I have 1 Prime Jan and 2 Ark 45 blackberries that I have had for two years. This was my first floricane crop and it was very good and about a week or two ahead of my other Arkansas blackberries. Last fall I had a decent fall crop due to a cool wet summer. This year has been hot and is still hot, calling for mid to high 90s all of next week. So far the fall crop has been very light. The plants are growing nicely but very little blooms, hope that changes as the weather cools.

For me the primocane yield is less than the summer yield by a fair amount, maybe half. Couple that with a 3 month ripening window equals few berries per day. I am a grazer and going by eating a couple berries a day suits me just fine. Don't expect to pick a gallon of berries at a time in the fall like you do in the summer unless you have a lot of plants.

c5tiger. I'm starting to get a pretty good picture of what to expect in berries and when they will be ready. I'm also one who likes to pick a few right off the vine and eat each day. Sounds like I may need about 6 plants to take care of that. I also freeze larger quantities that I plan to pick from other summer varieties. Thanks for every ones help. Any other comments are welcome.

Just thought I'd post a pic of one of my freedoms. I had to tie it up, as the branches of this one wanted to lay on the ground. This one's about a foot tall. I need to weed, I know, I know....

Colonel. Your plants look great especially for the short time you have had them. Wish I had ordered earlier. My estimated delivery is this Thursday and I am planning to have a home ready for them when they arrive. I don't expect much this year but a little bit of root development. We normally don't have frost/below 32 degrees until November so they will have about two months to get acclimated. Thanks for the picture. Bill

From the same nursery off amazon, I ordered a Passion flower and a flat of stevia. So far, all the plants were packaged nicely, but they all looked like they were in trouble. Everything ordered is doing great; not one plant has died.

Colonel. The Passion fruit has a beautiful flower. IâÂÂm not so sure what a person does with the fruit. The Passion fruit (Maypops to us) grow wild where I grew up. We tasted them when ripe and I had mixed feelings about the taste. Do you grow these for the flower or fruit? IâÂÂm also curious about your plans for the Stevia.

This post was edited by 2010ChampsBCS on Tue, Sep 2, 14 at 8:35

I mainly grow the Passion flowers for the flowers, but I just like to have useful plants that look nice. Passion flower tea has sedative qualities and the fruit is slightly sweet. I've completely stopped consuming refined sugar and just got the stevia on a whim. I'd like to try it in tea or limeades. No real solid plans at the moment. Since cutting sugar and quick burning carbs from my diet, I've dropped 35lbs! I was pushing 400, so I'll take anything!

Received my 3 Prime Freedom blackberry plants this morning. They arrived in what appeared to be good condition but small as expected. Two have been planted and one has been re-potted to a larger container. This was my first plant order through Amazon and I was pleased. The plants looked healthy and arrived early. I do believe that being in transit such a short time improved the arrival quality. Now I will see how they transition to real life.

Colonel. Thanks for the Stevia information. I have been considering trying to grow some for a sweetener because it is low carb. Walmart has stevia and I tried it but was not impressed with the taste. You may like it. For me the low carb lifestyle is the easiest way to loose weight. It is pretty much my way of eating now. I hope you will keep at the weight loss. Even though it is difficult you will be amazed at how much better you will feel when you get the weight off. Good Luck, Bill

Ordered mine last Oct. they chest to waist high. I have eaten a hand full already and there are about four green ones and a few blooms right now. I love the flavor. Can't wait til next year for full crop.

BKG1. Hope my Freedoms do as well as yours next year. It would be nice to at least be able to taste test them. I'm assuming that you are picking berries from the primocanes and the lower portion will be your late spring crop next year. As you can see I'm still learning the new pruning system for the Prime Arks. Bill

I too, question the growth of these prime plants. I'm a little unclear as to when they start producing - I know summer and fall crops, but is it new canes that shoot up around the start of fall/late summer that produce a first crop, or is the summer crop the first that's produced?
I guess I'll find out soon enough either way!

Prime Ark primocanes can come up any time during the growing season but generally need a certain amount growth / time before they will flower and fruit. A full grown Prime Ark primocane will be about 7ft tall, but you'll want to summer prune it when the cane is about 2-3ft, to stimulate lateral branching and to reduce the cane height. My Prime Ark 45s are producing about a pint of berries every couple of days now but I'm forced to pick them a little early due to fruit flies. They will produce until mid-to-late October for me.

JT, so by heading them, i guess you get more fruiting laterals on the primocanes? And Kernel, they fruit first on primocanes like fall bearing raspberries. I really don't need another fall crop, but at least with this plant I could at least get one crop. Even if the canes died in winter. Makes me rethink maybe i do need this plant?

Colonel. This is how I think our plants will grow/fruit. The dates are just estimates.

-Due to late planting, this yearâÂÂs small canes will fruit about May 21st 2015, and then cut back to the ground.

-The new primocanes that grow next spring 2015 will fruit on the top from about August-October then trim only the top that just fruited.

-About May 21st 2016 we will get our largest amount of berries from the section remaining from 2015 then cut this section to the ground.

-The new 2016 primocanes tops will ripen about August-October then trim the top that just fruited.

If anyone sees errors please post the corrections. Thanks, Bill

Drew. I guess we all have different needs. Late spring blackberries grow well in my area and then they are gone. I'm looking for varieties that will extend my fresh berries into the late summer months.

Thanks to all for the info! This helps me get a pretty good picture if what to expect.

I'm averaging about a 1/2 pint per day from my 5 Prime Ark 45 plants. It's good to have fresh blackberries!

Jtburton. Those look like there in very good condition. One of my concerns was that my hot humid summer weather might mess up the berry quality. Hope my Freedoms do that well. My intent was to extend the fresh harvest into late fall.

Last week, I ordered a Prime Arkansas Freedom through Amazon from Hirt Gardens. It arrived in two days and was in beautiful condition. When I started to transplant it, I noticed that the plant has thorns and I knew that the Freedom is thornless. I sent and email to Hirt with pictures about the problem and was given a complete refund immediately. The responding individual indicated that he would check his inventory to ensure against mislabling. Although I would rather have had the Freedom plant, I am very happy with Hirt Garden's cusomer service.

Charlie. The three Freedoms I ordered were also from Hirt. These plants were in the best condition that I have ever gotten from a mail order. Thankfully my plants had no thorns. Good luck on reordering if you choose to. Bill

My freedoms, Passion flower and stevia were all through Hirts. They all arrived packed quite nicely, but didn't look very good. I think it's mainly due to the heat in my area, because all are doing quite nicely now, since planting. The Passion flowers are blooming beautiful blooms everyday. I would recommend hirts, but reviews on amazon seem to be hit or miss with them. I'll have no issues ordering in the future!
JB - those fresh berries look delicious. They wouldn't last long at my house!

I live in southeast Texas, by the way. All my other berries are from bob wells nursery. I like using them. Everything they've sent has been healthily looking. I've had trouble with my royal cherries, but they'll be replacing them this fall. These people actually answer the phone when you call!!!

I have used hirts for ornamental plants and was quite happy with the purchases. Just thought I would mention that.

2010ChampsBCS,

The early summer crop on Prime Ark45 generally has better fruit quality than the Fall crop. We have had a few hot periods but also some unusually cool weather during July and consistent rain all summer.

My three Freedom blackberries arrived early and were packaged in what we call peanuts (Styrofoam). When I first saw the cardboard box I was thinking that the plants could not be in good condition. I opened the box and they appeared to be in excellent condition. I think this packaging method is perfect if they can ship quickly as they did.

Thanks to everyone for the post. Through you I have learned so much about the Freedom Blackberry.

One last thing..since your new blackberry plants are rather young and winter is fast approaching (in a couple of months or so), you might want to cover the new plants for the winter when it gets colder just to ensure that they live through this winter. Once they have established roots, then this should not be necessary.

Prime Ark primocanes are hardy to about 0F but their established roots will take at least -5F or better. This is from my experience last winter.

Last winter was the coldest winter for a longer period than I have ever seen in Northern VA (zone 7). I had an apache and a natchez that I planted just before the cold weather. I covered the apache but not the natchez. The natchez did not make it but the apache did. So, I second jburton's recommendation to cover. I still whish I had received the freedom blackberry. I would really like to try it.

A picture of my Prime Ark Freedoms I planted from plugs July 1 and so far I have 1 blackberry, not ripe yet. (Atlanta, Ga)

catfishhoward,

It might be the photo but I would be curious about the distance between you Prime Arks? I had trouble planting many of my plant too close to each other. A fully grown Prime Ark will be 7ft tall and 5-6ft in diameter. They will fill in to form a hedge if you let them but the denser the growth the less they will fruit due to the lack on sunlight. Thick growth also restricts air flow, promoting the growth of fungus...especially in humid climates. Just my 2 cents.

Yeah, I spaced mine about 4' apart, but now I'm thinking I should have went more than that. My brazos berries are bushing out quite a bit and I can already tell that I'm gonna have trouble due to the spacing. All the other varieties seem pretty tame compared , but everything is only just established at this point. Only time will tell.

On some of my blackberries a 12 foot spacing would be better, the things are crazy fast growers. I have plants throwing 20 foot vines, like three ot four each.

This season cane borers destroyed about 75% of my blackberry crop. The berries matured to different levels but none that was damaged reached a decent quality. With the damage in mind I have been planting a little closer hoping to cut out the damage canes and at least have a decent crop. Apparently cane bores do more damage in certain years. So far I'm seeing only a small amount of damage. Do any of you know the estimated date that all the swollen areas from cane borers will be visible and I can get my hopes up for a good 2015 season?

jtburton,

You noted that your fall crop for 5 Prime Ark 45's amounts to 1/2 pint per day. I am interested in the Prime Ark freedom. I have very little space. At that rate, It wouldn't work for me. However, I would be growing only the primocane crop, and then cutting them down for winter. Any idea how that would impact the fall yield? Thanks.

You all have convinced me! I have three Prime Ark Freedoms on order for next spring. It is a gamble in this climate, but I plan to cover the area with 1" stryrofoam blocks over winter so that hopefully the plants will at least survive. I have lots of room in a field to grow them, so if they don't survive, it isn't the end of the world. I suppose I need to wire them for rabbits and deer, though. Northwoodswis

This is an update picture of one of my three Freedom Blackberry Plants.

This was the smallest plug received on Sept. 2, 2014 and I decided to put it in a pot. It is about 15" high as of today. My winter low is usually no lower than 15 degrees. Our current lows are in the mid 40's. It needs to harden off before the colder weather arrives.

lsoh,

My Prime Ark 45's floricane crop didn't winter over this year, so I essentially had a primocane crop only this year. Mine started fruiting around Sept. 1st and have continued to fruit until now. Like most crops, your yield will diminish as the Fall season wanes. I had more fruit on the floricane crop last year than on the Fall crop this year but it is nice to have fresh blackberries until frost.

jburton,

Thanks.

jtburton.

Thanks for your update. The Fall crop is the time period I would like to be able to pick a few fresh berries each day. Hope my Freedom's do as well as yours.

Your production might be better or worse than mine based on a number of factors. One factor that negatively impacts my fruit production is sunlight. As the sun gets lower in the Fall sky, my berry patch gets less sunlight because of nearby trees. Fall also brings with it a different set of pests. SWD is an issue and so are yellow jackets in my area.

If you are in a lower hardiness zone (less than 6), then I would suggest checking your frost free days before planting Prime Arks. I get about 180 frost free days in my area. My Prime Arks start ripening around September 1st, which means that I have somewhere between 45-60 days of fruiting available before frost ends the crop. You'll need to do the math for your area to determine if you have enough frost free days available to get a crop. I suppose that if you try to cover them, you could extend the season some, but this variety is not that easy to cover due to their height.

I meant to write one FOOT square styrofoam blocks, not one INCH! I have a source for them free, in addition to having a lot of them on hand already, so I figure I will cut the canes in the fall and spread the blocks over the roots.. Cracks between the blocks will allow any rain to seep between them. I don't need a huge harvest, but want a few for some variety. As I said, I have plenty of room in a field for them. I actually prefer raspberries, but have never tried home-grown blackberries. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. If these fail, I will try some hardier thorned varieties, but I don't like wicked thorns. Northwoodswis

Just wanted to share a pic of one of my freedoms. This one has two canes, one of which has split into two main canes. I haven't tipped anything, it has just naturally grown this way. There's a couple of bamboo sticks in there just to keep them off the ground. I think I could remove them at this point. I had originally put them there because they were growing so fast, the main stem couldn't hold itself up. It's pretty substantial now.

Was ordering items from Amazon that weren't prime and needed $3 more to get free shipping. Looked at Garden seeds and saw some for Natchez thornless. Had just read an article about them so ordered them. It wasn't until I received them that it dawned on me that you probably can't grow them from seed and have them true to parent. Is this correct? I don't want to waste space on them if they won't be good or fruitful... Eventually.

JJOliger. I think your right. Seedling could be good plants but are most likely inferior. Good luck, Bill

For those who have planted Prime-Ark Freedom, how would you rate their vigor and erectness, compared to other thornless erect varieites? From the published literature from University of Arkansas (excluding that for Prime-Ark Freedom, because I haven't seen it) , it looks like Ouachita and Osage are the two most erect/vigorous varieties. I am wondering how Freedom compares to them.

The context for this question is that I want to plant a 6-foot tall hedgerow to conceal a fence and am looking to fill in the visual space as quickly as possible. I am planning on 2-foot spacing and tip-pinching to help them bush out.

Thank you.

carnealy. My Freedom plant were planted late in the season so I have no first hand information, however the Arkansas website from the developer shows normal erect size plants. I'm guessing that the Freedom or any of the other prime plants will accomplish your task. I also plan on using my blackberry plants to provide some privacy. Good luck. Bill

Hi...i got several of the Prime Ark Freedom Blackberries, one
plant has been in the ground 2 years the other 2 just since this
March.......the newly planted one is growing rather good with 1
Blackberry almost ready to pick , however that is it for the plant as
i'm assuming these are Primocanes, unless these are laterals off off the Floricanes ?

This was a 2 inch plug i got there was very little growth so all this
green growth i would assume is just laterals but as far as the rest of
the season goes since this is a double cropping blackberry and like a Raspberry the Fall Crop would be on the tips of the Primocanes.

I'm not that familiar with this cultivar at all, and or it's growth
habits, i got lots of suckers that have emerged as new plants so i'm
thinking eventually the fruiting laterals and buds will show up on
those.

If anyone has this variety familiar with the Summer and Fall Crop and about when the summer crop starts and when the Fall Crop starts i'm in New York ....Zone 7.
Here's a pic of my first Freedom Blackberry

As you can see the cane growing here is almost parallel with the ground with just one Berry
at the tip, i'm wondering will i get more berries on the rest of this
cane this Fall or have to prune it just below the fruited portion of the
cane here, or is it a lateral coming out of the crown not sure.

This pic shows the whole plant with the Primocane about 30 inches tall, the one on bottom and right could be a lateral off Floricane at base or a Primocane that grew weird like that

Any and all help is welcome