If you are interested in having dewberries, you would do better to purchase bare-root blackberry plants in January and plant them then.  You will get a higher yield and the canes are upright instead of extending along the ground, which makes the berries easier to pick.  Also, there are thornless varieties, so you don't tear up your hands picking the berries.

That said, if you want to get plants from your existing dewberry plant, the best method is to layer the growing canes, wait until they develop roots, then cut them from the mother plant.  Layering is putting the cane on the ground, covering a six-inch length of it with dirt, and leaving a gap, then covering another six-inch length with dirt, until you run out of cane.  The time to rooting varies but you should start checking after a month to six weeks for roots.

Starting a dewberry from seed is possible, but it will be three years before it starts bearing, so I would try the layering method.  Freezing seeds can lower their ability to germinate.  Some seeds must be cold stratified, or kept cold for a certain amount of time, before they germinate, but we recommend refrigerating seeds to do that.  I do not believe dewberries require cold stratification.  Plant the seeds twice as deep as the seeds are long in a seed tray in seed starting mix.  When the seedlings outgrow the seed tray, place them in a pot or in the ground.  You can plant them in the fall in the ground or leave them in a pot for a year or two and plant them in the ground.  When you transplant them, they will probably not have many dewberries that year.

To take a root cutting, take a sharp spade and drive it into the root so that each piece has a cane or two on it.  Plant the cuttings immediately.  Make sure the spade is sharp, so it cuts instead of mashes.

Stephanie

Most dewberries are a tangle of brambles, with some on the ground and some upright but mostly horizontal.  What you may have is not a wild dewberry but a hybrid blackberry that has grown without any attention for several years.  If it is a hybrid, your seeds will not breed true, so you may want to give that up.

Layering
This is best done in the spring when the canes are growing.  Choose new canes that are actively growing and are healthy.  Lay the cane on the ground and cover it with about two inches of dirt on those stretches you cover.  You will probably have to fasten the cane to the ground at the end to keep it from springing up and scattering the dirt.

Root Cutting
Think of root cutting like dividing bulbs.  You want to do it in the fall when new plants have the best chance to settle in.  Cut enough of the root off to have a couple of canes with leaves on them on the root cutting.  This is so the cane can produce the nutrients it needs to grow.  Without leaves, the cane has to live on its stores and may not make it through the winter.

Stephanie

Stephanie,