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nafex - [NAFEX] Primocane blackberries and heat

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  • From: "Richard Moyer" <ramoyer@gmail.com>
  • To: nafex@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [NAFEX] Primocane blackberries and heat
  • Date: Wed, 5 Apr 2006 17:54:06 -0400

Philip wrote:
Here in North Florida, I have the opposite issue with
Prime-Jim and Prime-Jan: I can ripen a good floricane
crop, but the primocane crop gets cooked by the summer
heat and I wind up with a handful of lame little
berries. If you don't mind getting nothing out of the
floricanes, though, they seem to do well for me. Both
appear to be quite low chill (Prime-Jim a little lower
than Prime-Jan).  They look to be significantly lower
chill than Arapaho and Tupi, probably somewhere in the
vicinity of 200 hours.
 
 
Philip,
John Clark observed similar heat damage to you, even in Arkansas.  Fortunately, he (and other fruit breeders) often share their advanced selections with breeders around the US, for better data on adaptability.  Chad Finn, USDA-ARS small fruits breeder in Corvallis, got John on a plane to come out to Oregon to see how well the Primocane blackberries did in the relatively cool Willamette Valley, compared to Ark heat and your experience in Florida.  But John has a lot of addtional primocane breeding going on to select for heat resistance and other traits no doubt.  John knew that Prime Jim and Jan had some drawbacks, but was encouraged to release these two anyway.  He says to keep an eye out for the others that are coming; so don't assume all primocane blackberries will perform as the two released to date.
John also noted that they respond well to cutting the floricanes off until you want them to fruit.  So Philip, it's possible that you could delay your fruiting until October or Nov temps, trimming the floricanes back until you want them to grow and bloom.  With the length of your hot season, would you need to keep a mother stalk (as in managing Asparagus) to keep the crown alive while cutting all the other shoots off until mid-season?  Lots still TBD, these primocane blackberries.
 
Richard Moyer
P.S.  Those canes that do survive the winter have very early fruit the next spring, matching your low-chill observation.
 



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