Fruits and Nuts: Blackberry dilemma, 1 by kerry_in_ky

kerry_in_ky wrote:
I too am growing Black Satin. I was always told to cut the cane back to the ground at planting which I did. You lose the few berries you would have gotton the first year but boy do they make up for it the second year. Instead of putting their energy to making berries, the root system and 1st year canes for next year's fruit get the nutrients. By summer's end last year I had 8-10 1st year canes that I (and the deer) cut off at about 5' high. These filled in this year and below is the results so far.

DO NOT remove the suckers from around the base of the plant, those will be the ones that have the berries next year as the berries come from shoots during the 2nd year. Suckers out away from the plant I dig up, pot in 3 gallon pots and allow to grow after a couple of weeks in the shad to recover and build up their roots. These will be cut back to ground level next spring when they are used to start another row or give to someone else. I could mow them but I just hate to see them go to waste though I may change my mind in a couple of years when we are overrun with berry plants.