How to Propagate Blackberries with a Machete (IN SECONDS) the Super Easy Way

It's super easy to grow all the blackberry plants you'll ever need. Here's how to propagate blackberries the easy way.
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Today we take a look at the thornless blackberries in the Grocery Row Garden and how we propagate them. Blackberry propagation is really easy through tip-layering. Tip-layering blackberries just means burying blackberry canes in the ground to make them root. Rooting blackberries only takes a few seconds to get started, and then you just come back and dig up the plants later!

[@TheLaLaFarm]

Short, sweet and too the point - chalked this one up in the "What I learned today" column. Thanks.

[@mariasandoval4960]

Thank you so much-needed information I'm 75 year old woman and still learning from caring people like you God bless

[@Logiwonk]

David, I really appreciate your no-nonsense, low-tech approach to quality food production. You're the opposite of a gatekeeper, I think you make gardening more accessible than most KZbin gardening teachers. Thank you for your work.

[@CBiscuit420]

Plus keep in mind that he writes books but gives away the knowledge on here. A real man of the people's.

[@c.j.rogers2422]

Another tip: don't rely on the local home improvement store, or even your local nursery, to necessarily sell the appropriate varieties for your region. I've watched for decades nurseries in Central Fla sell otherwise excellent varieties that have little chance of success in our climate. Growers often get a beautiful, healthy plants, but little to no fruit. It's about chill hours as much as it is planting zones, and how the flowering cycle lines up with your weather patterns. Many of those great Arkansas varieties, while great up there, leave local CF growers disappointed, but they keep on selling them. This even more true for blueberries.

[@FloridaGirl-]

Wow you are spot on about that. And it goes for alot of plants down here! I did get a couple blackberry plants that are doing great here at the moment. The tag said, “assorted blackberry”. 🤦‍♀️ I took a chance. They are doing GREAT so far, full of flowers. But have NO CLUE on what kind . 🤣 FL is bad for this! And selling plants not zoned for here.

[@Jeff-rd6hb]

Sage advice. 👍 If you want a bountiful harvest you should grow things that thrive in your area. I prefer to make friends with my neighbors & local farmers where I can get plenty of free cuttings & starts of varieties that are proven to grow well here. This goes both ways though. I always propagate extra stuff from my property, then give plants away or trade with family, friends, coworkers.

[@brandiwatkins208]

There is a huge blueberry farm in Tavares and their berries are amazing and plentiful.. that is central Florida, growing no problem.

[@dr.goodtrouble6389]

Right on! This is sooo true in Northern CA, what with all its microclimates. I’m in the Sacramento Valley (Zone 9B), same as parts of CF but, there’s a hell of a difference between dry heat and wet heat when it comes to gardening!

[@freakygeak]

I've just used a tent peg to hold the stem to the ground to get roots, works just as well

[@c.j.rogers2422]

Ground staple, as used to pin down landscape fabric, works great and is cheap.

[@Lvaladez114]

I just walked out and put the tip in a pot of dirt I had extra. My blackberries are in a container. 👏 😁

[@nancyfahey7518]

Mom used to rough up the dirt, with her finger, and take a bobby pin out of her hair and jab it in the dirt holding down the branch.

[@thisorthat7626]

@Nancy Fahey, perfect. I think I have some bobby pins from my mom that I can use. Thanks for the tip.

[@WilliamComiskey]

I bought 2 Triple Crown blackberries in fall 2020. Before they went dormant, I had three. In 2021, I let the 3 strongest primocanes on each grow to about 4 ft and cut off the tips to encourage lateral growth. One, I cut a 6 inch segment and stuck it in a pot, and before it went dormant it had roots and a rooted side shoot. I helped all the other primocanes and their side shoots find soil and most of them formed roots. Most of those have started producing their own canes so I cut them off from the mother plant. A few need a little longer. I believe I'm up to about 30 plants after one full growing season

[@heatherk8931]

Yup, cut and pot up. This season is looking way better than last year. Thornless

[@WilliamComiskey]

Yeah, the triple crown is thornless. It made some pretty decent sized berries last year. I also have a thorny variety called Kiowa that's supposed to be the largest blackberry, so I'm looking forward to seeing what that does this year

[@jeanniewahine5443]

Love your no nonsense approach (and your humor, of course)!

[@c.j.rogers2422]

Here's a helpful hint that works well if you plan to move those new plants. Instead of burying the cane ends in the ground, stick in a pot of good, rich soil. Once well rooted and ready to move, cut the cane from the mother and carry away. You may want to put a barrier under the pot so those aggressive roots don't grow through the drain holes into the ground.

[@WilderDust]

Brilliant idea!

[@davidthegood]

That is a great idea!

[@Jeff-rd6hb]

I've done this with various plants before...either bury ends or layer branches in pots. Once the kids are established, cut them loose from the mother plant.

[@FLChattycat]

Love your music. 🎶 🎵

[@dryfastingclub]

genius

[@davidthegood]

Thanks for watching! I could have made this a 20-second video but I had to be artistic. Check out my book Free Plants for Everyone here: amzn.to/3yekuNt Start making those free plants the easy way! I've done this again and again with blackberries and it works like a charm.

[@MushroomMagpie]

Does this work with raspberries as well?

[@davidthegood]

@Uncle Charlie Probably won't finish it this year.

[@davidthegood]

@@MushroomMagpie Yes - it works on raspberries.

[@stephenrossington1706]

Hi, just signed up to your channel. I loved the bee video and the pumpkin mounds video!! I have a question about Blueberries. How do you propogate them? I have 3 types in large pots but havent any idea how to get new plants? I have put 1 of them into the ground from the pot it was in. For the 1st couple of weeks it looked like itd die, but now a month on its picking up again. I just really want to know how to get more plants? Thanks in advance Steve from Europe

[@gidget8717]

I felt so sorry for your wife, trying to feed cows from 5 gallon buckets. The woman needs a couple of pails. The cows will be happier and so would anyone who is feeding them. 😆

[@rachelhall4808]

Holy moly I made a live one!

[@jameskniskern2261]

I gave away over 300 thornless blackberry plants to community members here this spring. At $10 each that would be.... $3000 given away. Because I'm just that generous. I want everyone who can to grow their own food.

[@strong_voice_of_truth]

With the potential for hard times coming, it's a smart idea. The better off everyone is the less need to defend what you have.

[@jameskniskern2261]

@@strong_voice_of_truth I don't know about where you are, but around these parts, there are always hard times for folks.

[@FloridaGirl-]

James, that’s awesome ! 👍

[@strong_voice_of_truth]

@@jameskniskern2261 us- Ohio.

[@lukelints9776]

I buried a whole raspberry vine, it was nice because I could predict where it was going to grow and it grew in a straight conveniant line!

[@Dom10Sage5]

Awe I just loved the start of the video.🥰 Those are some happy spoiled cattle. I Had to trim feet and vaccinate my dexter heifer and my miniature zebu bull yesterday. Have to wait to set up our chute before we can get the angus cattle done. Til then, I'll be in the garden. Also, just had my 4th book written by you, deliver today(Push the Zone. I already have grocery row gardening, compost everything, and grow or die) very excited to really dive in this evening. Love your books. Fun and informative.

[@davidthegood]

Thank you. We are just learning cows - how is your Dexter doing?

[@vonries]

I went ahead and stripped the bark back out on hormone and put the middle of the vine under ground. with the tip of the plant still above ground. It rewarded me with about a dozen plants coming up all over the area.

[@deecooper1567]

That is a Weird way to propagate 😊. I thought I lost my last blackberry due to weather but it returned & I’m going to keep this in mind. Thanks David 👵🏻👩‍🌾❣️

[@JPBennett]

I got a strain of Blackberries that grows native here in Oklahoma, and have them growing along the back fence. Gonna use this to get them propagating quicker. Thanks!

[@zachlloyd9392]

I alos live in OK, what variety did you plant? All mine are the Arkansas thornless varieties.

[@JPBennett]

@@zachlloyd9392 No clue what the variety is, just discovered that someone I knew had them growing as weeds in their yard. These have small thorns, but I don't mind that too much along the back fence. I just like the idea of using plants that naturally flourish here.

[@zachlloyd9392]

@@JPBennett Agree completely. I am looking at native plants to mix in with others as a safety net of sorts.

[@luckychicav7981]

Hello David. I bought a thornless last year for $8, only got it because when I looked at this one gallon pot, I could see the potential for up to 5 plants. I only decided to make 3. But still, 3 for the price of one. Good to know, I can easily make more your way. Thank you!😉❤️

[@davidthegood]

Great work!

[@charlessutton5400]

Best video yet. You ought to come homestead the 37 acres across the road from me. Chambers County Alabama needs you.

[@skippydugan6848]

Dude, stop playing that song!! Every time I hear it I can't get it out of my head for two days. I have 3 BlackBerry plants now but it looks like I might have 6 next year thanks to you. 😁

[@PiedmontFoodForest-kz9fi]

I used this same approach to multiply my sweet potatoes. Cucurbits (squashes, melons, etc.) do the same thing. Basically ANY vining or caning plant. Go on, go out to your garden right and try it!

[@bereal2493]

How funny i was out working on my BlackBerry last night!

[@tracy4dj8]

How about I just print 10 dollars and BOOM! Lol. Love it. Thank you so much for sharing!

[@carlprice64]

This time of year its dew berries. Dew berries grow closer to the ground. Black berries grow in June and July and are taller usually around 3 ft tall...

[@ZE308AC]

Barry the tip of a blackberry to create a new blackberry plant. Thank for such valuable information on growing more food

[@sandrak.7279]

We pay $44 for a blackberry plant here NJ 🤯😧 So glad I can get more plants from the single one I purchased.

[@leeannparker6626]

I always love your videos! Thanks for the unique information and songs!

[@homesteadingatkookergehoft8131]

I've been known to use long kitchen/BBQ tongs to pick the dewberries that are hard to get.

[@chancevicino3270]

I love you. I hope I get to follow a similar path which calls out to me over the next ten to twenty years. I doubt it but either way I'm happy I had such wonderful influences to make the transition from city life so clear once reality clicked for me a couple years ago. I have some good genetics in the perennials I carry and they aren't all perfect for the now Missouri climate I reside in. I've given a lot away during my time in Texas but the abundance never ceases to amaze me. I need to get better at identifying natives in this region and have many projects to cement my credibility in the off-grid lifestyle I've taken up. My favorite t-shirt to this day is one of yours and I'm grateful for everything you've done and produce. That music channel/playlist is fantastic. Freak-freak, compost your enemies. Matt Powers has really clarified* himself as an ally recently and the ice age farmer as well as yourself are all behemoth role* models. Thank you.

[@davidthegood]

Thank you.

[@newtboot7855]

Those cows are so cute. And I will use this propagation tactic for my raspberry’s

[@johnkings2030]

Awesome this is what I needed! I've been wanting to learn how to plant and grow blackberries with success!

[@yx6889]

LOL, quite enjoyed the brief music video! Very catchy lyrics.

[@cheritait8116]

Looking a little castro-like because of the green hat. Like that simple method of propagating on the go. It took only seconds to start another plant, no muss-no fuss.

[@FreeAmerican-mm2my]

Thornless are great. I am in North Alabama. Ours grow from the roots. We started with 2, then 3, then 5, then 16. I guess that is enough. I have given some to friends too.

[@GoodTimesHomestead]

Wow you said you would put out a blackberry video and you did.

[@joshuavazquez5534]

As always great video David!

[@skinnyWHITEgoyim]

I have blackberries surrounding my property line. Just sucks getting through all those weeds to pick em. I'm gonna try this to get more in my growing in my growing areas to avoid the weeds...

[@atclermont]

Great Information as always!

[@ifyouloveChristyouwillobeyhim]

After my first couple years picking I started to almost love the feeling of dewberry scratches all over my arms. The memory of my first time discovering enoguh to fill two gallons in an hour, all growing wild for me and sis to pick, was such a sweet memory that I just get filled with uncontainable joy every spring when I go out to pick dewberries. I don't know when's the next time I will find another patch so fertile though, since the city public workers sprayed the patch with death juice and killed it all instantly.

[@ifyouloveChristyouwillobeyhim]

I'm not sadistic I just can't be bothered by the pain when the thought of four big blackberry pies is on my mind. XD

[@patientlywaiting9030]

I did that the other day after I read your book!

[@loves2spin2]

That's amazing! Thank you!

[@patientlywaiting9030]

Love it!

[@8507582]

Excellent!! Thank you David!!

[@marycampbell4160]

Thank you so kindly that is so easy!

[@wemcal]

Great video

[@e.t.preppin7084]

Can’t believe I picked this video but it’s so amazing and then you sang at the end and I realized I recently subbed and am currently reading your book minimalist gardening and was looking up your book free food and it dawned on me who you were. What’s crazy is I hate reading but I am really into your writing. Thanks.

[@davidthegood]

Welcome - and thank you.

[@e.t.preppin7084]

@@davidthegoodawesome you read comments. I said I heard it through the sweet potato vine. Now I’m totally failing on producing my slips from last year so I paid dearly for 6 on Amazon and they were all crap but one. I’m a little panicked because I grow sweet potatoes as my number one food to last me till next year’s harvest. I just don’t know what I’m doing wrong. BTW I’m totally food secured for quite a few years but I still want to look at this in real life as if I or my grown kids face this issue and depend on growing to live. Granted I’m a little old to be concerned but for their sake I still want to pass down to them how they can survive like you do. I’m so amazed at you and your wife’s journey and survival stories that I’m motivated at 60 years old to change my lifestyle. Drastically. Will I do it is left to be seen. I hope I do. Thanks for providing knowledge to everyone.

[@davidthegood]

Thank you. Good luck.

[@lauramccament1381]

LOVE IT !!!! Thank you !!!!!

[@LavenderSkyla]

Just watch one of your videos a month ago and now I have to watch them all. Good stuff

[@ColRubyDimplesManacha]

That's a very neat trick, thank you!

[@johnkings2030]

Awesome!

[@yourworldexplorer1]

Amazing. Thank you for all this valuable info.

[@samg.r.4387]

This is awesome!! Thank you!

[@TheMarkvq]

Awesome

[@spir5102]

Great info! I love that!

[@shykass8949]

David, can you please, please make the book Free plants for everyone available on audible? I love listening to your gardening books over and over again, they are gold!And I highly recommend that you keep narrating your books, you are an awesome narrator.

[@davidthegood]

Thank you. It takes a lot of work, so I haven't taken the time to do that one yet.

[@TheGarrisonHomestead]

Shout out to Arkansas

[@edwardautra8753]

Put that tech in my tool 🎁 for sure

[@Dr.JulieJames]

Thank you!

[@loue6563]

I loved the book “Free plants for Everyone”. So many great tips!

[@seedhound]

Lovely it's so easy. Thank you!

[@Carolynfoodforest355]

Good video

[@thepurplecraftshack3075]

Great info ty. I do that with my roses.

[@isabelladavis1363]

Love how you rationalize ...so true...

[@kingscairn]

Ahh man, that's good stuff David - thanks

[@rockymtns99]

Great tip. I just picked up a blackberry plant a couple days ago and now, I may be able to 'walk' it some this season and have a nice row by next year or this Fall. Thanks, David!

[@davidthegood]

That's awesome!

[@teresathomley3703]

Nice video- valuable info. I hope the new baby's doing well.

[@takeitslowhomestead5218]

Thanks! That was great information! I’m planning on putting some kind of berry(s) in my grocery row garden (that I keep talking about on my channel, but haven’t started, yet!) (But,I did get my peas and potatoes in the ground! 😏 )

[@joebobjenkins7837]

DTG, back to his old ways.

[@92bagder]

as soon as my marionberry canes touched the soil they rooted and had kids. I trellised them in an arching tunnel. As soon as the canes reached the other side they dug and made kids.

[@MrDeicide1]

berry pron

[@ragheadand420roll]

Keep an eye out at Grocery Outlets they almost always have a decent selection of diff berries a few times a year at decent prices Cheaper than nurseries usu

[@superawesomejunkmonk]

I think you can do the same thing with fig trees....... Great video thank you

[@victorialg1270]

Got grocery row gardening. Now I'm going for Free Plants for Everyone.

[@JavierFernandez01]

Nice. Good to know. :)

[@irisjanemay1903]

I think you can do that with gooseberries too. I caught mine trying it on it's own.

[@markkristynichols845]

David, so love your music as well as your videos on gardening!!! Some of your songs remind me of my college years listening to "The Judys", have you ever heard of them? Hilarious and goofy, try to check them out, catchy! Hope to meet ya in Hannibal! Thanks for what ya do, Kristy in Missouri :)

[@hardstylzz5024]

Instead of propagation in ground I collect clear plastic cups or water bottles cut holes in bottom for drainage to see roots did that with my jewel black raspberry within 2 weeks got roots doing the tip rooting method I'm in zone 8b South Ga with 80 degree perfect weather before it get too hot in summer then do again in early fall. Tried cuttings in the summer you really have mist it everyday.

[@blackmantis001]

loved the title :-D

[@jenbear8652]

This is called “layering” right? This happened naturally with my Korean lilac. When I noticed the lower branch that had rooted where it touched the ground, I cut it off, dug it & planted in another spot. Now the new plant is beginning to get fresh sprouts from the ground around the tall stem I’d cut off the original shrub. I’m going to try this with the wild black raspberry cane & I foraged & planted last fall!

[@onmyway7363]

ANY TIPS FOR GROWING AND PROPEGATING IN BLACK GUMBO SOIL? HELP

[@Iloveorganicgardening]

So David, what do you think about the plants from the nursery with a do not propagate warning on them?? Does that just mean that we're not allowed to sell the Offshoots? . I mean when I plant them I tell them very sternly not to propagate but they don't obey me

[@davidthegood]

They are patented for a period of time. Larger nurseries do have to pay attention to that.

[@williamvillar7134]

Loving the thornless varieties as I can establish patches near to my grandson's playset. I have dwarf peaches on either side with strawberries as ground cover as well, with the backberry patches across from that. How are your raspberries doing? I know from experience that black raspberries seem to do well in our zone but the red raspberries have always died here for us.

[@davidthegood]

The Heritage raspberries we got are doing well. Not super productive, but tasty.

[@acebilbo]

Good way to break your buckets. Maybe a pan to feed. Those cows' heads are big and really hard. Thanks for your info.

[@ismaelvelez7071]

David im in Fl looking for tropicals cheep also breadfruit

[@mannurse7421]

😮 I better go dig up all those Hamilton I buried before they rot.

[@MaineGalVal]

Do you think this method would also work with blueberries? Thanks for all of the wonderful videos, I love your channel!

[@hannah20071000]

It does, but it is much much slower. Takes me a year to get one plant. Much faster to just dig up suckers and replant elsewhere for blueberries.

[@lynnjasmine3216]

Thanks for the blackberry video! They are one of my favorites! Our wild ones have lots of tiny worms..so soak in salt water before eating.

[@heatherk8931]

Yuck! I heard that about some strawberries. I didn't believe it. What kind of berry is it?😳

[@lagoya]

The worms taste just like the berries

[@c.j.rogers2422]

Worms won't hurt ya!

[@lynnjasmine3216]

@Heather K. They are in my wild blackberries.

[@ifyouloveChristyouwillobeyhim]

That's smart! I found that the worms haven't killed me these three years I've been eating 'em! Also you don't even notice them if you don't look close. Ours are very very tiny white worms. Not sure I would want to taste all that salt each time I eat a dewberry. . .

[@hughcourchesne4351]

Hi David great tips. Do you think this wood work with blue berries?

[@glorytogodhomestead3495]

Waiting for the machete blackberry ballad😊

[@jimrodia4190]

Hi david, I am in south Jersey and I just ordered blackberry plants from university of Arkansas. Have you ever grown primocane blackberry plants. This was the main reason I started wanting to grow them again. Much less work you get an early and a late crop on each plant.

[@CaponeCabin]

Oh dang! I have no idea it was that simple!!!!! Omg, thank you!

[@b_uppy]

In the PNW we have invasive Himalayan blackberries that propagate super easily and have cockroach-level survival skills here. And they're not particularly tasty...

[@neal0071234able]

got an experiment with my Navaho plants this summer .. What if you lay a cane into a planter thats tray or trough shaped... roughly 6 inch wide by about 3 foot long by at least 6 inches deep ... Lay the whole cane in and secure it.. The question is will a single cane root off more than one node from the same cane at the same time..

[@fadeddenims501]

There are no Blackberry bushes in our area. I did buy Blackberries in the store yesterday, in the hope that I could grow some from seed. Is that even possible? I also bought strawberries so I can propagate some from seed.

[@sinner7272]

Great video…I’ve recently found your channel and find your videos and methods very inspiring, one question… in almost all of your videos you seem to either be in a shady area of the garden or it’s just a cloudy day, which is it ? Is it possible to grow such gardens in shady areas?

[@davidthegood]

Generally I shoot in the evenings and on cloudy days. But we have some shade.

[@David-kd5mf]

Sweetie pie and prime ark freedom are thornless varieties im trying out. Still havent gotten enough off them to be able to recommend one way or the other.

[@charlesbyrneShowComments4all]

Same here. I have one sweetie pie it is very vigorous (2nd year). I also have a 2nd year Ouachita & Prime Ark Freedom. I also have 2nd year Navajo and Arapaho which are leggy and want to sprawl, but haven't flowered yet. I planted 2 Poncas and another Prime Ark Freedom this past fall. I'm just intrigued by the possibility of have 2 harvests from the primo cane first and then floricane. Hopefully the birds will leave me enough to decide.

[@WeAreWastingUrTime]

🎉I can’t wait to do this with some wild blackberries I found on our new property! I found them in the back of the yard without much sun-would this idea work by putting the new growth in a pot so i can move them easier? I just started reading your book “free plants for everyone” on page 20 so far 😊

[@davidthegood]

You could bury the canes or divide them and they'll usually grow.

[@janetmihoci6832]

Great tips. Can you use same technique for raspberries?

[@davidthegood]

Yes

[@keonnoggin3241]

Could the cane be cut and then potted??

[@BaloosCluesOriginal]

Will the raspberry do the same thing? If so, I think you've just made my mother-in-law a happy woman. Hers just reached the end of her fence. I'll bring the tip down to the soil as it grows. 💕

[@davidthegood]

Yes! It will work.

[@BaloosCluesOriginal]

@@davidthegood great to know. Thanks! 🙌