First Blackberry Harvest

We planted Ouachita and Natchez blackberries (25 root cuttings each) from Womack Nursery in Spring 2017.   This is the first year we got a good harvest.  The thornless blackberries were easy to pick and we sold about 35 pints.  The blackberries were sweet/tart and made some amazing desserts.

Most blackberries fruit on floricanes (2nd year canes).  After they fruit you prune them and throw them away (to reduce the possibility of disease).  The first year canes (primocanes) should be tip pruned after they are about 3 feet high.  This will improve branching which can also increase yields.

We used T-Posts driven in pairs to make a "V" and then ran two galvanized wires along each side of the posts.  This makes it easy to keep the vines off the ground and harvest the fruit.