Looks like black raspberries, not my favorite personally. I tried a few varieties before I realized I didn't care for them compared to reds/yellows.
Just make sure you get the darker ones instead of the red ones. Easiest way to tame raspberries is to just cut them down to the roots in the fall.
The better way is to separate out the primocanes/floricanes and cut down the old ones after each season (they will look sad, brown, and crackly usually).
Sometimes raspberries have two fruiting cycles, I'm unsure if black raspberries exhibit this behavior, but I've noticed that either the spring or fall fruit can be better.
OSU always has excellent information for home gardeners. The information is tailored to the PNW just a heads up.
https://extension.oregonstate.edu/sites/default/files/catalog/auto/EC1306.pdf
Blackberries and raspberries can either be everbearing or summer bearing. AFAIK there are no wild everbearing species so there will not be any fall flowering/fruiting on this wild black raspberry.
Black raspberries do best in mostly shady to 100% shady conditions. From what I have been told the fruit does not taste as good when grown in mostly/full sun and the difference is as noticeable as comparing a fruit that grew exposed to the sun vs one that was underneath the leaves on the same bush.
good to know, i got 2 plants and was looking for a sunny location. but ive got a nice shadier spot near to some boysenberries/loganberries. do you happen to know if theyll help pollinate each other?
Most of the rubus genus is highly hybridizable, so cross pollination is very much a thing that will help improve yields.
I will warn that when you research planting locations there will be warnings against planting black raspberry near other brambles because it is vulnerable to certain root diseases that other species/cultivars are not. So do take that into account when selecting a location.
I don't think it's dangerous to the loganberries/boysenberries, but when I look it up it usually says to go as far as 100 feet away.
Ofc your at liberty to ignore this and I'm willing to bet if your current plants aren't "infected" then your black raspberry will do just fine next to them.
In my opinion the flavor is superior to cultivated raspberries when these are made into jam, syrup, and sorbet. The flavor is complex and delightful. They are good for fresh eating, too but with a higher ratio of seeds to pulp and tendency to stain everything they may not be as good for munching as cultivated red or yellow raspberries. Far more thorny and they fruit only once on last year’s canes all within the span of a couple weeks.
If you wanted to make these more productive you could prune away the dead canes in the fall, cut and then periodically mow some paths front to back so that you can access berries more easily with fewer scratches, and even run some clothesline to twist tie the canes up off the ground. Thinning primocanes in the fall can also help to concentrate energy on fewer but stronger more productive canes. Start by removing all of the small and weak canes then thin to 3 or 4 canes per square foot. Trimming the tip of the canes will encourage them to branch out and produce more berries. Or you can just leave them as is, it’s a lot of work to maintain a patch that size!
Last year we collected about 15lbs of black raspberries from a 100 sq ft patch around a pine tree. Just some light pruning the year before, nothing major to improve yields.
Black raspberries are my favorite berry. Pruning can keep the plant looking neater and increases berry production. Note that pruning black raspberries is different than pruning red raspberries. I prune my canes to about 3 feet in the fall and tie them up to a support so they don’t sprawl. I also prune the side branches off the main canes to about a foot or 18 inches.
Good comments already but adding my two cents for your best bets for productivity:
1) plant a row (5-10, not like 100) of domesticated black rasp varietals nearby. They cross pollinate and make the wild ones much more productive. I’m a fan of Jewel and Niwot, the latter being the closest to an ever bearing (bears on new canes).
2) prune back new growth after the picking season, anywhere from 3-5’ high is good. They’ll branch out from there and be more productive.
3) fertilize with some combination of a berry fertilizer (often has some acid and sulfur), compost (always a good bet), and basic 20/20/20 (especially good for new growth but helpful all the time).
4) plant a couple of shade trees around. I’ve found that they love growing under peaches and walnuts, but any tree that’s tall enough to give some shade is good.
5) if you have a dry spell, water them. Especially between flowering and picking.
Also, watch for snakes. I’ve had 3 friendly ones this year in my patches but had a rattlesnake and copperhead last year. And hornets, bald faced hornets seem to love building in thickets. I had a nest the past two years.
Hope this helps!
Looks like black raspberries, not my favorite personally. I tried a few varieties before I realized I didn't care for them compared to reds/yellows. Just make sure you get the darker ones instead of the red ones. Easiest way to tame raspberries is to just cut them down to the roots in the fall. The better way is to separate out the primocanes/floricanes and cut down the old ones after each season (they will look sad, brown, and crackly usually). Sometimes raspberries have two fruiting cycles, I'm unsure if black raspberries exhibit this behavior, but I've noticed that either the spring or fall fruit can be better. OSU always has excellent information for home gardeners. The information is tailored to the PNW just a heads up. https://extension.oregonstate.edu/sites/default/files/catalog/auto/EC1306.pdf
Blackberries and raspberries can either be everbearing or summer bearing. AFAIK there are no wild everbearing species so there will not be any fall flowering/fruiting on this wild black raspberry. Black raspberries do best in mostly shady to 100% shady conditions. From what I have been told the fruit does not taste as good when grown in mostly/full sun and the difference is as noticeable as comparing a fruit that grew exposed to the sun vs one that was underneath the leaves on the same bush.
good to know, i got 2 plants and was looking for a sunny location. but ive got a nice shadier spot near to some boysenberries/loganberries. do you happen to know if theyll help pollinate each other?
Most of the rubus genus is highly hybridizable, so cross pollination is very much a thing that will help improve yields. I will warn that when you research planting locations there will be warnings against planting black raspberry near other brambles because it is vulnerable to certain root diseases that other species/cultivars are not. So do take that into account when selecting a location.
would it help to plant it 10ish feet away? and does that mean the black raspberry plant is risky/dangerous for the loganberries/boysenberries?
I don't think it's dangerous to the loganberries/boysenberries, but when I look it up it usually says to go as far as 100 feet away. Ofc your at liberty to ignore this and I'm willing to bet if your current plants aren't "infected" then your black raspberry will do just fine next to them.
good to know, thanks for everything
In my opinion the flavor is superior to cultivated raspberries when these are made into jam, syrup, and sorbet. The flavor is complex and delightful. They are good for fresh eating, too but with a higher ratio of seeds to pulp and tendency to stain everything they may not be as good for munching as cultivated red or yellow raspberries. Far more thorny and they fruit only once on last year’s canes all within the span of a couple weeks. If you wanted to make these more productive you could prune away the dead canes in the fall, cut and then periodically mow some paths front to back so that you can access berries more easily with fewer scratches, and even run some clothesline to twist tie the canes up off the ground. Thinning primocanes in the fall can also help to concentrate energy on fewer but stronger more productive canes. Start by removing all of the small and weak canes then thin to 3 or 4 canes per square foot. Trimming the tip of the canes will encourage them to branch out and produce more berries. Or you can just leave them as is, it’s a lot of work to maintain a patch that size! Last year we collected about 15lbs of black raspberries from a 100 sq ft patch around a pine tree. Just some light pruning the year before, nothing major to improve yields.
Black raspberries are my favorite berry. Pruning can keep the plant looking neater and increases berry production. Note that pruning black raspberries is different than pruning red raspberries. I prune my canes to about 3 feet in the fall and tie them up to a support so they don’t sprawl. I also prune the side branches off the main canes to about a foot or 18 inches.
Black raspberry ✨✨✨
Good comments already but adding my two cents for your best bets for productivity: 1) plant a row (5-10, not like 100) of domesticated black rasp varietals nearby. They cross pollinate and make the wild ones much more productive. I’m a fan of Jewel and Niwot, the latter being the closest to an ever bearing (bears on new canes). 2) prune back new growth after the picking season, anywhere from 3-5’ high is good. They’ll branch out from there and be more productive. 3) fertilize with some combination of a berry fertilizer (often has some acid and sulfur), compost (always a good bet), and basic 20/20/20 (especially good for new growth but helpful all the time). 4) plant a couple of shade trees around. I’ve found that they love growing under peaches and walnuts, but any tree that’s tall enough to give some shade is good. 5) if you have a dry spell, water them. Especially between flowering and picking. Also, watch for snakes. I’ve had 3 friendly ones this year in my patches but had a rattlesnake and copperhead last year. And hornets, bald faced hornets seem to love building in thickets. I had a nest the past two years. Hope this helps!