start a blackberry crop From "Fresh From the Orchard" episode DFFO-102

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Blackberries are fairly drought tolerant once they are established, but they produce the best berries when they have a steady supply of moisture. Sufficient water is especially important right before harvest. Typically, blackberries should be watered once or twice a week during summer droughts.

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Figure K

A drip irrigation system works well with blackberries (figure K). It puts the water right at the roots of the plants, where the water is needed. It also keeps the blackberry foliage dry. This reduces the chances of disease, since wet foliage encourages disease formation and spread.

Cultivation

You can cultivate the area around the base of the plants to keep weeds at bay. Cultivating between rows of berries also gets rid of any canes that shoot up from the roots, in areas where you don't want them. Blackberries are shallow rooted, so don't cultivate more than 1" or 2" deep.

Removal of Extra "Nuisance" Canes

Erect blackberries send up new canes from both their crowns and their roots. You will want to remove canes that pop up where you don't want them--for example, in the middle of a row.

Gardeners who plant especially vigorous erect blackberries in their landscape sometimes place a 1'-deep root barrier around the perimeter of the blackberries' bed, so that the roots don't spread out into the yard and send up runners where they are a nuisance.

Trailing and semierect varieties usually produce new canes only at their crown, so nuisance canes are not much of an issue with these types of blackberries.

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