Ikea, Not sure why you would want to grow Arapaho, if that was your only blackberry. It is the least desirable of all the recent AR releases. The only reason to grow it is to extend the blackberry season, as it's the earliest ripening blackberry. However that early maturing comes at a cost. Berries are small (5g) and not very sweet with lower yields. I rogued ours out. Natchez is supposed to be the replacement for Arapaho and addresses some of those problems (however Natchez still has a relatively low brix, like Arapaho). Ouachita and Apache are larger and sweeter. Navaho hasn't fruited for me yet, but it's supposed to be the sweetest of all. One other note, I gave my daughter an Arapaho plant for her little garden spot, when I first planted them. It's a pretty shaded area close to the house. The blackberry didn't do much of anything, even though it was heavily mulched. However, a black raspberry didn't do much in that location either though.

Carol: That is what a logical person would do, of course. But I am not in a logical position anymore: We were out of the country for 4 years, so no gardenning. Then came back, buying the house and etc. so no gardenning that year. The following summer we put all the landscaping, that was last year. They were working in the good part of planting and growing season, so no gardenning, well minimal gardenning with some annuals and couple of perennials. Now, this year I am gardenning! They are going in and growing (hopefully) ASAP. Can you feel my pain? So, you know, I have no patience left to wait and study them anymore. But thank you for you suggestion. Sammy: If it is working don't fix it. If you never thought about it, it is working.

^^ What laylaa said. i think the correct answer is, "try it and see what happens". i was quite amazed, and had several people tell me i wouldn't be able to grow veggies in my yard, especially tomatoes, because i didn't get enough sun. hogwash. i actually had to stick my peppers under some other stuff so they only get filtered sun all day long, because the sun was actually doing them more harm than good. grow what you like. give it a shot. what is the worst that can happen? if you plan to container garden, please give serious thought about the root structure of your plants and moisture. for example, the first year i container gardened with tomatoes, i used ~1 gallon pots. i got maybe 3-4 good tomatoes on each plant (all were larger sized fruit producers rather than "cherry" sized). the following year, i stepped that up to 2 gallon pots and mulched the top of the pot and saw significantly better harvest and less watering. this year, i went to 4 gallon, 14" opening pots and mulch along with a "moisture control" soil product from Miracle Gro, and tied the store-bought cages to the side of the deck for support and they went completely ape! they're almost doing better than I'd see them do when planted in the ground. go figure? i've had a lot of people tell me i can't grow things here, can't do things there...and a lot of the time, it's totally inaccurate. many plants will grow in our climate. the main variation you will see based on light (from my experience) is color of foliage/quantity of flowering/quantity and quality of fruit. bottom line: don't be scared, be a pioneer! adventure! the worst that could happen is ... you'd become self-sufficient and not hafta hit the produce aisle at the store as often!

Before you listen to anyone, I don't think we know enough to give you adequate answers. Riddle me this - You get 4 hours of direct sunlight... - Is it morning sunlight, noon sunlight, or afternoon sunlight? - Is it direct sunlight or filtered sunlight? - Do you get any other sunlight (indirect, mixed shade, etc?) - Is your garden anywhere near a structure? For example, a southern wall of a house, anything that will store/reflect light and/or heat? Once you answer these questions, I think folks can adequately answer whether it's enough. Until this information is known, I would take what anyone else has answered above with a HUGE grain of salt. Not trying to be snarky, no offense intended to the previous posters. I just want to make sure dizzle is getting solid info based on specific situation. If you're getting four hours of noon/afternoon direct sunlight, your garden is on a south wall, I think you will be fine. If you get four hours of noon/after sunlight and some dappled sun through the morning or evening, I think you'll be fine. Morning light is insignificant, so if your four hours light are before 11am, I'd say - not enough for fruiting veggies. FWIW, in indirect sun or shade, I've grown peppers, cukes, herbs, salad greens and leafy veggies of all sorts. The correct answer to your question here is, really: GIVE IT A SHOT. I've had so many people tell me, "hey, you can't grow that in your conditions". 9 times out of 10, they were totally full of poop. You can grow almost anything in any condition, it just may not flower or fruit or color as well as it would in "optimal" conditions. You also may need to watch out for specific diseases or conditions (mildew from too much shade, wilting from too much heat). Always take everything with a grain of salt. And never be afraid to give anything a shot. Through experimentation, we learn a TON, and we're in a great zone (z7/z8) with a good solid climate and long growing season, without being too humid and having too sandy soil. I hope this helps. Stay skeptical and keep gardening!