I have some blackberry bushes at the edge of my property...Does anybody know what the most important things?

Question

to do to get the sweetest berries? Is it water; some kind of fertilizer or what? In previous years I put coffee grounds on them-I don't know if that helps or not....The bees are out in force pollinating the blooms-Is that good ?....Oh, yeah -how do i keep the ducks from stealing them when they get ripe? (JK).

Answer 1

The bees are great, they pollinate the flowers to make the berries. Make sure they have enough water, water makes the berries sweet and juicy. Make sure you pick them when they are ripe, firm but not hard and a glistening black, or they will be tart. Fertilizers never hurt, a good compost is your best bet. The ducks are the hard part. You can try fencing the berries. I don't like the nets, they are hard to get though for people as well as birds but the bells were a good idea. Birds don't smell things so I don't think the cayenne will help.

Good luck with your berries!

Answer 2

The most important thing is the plant itself. Blackberries are a naturally-occurring hybrid and don't grow true from seed, so every plant is slightly different unless grown from a cutting. This is why you'll get some big juicy berries in a hedge, while the next plant along gives you bitter little bullets.

If the berries from a plant are not good, the only option is to grub it out, put some weedproof fabric down and mulch over with 10cm of anything that will exclude light. You can then punch a hole through the fabric and plant a named variety - or a cutting from a plant you like - into the hole.

After that - some nitrogenous fertilizer in early spring, some sun if you can arrange it and some water once flowering starts. There are pruning instructions online, but to keep the ducks away you'll need to tie the canes up after pruning each year (right after fruiting) so that next year's fruit is out of quack range.

Answer 3

Blackberries are a hardy bush. Especially the really thorny variety. The thornier, the tastier. You can get thornless blacks but I find that the berries are not as good.
They are a coastal plant, which means lots of water, and good drainage. Cowmanure and the like is a bonus. Chemical fertilizers no so much. They need pruning so you get lots of flowers - more flowers more berries. Bees are doing the necessary job. Fence the berries off from the ducks.
Plants seem to do very well in roadside ditches(even with city maintenance coming by every spring to cut them down to a manageable level every fall with the roadside mower/shearer.

Answer 4

If they are wild and doing well. I wouldn't do anything to them.You can put a net over them to keep some of the berries from getting eaten by other animals. the best bet is to pick what is ripe everyday during season and freeze them unless there is only enough to eat daily. Otherwise, save them up for a pie ( about 1 big quart) or get enough for jam( about 2quarts plus). Get enough frozen and you can make wine. ( This takes a ton of berries unless you just want to flavor white wine a little)

Answer 5

well any type of good fertilizer will make your berries bigger and tasty-er such as fish emulsions, or chicken or bat poop.....bees are good,more bees the better..idk about the ducks but i know a mix of Cayenne pepper and other spices mix into water sprayed AROUND not on the bushes repel animals

Answer 6

Unless you are really prepared to mess with them, cut them off before they spread, if they are the thorny native variety. If you fertilize and water, they will spread and take over. Better to buy some thornless varieties, they produce much heavier, berries taste just as good and don't attack you. I have both, am currently trying to kill out the natives that have spread over large areas of the yard, garden, and kids' play area.

Answer 7

Plenty of water...depending upon where you live! The bees are excellent as they are pollenating the bushes! Look for a good fertilizer just for berries.

Answer 8

Blackberry's need to be pruned yearly. Most like nitrogen, but check your soil first. You can buy netting from your local do-it-yourself center to put over them to keep birds out. If your soil is light it may need potash. They like a well drained fertile soil.

Answer 9

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Answer 10

put a string with little bells and when they come the bells will ring and keep them out good luck!!