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Large, powerful canes on blackberries

brentwood nigelbrentwood nigel Posts: 10
in Fruit & veg
We have both thornless blackberries and some wild brambles that we leave in their corner and try and control. The thornless have produced a couple of massive canes about 15 feet long showing no signs of fruit ad still growing vigorously. What are they, do they have a purpose, and should we leave them or cut them right back? And if they are undesirable, is there anything we can do to stop them happening again? Be grateful for advice. Thanks

Posts

  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    Usually any that haven’t produced fruit this year will fruit next.  Anything that has produced fruit get cut right back to the ground when fruits been harvested. 
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • Pete.8Pete.8 Posts: 11,340
    They're much like summer raspberries - they fruit on last season's canes.
    I grow Waldo a thornless variety.
    Mine has sent out about 6-7 10ft+ canes over the last couple of months or so. These canes will bear fruit next year.

    atm mine are producing lots, I've got over 5Kg in the freezer already.

    In the pic below you can see the canes tied to the fence with berries. When I've picked the last berries in about 2-3 weeks I'll cut all those canes out.
    Bottom right are the new 10ft canes (hanging into the fish pond!) produced this year that I will tie in to the fence when I cut the fruiting canes out and they'll provide next year's harvest.


    Billericay - Essex

    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
    Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
  • brentwood nigelbrentwood nigel Posts: 10
    thanks, Pete and Lyn. It’s just that these two are so much bigger and stronger than any of the others have been that has made us wonder about them. 
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    Train them sideways and they’ll produce lots of side shoots to bear the fruit next year. 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





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