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Blackberry - Prima vs Floracanes #875939

Asked July 04, 2024, 2:37 PM EDT

Hello I have 2 Blackberries in different areas of my yard. One is a SweetiePie blackberry. It produced over 700 berries last year from July-Sep. I was worried in late May of this year as I only had 1 cane total - a Floracane (full of flowers) [BLUE arrow in pic #1] but no new Primacanes. By May, my other thornless Blackberry (variety unknown) already had a single new primacane over 5’ tall. Then I was relieved in early June that finally 3 new Primacanes started growing [PINK arrows in pic #1] and are now 4-5' tall in 1 month. I was surprised though that today (July 4) I just noticed that 1 of the new primacanes has blooms. It is the one circled in BLUE in pic #2 and ORANGE arrow in pic #3 (pictured from behind). Notice that this cane is growing out of my one Floracane up 3-4 inches from the base. Would you say that since it was not growing from the base but instead from a few inches up on the 1 Floracane that it is actually just another branch on my one Floracane - and that is why it is flowering and will eventualy bear fruit this season unlike the other 2 Primacanes that will likely just grown and overwinter to bear fruit next year? I was assuming that new Blackberry Primacanes would be a little more distinct/apart from the base (you know how Raspberry new growth is often several inches away (through rhizomes/roots) from the base. Do you think 1-2 Primacanes is normal for a 3-4 year old blackberry? Still learning .... Thanks for your advice.

Baltimore County Maryland

Expert Response

Hi, it looks like two primocanes emerged from the crown. The other can appears to be a lateral that emerged from the floricane. If numerous laterals emerge higher up from the base, you may want to prune out the one circled in blue because it is aimed toward the house, will be shaded, and may not produce high-quality fruit.

Blackberry plants usually produce more than 1-2 healthy primocanes. A low number could be a varietal characteristic or may be caused by crowding, limited sunshine, soil infertility and other factors.
Jon 

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