http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/1000/1431.html Some good info on pruning primocane or other blackberries. If you do prune now, before the spring buds swell, I would surely welcome some cuttings to root. mensplace@bellsouth.net

Thanks for that. The following paragraph caught my eye"

"As each new cane reaches approximately 48 inches, they should be tipped back (Figure 2). By tipping the ends of the canes, apical dominance is removed and growth hormones in the canes are released. This process will stimulate new growth from the lateral buds. Lateral shoot growth that develops prior to fruit bud formation will increase the amount of plant surface area in which fruit can be produced. With more aggressive varieties it is possible that the lateral branches will need to be tipped as well to help restrict the overall plant growth."

Which brings me to my lateral terminal bud question. From this, I'm assuming there is one terminal bud formed on each lateral that controls the fruit bud formation. Would pruning the lateral (bud) too soon, that is before the buds have transformed, cause a reduction in the amount of berries produced on that lateral in the Spring? As I live in central Alabama rather than in Ohio near OSU, winter injury is not a major concern of mine, so when to prune the laterals to take advantage of their maximum fruiting capability is my major concern. So, based on what they're saying, a final pruning in mid-late December after full dormancy has occured should be ideal for me.

Thanks again for that link!

Ken Barber
Millbrook AL

http://www.uga.edu/fruit/rubus.html
closer to home

Unfortunately, that article although very informative discusses for the most part how a large commercial berry farm manages their berry operations. For me I have 2+ acres of thornless and a few thorny U-Pick blackberry plants, all of which are straped to 4-wire trelleses. I use 4 wires a little over a foot apart to keep my erect-style three-foot spaced primocanes which get tipped between 4-5' from falling into the rows after high winds or heavy rains come through. Because I have the extra wires (they say 2 is normal), I strap my primocane laterals in a fanned style which result in 5-6' high bushes. When I applied the theory of pruning laterals back to 12-18' as documented on the UNC Small Fruit Consortium website as well as others, I lost almost 20% in U-Pick production this past year when compared to the previous year when I left the laterals to their own demise. So, this year I compromised and last month I tipped the last 2-4" off each applicable lateral to remove their respective terminal buds (if that's what they are) to see if that gets my U-Pick production back to where it should be. We'll see how it goes. Thanks again for your help giving me new places to look. By the way, I've added a link to our web site if you'd like to see what our U-Pick looks like

Ken Barber
Millbrook AL

Here is a link that might be useful: Barber Berry Farm Web Site