Oops! I just read on another post that blackberry roots send up shoots to fill out the bush. Is this true? I put weed blocking material around the blackberry, blueberries and raspberry. Should I remove it? Will the material prevent the berries from growing?

Blueberries require both acid soil and water. From your description, I'd guess that one or the other (or both) is missing. Weed block around the blueberries won't hurt, shoot can come up from the base, but you presumably *have* a hole in the weed-block around the base of the plants already. New growth will come up *from* the existing base, not some distance away. Blueberries, especially young ones do not like competing with weeds, so the weed block is a good thing. Blueberries *really* like pine bark mulch. It helps to acidify the soil, to retain moisture, and to cut down on the competing weeds. Acid fertilizer such as you'd use on Azaleas can also help to acidify the soil for the plants. Mind you, Blackberries and Raspberries are not acid-loving plants, so don't use it on them. The pine-bark mulch would be perfectly fine for them however.

Blackberries and raspberries will grow their new shoots right next to the base of the previous year's canes. If the current cane is **right* next to the edge of the fabric, it's conceivable it might interfere. However, having watched blackberries find *any* possible gap in weedblock fabric to reach sunlight, I doubt it.

Hi MapleGirl-

Hmmm where to start...?

First, can you tell us where you live? Zone 6 can be a lot of places and it will affect the answers that you get.

Do you know what variety of blueberry you have? The first thing that comes to mind with the blueberries is soil acidity. Blueberries really like acidic soil. Yes, you can grow them in less acidic soil, but, only to a point. Do you have any idea what your soil PH is?

You're not the first person to have problems with the Home Depot raspberries. Please see this thread where they were discussed. Basically, success rate is very low with them IMHO.

As for the blackberries, again, do you know the variety? With the blackberries, it really makes a big difference. Some multiply via runners underground. Others wait until their laterals (side branches) touch the ground and then new canes appear there. Is it thornless? If it too is from a Home Depot carton, then it may be an "Ebony King", and I canÂt remember which type it is. My Ebony King from Home Depot never did anything either. I recently moved it away from its prime trellised location, and put it in the woods with the wild ones. IÂll see if it eventually makes something of itself out there.

It sounds like youÂve gotten off to a bit of a slow start. But, it doesnÂt have to be that way. With a little research on the web, a bit of asking questions here, and a better source for your plants, IÂm sure youÂll be able to get some good berries. In fact, itÂs not even too late for this season. I like www.NourseFarms.com for "bare root" raspberries and blackberries (And probably blueberries too just havenÂt ordered them from them yet). Or check out your local nursery and stay away from the Home Depot / Walmart plants... especially the ones in cartons. Good luck,

-Glenn

I live south of Boston. My soil is very rocky, but aside from that I can't tell you much. When I dig around I find clumps of dark mustard colored sandy clay along with dark gray soil. My gardening father says we have excellent soil. I will do a pH test and see what it says.

So, should I keep the weed blocking cloth down and just cut a fist-sized hole around the plant stems? I was planning on putting a light layer of mulch over the cloth. I'll get pine mulch.

I'll check what variety of raspberry and blackberry I bought. I'm pretty sure the blueberry is a Jersey Blueberry.

Hi MapleGirl-
Hey, you're right near me. I'm in RI. Nourse Farms would be a great place for you to order plants from. They too are in MA, have a great reputation (see here.), and I've never seen anyone here online have any complaints about them. No, I'm not affiliated with them... just a fan.

I like weedblock, but like oviedo_apples was saying, you need to leave room for new canes to come up. I'd say a good fist size is fine around the blackberries and blueberries, but I wouldn't want weedblock around my raspberries. You want them to spread out and fill in. Once you get a good bed of raspberries going, very few weeds even dare to compete. Raspberries are usually so vigorous, they are the weed!

If I were you, I'd give some compost to the blackberry and raspberries. Just spread it on an Inch or two thick around the plants. Both plants keep their roots high and really benefit from it. This coming from a guy who just added compost to his 15 beds of raspberries 2 weeks ago. I give my blueberries MirAcid, but with yours being so fragile right now, it's probably the last thing I'd do.

With blackberries, you get berries on last year's canes. So, even if your blackberry were to really take off this year, you wouldn't get berries on those canes until next year. Unfortunately, the same is true if you got Home DepotÂs cartonized "Latham" raspberry: being a "summer bearing" raspberry means that it too produces berries on last years canes which means you get to wait an extra year for your berries. *sniff*.

But, it doesnÂt have to be this way. I almost always recommend people go with an "everbearing" or "fall bearing" raspberry, which will give you berries the first year you plant it. Even so, people often still say you wonÂt get many berries the first year. But, I disagree. Yes, youÂll obviously get more berries in subsequent years (once the patch fills in), but itÂs still possible to get a respectable amount of berries the first year. Just to show you whatÂs possible, the pic below was from 5 "Prelude" raspberries ($3 each) from Nourse from last year.

By your description, I'm getting the impression that these "sticks" are in pretty rough shape. Any chance you could take a picture for us? You'd need to post it somewhere else online, and just give us a link.

IÂm starting to think that your biggest problem was your source.
-Glenn
New bed of 5 everbearing (Fall bearing) "Prelude" raspberries next to my volleyball court.
{{gwi:76384}}

Maybe it is the particular store? I have bought all of my citrus trees from Home Depot over the past 12 years. Not sure of exact count but well over a dozen trees total and only one has not turned out to be an excellent tree. I also have a Wonderful pomegranate, Moonglow pear tree, Carlos and Fry scuppernong from HD that all has grown nicely.

Possibly... I'd certainly be more willing to try an established plant (like a tree), but you still have the same problems that always plague the big box stores... 1.) Varieties often mislabeled. 2.) Sometimes the quality of the plants is questionable. 3.) They regularly sell plants that won't work in your zone 4.) Staff usually is unable to help... where someone from a local nursery would be more likely to help.

Whenever people talk (here in the forums) about those Home Depot carton'd plants (and from my own experience), the story always seems to be the same. But, I don't know if blueberries come in those cartons or not, so it may not explain the blueberry. If it did come in a carton, then I'm confident that's the whole story/problem. -Glenn

With the exception one my blood orange that I planted last year all my HD citrus has produced true to label. The blood orange is to small to produce yet. I have Tifblue, Powderblue, Climax and native rabbiteyes. Some came from HD and others from local nurseries. Today you can't tell which came from where. Granted none came from a carton. The natives were already on the property. I agree the box stores sell plants that will not survive outside in your zone but if you go to the citrus forum you will see tons of people growing potted citrus in zones 3 to 7. I recommend you do your research before buying regardless where you buy. I buy the best plant for the best price, sometimes it is HD and sometimes it is the local nursery. Back on subject, if her gardening father said they have "excellent soil" I would guess the soil is not acid enough for blueberries. Acid soil is not "excellent" for normal gardening.

A **really** good source of info on blueberries, blackberries, raspberrirs is http://www.smallfruits.org/. There are numerous detailed articles on production for each:

http://www.smallfruits.org/Blueberries/Production.htm#growing