Edible perennials?

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stevelau1911
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Re: Edible perennials?

Post by stevelau1911 »

Here's my neighbor's blackberry bush which is 1 year older, and about 2x as productive as mine, and it looks like their objective was to get a plant that could stand on its own with a bit of help maybe from the fence.
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Berries should ripen in 1-2 weeks.
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Mine is nearly up to the 8ft pole now. I think there's a long enough season to let it perhaps grow 1ft beyond the pole, top it there, and then let is still produce laterals. I'm not sure how much time they need to really grow a bunch of side branches, but using this pole, I really want to maximize the size of the plant so it can make tons of fruits.
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canadianplant
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Re: Edible perennials?

Post by canadianplant »

I would top those canes steve, blackberries produce way more fruit on the laterals....
stevelau1911
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Re: Edible perennials?

Post by stevelau1911 »

There are still 3-4 months of growth left of growing for this plant in this season so I think I'll wait another 2 weeks before stopping the vertical growth so that the laterals don't get so long to the point that they droop to the ground.

I have mixed i plenty of manure/ compost and azomite, along with gypsum today so fruit production should increase quite a bit anyways. One thing I've found about blackberries is that they actually manage to hold their leaves through the winter as if they had anti-freeze in them. I think they may be leaf hardy to well below 0F.
canadianplant
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Re: Edible perennials?

Post by canadianplant »

According to what ive read, you will want to top them at roughly 6 feet (i guess you can go either way). Just keep wrapping the laterals around the pole, or even better put another pole close to it so you can wrap the canes around in a circle....
stevelau1911
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Re: Edible perennials?

Post by stevelau1911 »

That may work, but one thing about letting it get a bit taller is that you can get even more laterals with more branch nodes. I won't let it get so tall so that the top flops over, but just tall enough so that all of th 8ft steel pipe gets utilized. It is also for aesthetic reasons as well since I don't want to see a steel pipe sticking out of the middle. I believe that most growers probably don't have this kind of steel pipe which seems to work perfectly for raspberries.
jd.
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Re: Edible perennials?

Post by jd. »

stevelau1911 wrote:It is also for aesthetic reasons as well since I don't want to see a steel pipe [...]
Why not use a bamboo pole? :wink:
stevelau1911
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Re: Edible perennials?

Post by stevelau1911 »

Bamboo poles will rot pretty easily with the underground portion staying wet all the time. The ones I have also aren't sturdy enough to support a lot of weight especially when the blackberry plant sets fruit, and is soaked by a good rain.
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Re: Edible perennials?

Post by jd. »

No one says you have to bury your bamboo in your blackberry swamp. ;)

Gravity can bind a bamboo tube to an overlapping tube base of steel.
For aesthetics, you only need enough bamboo for the visible portion. :)

Bamboo poles become more impressive in taking a load when they're an inch or more in diameter. With all the bamboo you're growing, you're likely to have some available in the future. :D
canadianplant
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Re: Edible perennials?

Post by canadianplant »

stevelau1911 wrote:That may work, but one thing about letting it get a bit taller is that you can get even more laterals with more branch nodes. I won't let it get so tall so that the top flops over, but just tall enough so that all of th 8ft steel pipe gets utilized. It is also for aesthetic reasons as well since I don't want to see a steel pipe sticking out of the middle. I believe that most growers probably don't have this kind of steel pipe which seems to work perfectly for raspberries.
Here, just so you have an idea.... This spot is 10 feet long and 5 feet wide, where 2 walls make an "L" shape. This is only 4 canes untopped and unsupported. The canes were about 12 feet long, with not too many laterals for fruiting. I think I got 6 bunches last year.

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stevelau1911
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Re: Edible perennials?

Post by stevelau1911 »

Wouldn't supporting them allow more leaf exposure to the sun? I'm not sure if it is from the cytokinin that I've been spraying, or overall care, but laterals are already starting to form on the bottom. I think I'll let it grow for another week, and then stop them so the ends to flop over under their own weight.

Here's how tall they have gotten now.
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Here's a fairly unusual plant that I haven't noticed until recently. I think it may be my Korean ginseng which has pretty good size potential.
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canadianplant
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Re: Edible perennials?

Post by canadianplant »

Yes, youre right. They just got so big so fast lol
stevelau1911
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Re: Edible perennials?

Post by stevelau1911 »

Since these blackberry vines got a few inches above the 8ft pipe, I finally topped them because I don't want them to get too top heavy. Here's how it looks as both of them are now just about equal in length.

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The laterals are really starting to come on even before topping them. If they grow too long, I may have to top those too so the laterals can produce laterals.
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canadianplant
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Re: Edible perennials?

Post by canadianplant »

Nice steve! I would be a little leery on tipping the laterals, thats where the flowers are produced. I again recommend another post within 2 feet of the vine so you can loop them around. Or of course, you can grow them like grapes, on a double t trellis, but that takes up way more room then looping.
stevelau1911
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Re: Edible perennials?

Post by stevelau1911 »

I'll get some pictures once it looks much stronger. It's already responding with more lateral growth now that the ends have been topped.

The blueberries and raspberries have been producing lots of fruit lately so I've been able to eat lots of it pretty much every day recently. The robins seem to be more focused on the cherries than anything else.
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Here are just a few of my other vegetables.

Wintermelons
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pumpkin, or butternut squash? with tomatoes on the side
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more
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Another kind of pumpkin
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watermelons
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marcat
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Re: Edible perennials?

Post by marcat »

I have used bamboo for trellises by drilling a hole into the first internode and ramming a rebar up it. I try to keep the bamboo a few inches above ground contact. Seem to last well. Use punting pole mainly.
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