I'm a little bit puzzled as to why anything should rot on a blackberry tip cutting. Since the part you bury to root is still attached to the parent plant there should be no rotting at all. On the other hand it doesn't matter at all if mature leaves die on bramble cuttings this time of year. They're going to be shed anyway very soon.

not sure why it rots, but it's fairly consistent: the baby leaves (like those in the lower right of the image), which haven't fully spread out and flattened out, tend to die during the weeks-long rooting attempt.

Here in my berry patch, the blackberry growth slows way down and any cane tips that are forced against the soil (or where the soil meets an obstruction) stop forming leaves and form roots instead. So instead of making cuttings, just direct and staple the cane tips in autumn to a bare patch of soil, or into a pot. If there is significant regrowth in autumn, the last foot of cane could be cut loose; otherwise this is done next spring when new growth at the rooted tip site occurs. You might be trying this process too early during active growth.

I had assumed that was what the OP meant by 'tip cuttings' ie layering. If the stem is being cut off the parent before rooting it is much more likely to fail.

floral, you're right—i should have written "stem cuttings." i only started gardening seriously this year, so i'm still getting the hang of proper terminology.

i'm aware of tip rooting, and i've seen and read a bunch about it, and might even try it at some point. but for a variety of reasons, i'm trying to propagate via stem cuttings and having some success at it. i'm just trying to improve my technique and will be happy if i achieve at least a 50% success rate.

thanks for the tips, logician.

came home today to find a root sticking out of coco coir holding a 26-day old cutting. huzzah, the blackberry gods have smiled upon me.

scorecard to date: two stem cuttings have rooted, two have died.

additional thoughts on stem cuttings versus other propagation methods:

i like the mobility and compactness of stem cuttings. my stem cuttings are situated in coco coir in clear plastic cups, and i can move them about the house where the sunlight is greatest.

root cuttings require a mature plant, which is not an option for me at this time since i'm new to blackberry gardening. plus, i'd have to do some digging. (i'm getting a bellyful of digging to prepare a bed for my raspberries, so no thanks.)

propagation by suckering also requires my plants to be more mature than they are. it's also far less deliberate, more unpredictable.

as long as i'm going to tip the canes to increase fruit yield, i might as well put the tips to good use.

my fifth stem cutting, taken nine days ago, is surviving. because its leafy surface area is greater than that of my previous cuttings, i'm hoping the greater photosynthesis will also mean faster root production.

For trailing blackberries I've found cuttings to work best. Here's a rooting, and a rooted tayberry. They only root when taken from this year's canes.

In my experience it's best to leave the tip intact. That way they start growing immediately after rooting. First time I did this I cut away the tip to "promote root growth". The plant then did nothing for a month until it had replaced the tip. It actually grew one tip on both sides which is no good as they seem to bend and break off easily.

I had zero success in rooting erect black berries.

I've never tried cuttings. But the uprights root from layering with the tip sticking out of the ground and the trailing ones root from the tip being in the ground.

three of my first five stem cuttings have died. there's a sixth that's doing OK so far, but it's been only four days since i edwardscissorhandsed it. if it survives, i won't expect to see roots poking through the coir sac until about the four-week mark.

Are they from erect blackberries? I took one last tayberry cutting 4 weeks ago and it hasn't rooted yet, previously 3 weeks was enough. It must be the time of year, the plant might have been almost dormant when I cut it.

the time of year. . . that could be a factor, berry allen. another problem was that I might have kept the coir too soggy. the blackberry leaves got bright yellow as they slipped into oblivion. when I performed a post mortem, I didn't see any emerging roots.

hoping to maintain the right level of hydration in the coir for my sixth stem cutting.

awesome. my Nov 9 stem cutting is showing a root. time to transplant it into soil, then i'll place it outside in the next several days. when i leave baby blackberry plants indoors for too long (several weeks), spider mites seem to find their way to the plant. outdoors, the spider mites' enemies can teach them lessons.

all right, that's 3/6 blackberry stem cuttings that have rooted. since i'm not expecting anywhere near a 100% success rate, i'm pleased. now, let's see if i can get any of these rooted cuttings to become large, flourishing, berry-producing beasts.

the Nov 9 cutting rooted without the use of any rooting hormones. go, baby leaves, go.

Congrats! Do you know which variety it is?

thanks! i have three cuttings that have rooted and survived, but this one is the most lively of the bunch.

the cultivar is prime ark freedom. i believe i'm in compliance with its patent pending status; this cutting is not for resale or trade, but for personal use elsewhere in my garden.

i hear the PAF berries are tasty, and i'm hoping to experience in 2018 the joy of snarfing truly ripe blackberries. all the blackberries i've had from stores and in restaurants taste as if they've been picked too early, which makes sense, as once they're ripe, they should have very limited shelf/transportation life.

update: so far, i've had five of eight blackberry stem cuttings survive and root in coir. another stem died, but this was a wind-injured stem that i had to remove off the plant anyway; i thought i could plant it in coir and bring it back to life, but the stem had probably been broken too long for it to be resuscitated.

interestingly, i've had no success propagating cascade gold raspberry stems in coir; two cuttings have been situated in coir for more than six weeks, and the leaves had gradually taken on an unhealthy pallor with no visible roots emerging.

i have a raspberry stem that's been sitting in moist soil for almost four weeks, and though i don't see any roots showing at the edge of its clear plastic container, the stem's leaf still seems healthy, so my guess is that the cutting is working on it.