Blackberry Pruning Demonstration

In this video, Dr. John Strang explains the proper method of pruning for the various different forms of Blackberries. For more information on this topic, contact your county Extension office.

[@DocSnipes]

this is the best video I have watched on blackberries. I was very hesitant to aggressively prune until I watched.

[@micheallemitchener9840]

Thank you so much, this was a great video. I love seeing it in REAL LIFE instead of drawings. Also really appreciate the close-up shots, could even use more.

[@robinmiller4568]

I am just getting started with these berries and found this site extremely information. Looking forward to more videos.

[@robertmccaffrey4708]

Thanks excellent information and helpful. I have 2 of the 3 types mentioned.

[@JerrTheHooman]

So helpful! I just moved into a house and there are blackberries stalks and I wanted to figure out how to take care of them instead of just letting them die

[@zeegee2483]

Excellent video. Exactly what I was looking for. Thank you so much for all the detail.

[@estebancarrasco8086]

Hola esos son Navajo? Yo dejaría 2 o 3 cañas aun los veo muy enmarañados 😢

[@uklars]

Very helpful. Thanks.

[@activede23]

Thankz for sharing, ingat po kau

[@harold6084]

Dr. Strang: I have Kiowa brand blackberries I planted in the fall of 15. As they are growing very well I see two different types of growth one is as most of the others, a few appear to have smaller size leaves (same shape), with mega buds on them while the majority of the others appear to be "normal" from what I have seen of blackberries. There is no way to upload pics of them on this site or I would. Any ideas if anything is wrong or is this natural? Thanks, HF

[@jamesbinns8528]

Thank you.

[@radharcanna]

A great demonstration. Why don’t you cut the very long canes that are bending downwards? Will the fruit not just drag them down? Or perhaps you’re going to tie them to the wire?

[@mogges1]

I have navaho thornless blackberries.and I put these in back in April this yr.2013.now falls here and I'm wantng to know how do I winterize them.this is my first yr of grown Navahos and dnt know squat.these are 3 yr old transplants.I have one that shot a cain straight up 3 feet in 2 mth.I live n north central tx.

[@everettedl]

I discovered a thicket of blackberries growing around my shed and they've already started to flower. I think they're an erect variety. Is it too late to prune and thin them out?

[@michaelsoltesz3779]

I am legitimately interested in this man's demonstration...but every time he says "erect" I keep giggling. Too much caffeine this morning! 😝

[@AR-ov9gj]

My Triple Crown Semi Erect Blackberries have primo canes that are very long and the canes are very large in circumference. If I cut them to 5 ft tall and cut the side branches to 16", at this point in March, will they still fruit? Scared to prune so heavily. Thanks.

[@boysrus61]

Did you ever get an answer to this question? It is now September and I am wondering if I should cut my laterals to 18 inches now... Do you know?

[@426superbee4]

Mine i don't use a trellis. i have no post or wire enough thing, they stand up on there own, some will bend over a little bit, just there nature to do so

[@rbbiefah]

That hand pruner is neither a by pass nor a anvil pruner . It is like a wire cutter . Is that so you seal the cuts to exude fungal spores ? Where did you get it and what is that type of pruner called

[@426superbee4]

I have no luck with the thornless black berry they always die here, but the thorn ones i can't kill em, I have 2 kinda one a AR. wild one is a heavy producer about 1 1/2" and the kiowa 3" berries

[@bowler8]

Arent you supposed to cut the upright thornless canes to 3ft?

[@426superbee4]

How i prune mine is take a tractor raise the mower 1' 1/2 to 2' and mow them down. I can't kill them, they come right back to 7' tall again. I even take cutting and drip in Rooting Hormone and plant, or dig them up, and cut the runner off. and plant them for more plants for transplanting.

[@6996katmom]

How long does it take to have a bunch of canes per hill? Mine are 4 years old, 1 died, 1 has 2 canes and another has 4 canes. When they produce this spring, I have to cut all of them down.

[@FrankEdavidson]

I assume all these canes are new canes from last season and that fruiting canes were removed?

[@FrankEdavidson]

OK that was answered 4:40. All my new growth canes are just long and straight with no laterals. I thought last year if I cut the fruiting ones down to the ground and then dressed the then new growth onto the framework they would grow laterals and fruit. Can't remember if they did as I forgot to tie marker ribbons on.

[@maxdecphoenix]

@@FrankEdavidson blackberries canes don't put on a lot of laterals by themselves. Left to themselves they'll grow as tall as they can and fall over, put out a lateral (which becomes another vertical cane that flops over itself). They kinda do this to spread out and increase their chance of survival through air-layering where they contact the ground. But, the laterals are a response to damage, historically this would have been when a bison or deer ate the cane or trampled it. With the apical bud damaged or removed, the hormone that the apical structure is producing to inhibit the growth of lateral buds (which would steal resources away from it's desired trend of growing as tall as possible) ceases inhibiting them and the laterals bud out, each producing their own hormones to inhibit the budding of lateral buds closer to the ground which would compete with *them*. Agriculture manages that damage. Instead of a ruminant chewing/breaking off the tip haphazardly, the farmer comes in with some clean secutures and makes a clean cut the plant can easily survive. To the plant, how the damage happens is irrelevant, it just responds chemically. And instead of letting them grow vertically and flopping over aimlessly, they're constrained by some trellis structure.

[@sku32956]

so how many years does a cane last?

[@71carol]

From what I understood... it lasts 2 years. First year it just grows and the second year it gives fruit. Then it dies and it must be removed to prevent disease. I imagine that the summer pruning must be done on the first year of a cane to stimularte branching. I just planted mine. I'm just gathering information :D...

[@maxdecphoenix]

71carol That's essentially exactly right.

[@maenabors2971]

I have some thronless blackberrys,but they are not sweet,are there anything I can do to make them sweeter?

[@madishradish]

If it's in the shade, that might be the problem, sun concentrates the sugar in the fruit. Also you could be picking them unripe, wait until they are "bleeding" on the touch. Just my opinion, I'm no expert :)

[@Adrian-cw8yu]

I dont see many side shoots, they bare the most fruit

[@joemug4079]

I don’t quite get it. The 2nd year canes fruit. You cut out the first year canes to promote growth...which is also the following years fruiters.

[@FrankEdavidson]

They fruit on last year's new canes. At the end of the season cut fruiting canes back.

[@maxdecphoenix]

it's 2020, so presume i germinated a seed, it would have started growing in spring. That cane (a prima-cane) is a vegetative stalk. That's ALL it will do all year. Typically you want to tip it somewhere around 3-4 feet, to promote the growth of laterals. Come winter, that cane will lignify and undergo some chemical processes to convert itself to a flora-cane. And in the late-winter/early-spring of 2021, that cane will produce flowers, and later fruit. Simultaneously to producing fruit, 1-7 new prima-canes will emerge from the root zone (depending on vigor/health). After the flora-canes have borne fruit, they will die, rapidly. Those canes may be taken out entirely, and you're left with just 2021s prima-canes. These canes are then tipped as well, again to induce lateral budding, and later still in the year, those laterals are trimmed back. At this point, some of those prima-canes can be removed entirely to avoid stressing the plant with a high-fruit load the following spring. In the winter of 2021, the prima-canes you left lignify and convert to flora-canes. in the spring of 2022, they produce flowers and later fruit. New Prima-canes emerge, and the flora-canes die, and the cycle just keeps going on and on and on until the plant dies. There are some blackberries that will convert to flora-canes right after summer, produce a meager crop in the fall, and then a larger crop the following spring (like typical varieties do). But i seriously doubt you'll get your hands on those without spending $$$.

[@boysrus61]

@@maxdecphoenix I have cut back all my flowering growth from this 2020 crop and now I am wondering if it is too early to cut the laterals to 18 inches (It is Labor Day) Some of them are getting really long. I don't know what kind of blackberries we have as they were already here when we bought the house. My crop this year was better than last year's as I figured out a little bit how to take care of them. Now I want to do a better job for 2021. Thanks for your input.

[@maxdecphoenix]

@@boysrus61 'flowering growth' as in literal, white flowers? Or do you possibly mean 'vegetative'?

[@maxdecphoenix]

@@boysrus61 or are you talking about canes which bore fruit back in march-may?