Prime Jim and Prime Jan will both be hardy in your area (the crowns, not necessairly the cane) and they do fruit on primocanes, the first year canes. However, the yields on these are fairly low, without tipping treatments. Oregon State University has been doing a lot of research lately on tipping treatments for these two varietes, and found that tipping (removing the top 0.5" or so of the cane) the primocanes when they reach 1m, then tipping the laterals when they reach 1m resulted in quite good (18,000 lbs/acre) yield. However, I don't think your growing season is long enough to do this, as they didn't start ripening until late September/early October. I don't think it would hurt to get a few plants (Prime Jan is a bit better) and see how they do for you. Their flavor isn't quite as good as other blackberry cultivars from the UA program, but it's not as bad as Chester, IMO.

catfishhoward, Given that your climate in Atlanta GA is quite warm for raspberries, you may want to check with a couple of online retailers like Edible Landscaping (Afton VA) and Berries Unlimited (Prairie Grove, AR) that grow in warmer climates, to get their advice on growing raspberries in your area. Several people on this forum have tried Tayberries and they did not have success with them in climates that were slightly cooler than yours. MrsG47, "When the growth of the new canes reach about seven feet in height, can you prune back these first year canes to four feet?" I would not recommend making such a significant pruning while the plant is actively growing. If you want to cut it back, then do that in the late winter / early spring while the plant is dormant. Will you lose production capability by cutting it back? In theory, if you cut back the plant (generally laterals) you should get larger, better quality fruit. Does that apply to all blackberry varieties or to the primocane... I'm not sure. One of the issues with summer pruning is creating plant wounds that act as an entry for diseases and pests. The smaller the plant wound, the better.

if planted last fall .. your tree will NOT be ESTABLISHED for 2 or 3 years ... more leaves ='s more food production ='s more roots ='s faster growing .... faster to ESTABLISH tree .... remove any of the canopy .. and you retard the whole equation ... the ONLY exception would be broken or crossing limbs .... MAYBE .... not this summer... but the winter following ... you MIGHT do a LITTLE bit of pruning for the sake of TRAINING .... for now.. mulch well.. keep it PROPERLY watered for all of this year.. ask if you dont know what that means ... and stow the pruning tools where you cant find them for 2 years ... the ONLY problem with your tree .. is your expectation .. relax .. be the tree .... if it lives... and you will have to try hard to kill a crab .... it will do what it will do.. when it is ready ... they are pretty fast growing... dont worry about it.. in a year or two.. there will be plenty of growth for you to start pruning .... especially suckers.. lol ... good luck ken

Awesome! They're killing it with the Prime series. My Prime Freedoms are already holding fruit, planted late last year. I have more Freedoms on order. If my growing conditions are anything to go by, the primes have very low chill requirements.