ARS | Publication request: Method for producing long-cane blackberry plants

Submitted to: Hortscience Proceedings
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: April 20, 2012
Publication Date: July 12, 2012
Citation: Takeda, F. 2012. Method for producing long-cane blackberry plants [abstract]. ASHS Annual Conference Program. p. 78.

Technical Abstract: U.S. blackberry (Rubus) growers need to find ways to expand the market share by entering specific niches. Production of blackberries in off-season is one desired approach. However, with the high investment for protected cultivation systems, yield in the first year of production is desirable to obtain a quick return on the investment. A variety of techniques and vegetative materials have been used to asexually propagate blackberries. We used a unique trellis and cane training system to propagate 2-m long cane plants with roots at the distal end and 4-m-long looped cane plants with roots at both ends. The new propagation system increased plant output five- to seven-fold over the current commercial propagation technique. By inducing root formation at both ends of 4-m-long primocanes, percent budbreak, number of flowering shoots per m cane length, and number of fruit per cluster were increased. The long-cane plants can be established in a warm area, such as southern Florida, in late winter to obtain a crop in March and April. For late season fruit production, plants are held in cold storage until summer and then grown in a warm environment so that the fruit matures from August to October. This new propagation method is efficient for producing a large number of blackberry plants that can be manipulated to produce fruit in the off-season and is; therefore, useful to both growers and nurserymen wishing to produce container plants for off-season fruit production.