I have tried growing blackberries in inland south orange county in containers. They did not perform very well inconsistent fruit yield and flavor was not there. I think it was a mix of the high PH water and intense sun scorching the leaves. I found more luck with boysenberry, caroline raspberry, and I hear bababerry performs nicely. I wish I could be more help regarding blackberries for socal.

However the Caroline raspberries and Boysenberries thrive in our climate and should perform well if the soil is well amended and they have enough water.

Hi Nullzero,
Did you also have your raspberries in containers? Since I keep hearing about the runners (rhizomes) running wild I would like to try to grow in large containers. I saw on one post that some stated you need a 20" depth. I also read they have shallow roots, probably just run near the soil surface like rhizomes normally do. Any comments would be appreciated immensely!

Yes raspberries were in containers. My containers on average are about 2 ft tall and 2ft width narrowing down slightly. I tried a couple varieties of raspberries, I concluded that Caroline performed the best out of the bunch.

Caroline raspberries will produce nicely in containers as long as the soil mix is decent and there is enough nutrients to feed them. The raspberries seem to like it on the wetter side, I would try to make a decent soil mix with a good amount of perlite and some peat moss (for lowering the PH).

socalliegal - I've had good luck with Triple Crown blackberries. Lots of berries each year and it's a thorn-less variety as well. I got mine from Raintree Nursery.

Any word on Canby Raspberry, I just bought a gallon plant today. I bought a Blackberry as well, but forgot the name. Will have it next time I post.

I have had luck with heritage, amity, Carolina raspberries and Triple crown and Prime Jim blackberries. Just watch out raspberries will take over.

I just planted two Rosanna raspberries in ground based on the claim that they will do well in our climate. Of course every nursery out here has Heritage raspberries, so I planted one of those in ground and one in pot.
I'll keep you posted on how they do.

Boysenberries really love coastal so. cal, and my experience from a few years back is that they did great in my back yard. You may want to try them if you haven't already. Not sure if they're considered a "real" blackberry, as they are in fact a cross, but I think they taste better than blackberries anyway:).

Good Morning Gardeners,
I went outside to look at the label for the Blackberries and they are Black Satin, and as I mentioned before the Raspberries are Canby.

Looking forward to your sucess girlbug!

This is my first time growing anything like this, when I was a kid I kept up a strawberry patch, but berries are a whole nuther ball o wax I would imagine. I bought a couple of containers at rite aid last night that I believe are 18 gallons. I was going to attempt to plant them in both, but now after reading other blogs about containers I may not use the saucers, and set the pots about an inch into the dirt. Wow love some thoughts.

I love my boysenberries - no luck with raspberries, but the Heritage planted last year is still surviving - time will tell.

Bejay

Will Red Rasberries crossbreed with Fall golden Rasberries?

bumping to the top.....any more info....about container growing for rasps and blackberries?

Hi There Gardeners,
I finally planted my 1 gallon pot of Blackberries and Raspberries in bigger pots and set them in the dirt a bit. They now get full sun, due to I had them on the picnic table and were getting probably a few hours less due to patio shade. Well the Raspberry made a handful of raspberries and no more flowers. Will more flowers be made the rest of the growing season? I hope so. The Blackberry on the other made a gazillion flowers and now they are all turning into berries. I see a bit of leaf burn on the raspberry. How wet or dry do you keep berries?
Will I see more flowers through the summer? And I just read somewhere where the pots cannot get overheated..help? Any advise on these topics will be DEF appreciated!

New berry grower here.

Well I have seen on another post that raspberries don't like uber wet feet. The plant is growing more stalks but no more flowers. Will it bear more flowers or is that over and they only come in the spring. The blackberry bush made more blackberries and it seems a few more flowers. Any help is appreciated.

bumping to top.....info needed on flowering times

Hi all, weighing in nearly one year later on my growing experiences:
Last summer was unusually cool for this area, with most daytime highs in the high 60s and low 70s throughout the season, up until late August when it got into the 80s. I was able to garden all these berries organically--organic slow release fertilizer and no spraying.

The Rosanna raspberries all died early, despite being watered regularly and planted in a sunny but not hot location. I think they were probably poor quality plants however

The Heritage survived but didn't produce that much. As of this spring it has a bare handful of berries forming. It got 2 and 1/2 feet tall by the end of last season.

The Brandywine lived through last summer but died unexpectedly this winter :(. I have no idea what did it in. It only grew a few feet tall last year.

The thornless boysenberrys absolutely thrived last summer, grew several feet in all directions and went dormant for the winter. About 2 months ago it suddenly woke up and "exploded" with new growth and flower buds. Currently I am looking at several quarts of boysens forming--what a treat!

I think the lesson in all this is that yes, some raspberries will live and produce small crops in coastal southern California, but truthfully it isn't their ideal climate. I am predicting that the surviving Heritage plant is not going to like a warmer summer this year which is more normal to my area; highs in the 80s most of the summer, into the 90s by late August.

OTOH this is the birthplace of boysenberries, and it really shows. My advice to Californians is; for the easiest, most satisfying berry growing experience, grow boysenberries.