Wild blackberries in the forest and on fallow land often settle themselves and multiply without any human intervention. The climbing plants with their sweet, black fruits can also be propagated relatively easily in the garden.

Be careful with wild blackberries

Due to the rapid spread and the aromatic fruits, some hobby gardeners are tempted to settle wild blackberry plants in suitable areas in the garden. However, you should think about such a project more than carefully. Once the roots of the wild blackberry plants have grown through the soil at a location for a year or two, later removal is only possible with relatively great effort. Since wild blackberries reproduce themselves via the roots and sinkers, the usual confinement with lattices or edging stones would not be successful with bamboo either.

Propagating blackberry yield varieties in the garden

The blackberry varieties bred for the garden usually reproduce far less strongly than their wild relatives. Nevertheless, it can sometimes lead to the formation of underground root suckers, which can be cut off with enough roots and replanted at another location if necessary. Overall, the following types of propagation are available for blackberries:

  • sowing
  • moss
  • cuttings
  • lowering

Sowing and removing moss are basically also possible with blackberries, but are of no practical importance due to the high effort and time required.

Propagation by cuttings

If you want to propagate blackberries from cuttings, this has the advantage that the rooted young plant is already a certain size and can therefore produce a yield more quickly. Ideally, annual canes of the blackberry plant are used. You can also use the harvested canes, which you cut off close to the ground in autumn anyway. Cut the blackberry rods in such a way that each piece has three to four pairs of leaves. Then remove the bottom two and insert the cuttings deep into a loose growing medium. You can first put several cuttings in a pot, which you should then keep evenly moist. In the following year, the young blackberry plants are isolated and planted outdoors in autumn.

Propagate blackberries by lowering

A method for propagating blackberries with little effort is the formation of sinkers. Ideally, in April long tendrils of the blackberry plant are pressed to the ground about 30 to 50 centimeters below the shoot tip and weighted down with some earth and a stone or piece of wood. These sinkers should then usually develop roots by autumn and can thus be separated from the mother plant.

tips and tricks

Please note that the propagation of protected cultivars from the specialist trade is only permitted for personal use.

Category:

Vegetable garden