#SWEETIE PIE BLACKBERRY BUSH CARE PDF#

This new cultivar was developed from crosses among heat tolerant and rosette disease reistant parents. Creighton Gupton (USDAARS) and developed and released by Dr. Feed in late winter/early spring when the plants are starting to grow, and again right after you harvest your berries in summer.ĥ. Interpretive Summary: 'Sweetie Pie' is a thornless, erect blackberry originally selected by Dr. Nitrogen is the only fertilizer you need for healthy, productive blackberry plants. Only one ingredient needed for feeding blackberries. (Best production generally happens years 3-8, but blackberries can live up to 15 years!)Ĥ. While some berries, like blueberries, can take 3-4 years to produce, blackberries only take a year to start offering their sweet berries. While soils that are sandy and rich in organic matter (think compost, manure, peat) are best, blackberries can usually adjust to most soils that are at least a foot deep, drain well, and have a pH range of 4.5 to 7.5.ģ. Blackberries are adaptable to soil types. With many fruits and berries, you need to buy an extra plant to cross pollinate your chosen berry in order to get an adequate fruit production not so with blackberries.Ģ.

Blackberries don’t need a cross-pollinator.

#SWEETIE PIE BLACKBERRY BUSH CARE PDF#

(See PDF here from Aggie-Horticulture-TAMU for more about pruning, recommended varieties (most of which we tend to carry at Rainbow Gardens), propagating, and trellising, plus much more.)ġ. I should mention mine are planted outdoors and are irrigated, I am using the cloth style soaker hoses on a timer, currently getting 25 minutes. Those canes will not produce again so don’t worry that you are cutting them.īlackberries produce their berries most heavily in mid-summer, so depending on the variety of blackberry, you’ll likely be pruning in June or July. Then there is the Sweetie Pies, each plant (grown from plugs) seem to have more canes growing out (in all directions) than the U of Arkansas varieties, but the chutes are only 12-24 inches long. Illustration here.Įach year after your blackberry canes have produced berries and immediately after you’ve completed your harvest you’ll need to prune those canes (called floricanes) all the way down to the ground. Clip the tops of new prima canes about chest high. It’s when the new canes (called prima canes) have grown to about 36”-48” that you’ll want to cut the tops of new canes in order to increase productivity by encouraging side branching. You generally don’t need to prune blackberries the first year. It’s not complicated though, so take a look. Timing of pruning and how you do it is key. Besides giving your blackberries ample water, pruning is a top priority for successful production of blackberries.

Sweetie pie blackberry bush care