With no sticker to penalize gardeners who ca n’t resist temptation , getting caught red-faced - handed is inevitable when sampling red-hot " Black Satin " blackberries ( Rubus subgenus Rubus Watson " Black Satin " ) fresh from the cane . " Black Satin " is a semi - erect spineless blackberry that ’s stout in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 5 through 8 and bears soft pink natural spring blooms follow by prolific rich blue - black midsummer berries . Prune " Black Satin " annually in summer and winter for healthy , rich canes .
Step 1
Prune " Black Satin " the first year after planting to encourage it to produce a strong root system , vigorous cane and in force yield production . Blackberries develop fruit on 2 - yr - old cane . The first canes on thornless blackberry such as " Black Satin " often grow along the primer coat like a vine and develop badly , so it ’s deserving sacrificing the first year ’s harvest to produce strong - growing plants in the long term . Prune cane on new plants to 3 or 4 inches in later wintertime to further secure growth and a large crop of yield in subsequent years .
Lean on Me
As a semi - tumid blackberry , " Black Satin " benefits from support on a blackberry bush treillage . Blackberry treillage are posts with wires sterilize between them . They keep blackberry cane off the ground where they can root and spread , and they serve keep fruit ironical and reduce pest attack . Blackberry trellises also help gardeners separate first and second year cane and earmark air travel circulation through plants , subjugate disease . To create a trellis for a " Black Satin " blackberry bush , repulse two posts into the ground 5 foundation away on either side of the plant life and ready two wires tightly between them , at 3 foot and 5 feet high .
Step 2
Cruel to be Kind
Annual " Black Satin " blackberry pruning involve removing older canes and tipping , or rationalize the tops off , fresh canes and attach them to supporting wires in late summertime , followed by pruning lateral cane in winter . depart by bump off quondam cane as unaired to the ground as potential with pruning or lopping shears . These are the old , dry , woody canes that fruit this yr . groom the novel , fleeceable canes that grew this yr along the top wire of the trellis , and tie them in at the top and bottom wires with string . trim the tips off where they produce too long for the backup wires . In winter , dress the lateral shoots , or the shoots that have acquire from the sides of the newfangled canes , to 12 to 14 inches .
Bringing in the Berries
The amount of cane pruned by from a " Black Satin " blackberry affects the issue of fruit acquire on each shoot , but not the full harvest free weight . Fumiomi Takeda and other researchers at the Appalachian Fruit Research Station removed sidelong canes from plants so that three , six , nine or 12 cane were left to fruit the following class . They found that flora with three canes produced bigger berries on each cane than plants with 12 canes , but that both plants produced the same amount of fruit overall . gardener can prune to three canes to make the crop easy to pick , or leave 12 lateral canes to save clip spent pruning .
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