Once a cane stiffens, it will be able to support the weight of fruit and foliage better, making it less likely to break. Make sure that the pruning tools you use are clean, especially if they have previously come into contact with diseased or dead wood. Sign up for our newsletter. When pruning your blackberries, you'll need to treat first-year canes, called "primocanes," differently than second-year canes, called "floricanes." In late summer, you will be doing clean up blackberry pruning. It won't kill the plant. Heading also encourages lateral buds in the primocanes to develop into lateral branches. All tip submissions are carefully reviewed before being published. To do tip blackberry pruning, use a sharp, clean pair of pruning shears and cut back the blackberry canes to about 24 inches (61 cm.). While you are tip pruning, you can also prune off any diseased or dead canes. What do I do with the big stems that have shot up? As such, the plant can produce more fruit when it has more lateral branches. Here’s how to prune blackberry bushes in the early spring: Start by removing any dead or damaged canes. Cut a little of the tip off the top of it daily. In the early spring, you will be tip pruning blackberry bushes. Find more gardening information on Gardening Know How: Keep up to date with all that's happening in and around the garden. By using our site, you agree to our. Prune with bypass pruners all first-year canes to 3 feet in midsummer. In the summer, after the blackberries are done fruiting, you will need to do clean up blackberry pruning. This will keep the cane from growing taller. Discard spent floricanes and weak or damaged wood that you remove from the blackberry plant. They aren't very practical since they do not develop fruit, and once they grow too long, they start stealing too much crucial energy from the rest of the plant. If the canes are shorter than 24 inches (61 cm. They are spent after producing fruit, which is why you should remove them. wikiHow is a “wiki,” similar to Wikipedia, which means that many of our articles are co-written by multiple authors. % of people told us that this article helped them. Primocane blackberry ‘Reuben’ fruits on new canes produced that season so is pruned in February as for autumn fruiting raspberries. Primocanes are new or "first year" canes. You should wait until most of the winter passes so that you can take care of these damages spots while doing the rest of your pruning. Let’s take a look at how to trim blackberry bushes and when to prune blackberry bushes. Completely remove lateral branches from the lowest 18 inches (45 cm) on vigorous canes and lateral branches from the lowest 12 inches (30 cm) on weaker canes. Floricanes are usually second-year canes and are the canes responsible for producing the majority of the plant's fruit. or so of the cane. Heading causes the cane to stiffen. This article has been viewed 24,864 times. As the new canes start growing the following spring and summer, they need to be tied into their supports. Leave the lateral canes a bit longer on vigorous canes and a bit shorter on slower canes. The lateral branches are also the plant's fruiting branches. Suckers grow from the outside of the canes as small shoots that suck energy and nutrients from the rest of the blackberry plant. Late winter and early spring are best. Pruning blackberry bushes will not only help keep blackberries healthy, but can also help promote a larger crop. Learn more... Blackberries are perennial plants with root systems that last from year to year, but the plant's stems, formally called “canes”, are biennial, only lasting two years before being replaced by fresh growth. If you are planting a seedling, bush, or vine with well-established erect canes, do not prune them back. The "crown" of the cutting refers to the portion of the cutting that extends just above ground once the cutting is planted. Blackberries only produce fruit on canes that are two years old, so once a cane has produced berries, it will never produce berries again. Doing so stimulates the buds at the crown of the cutting, encouraging them to grow more vigorously. wikiHow is where trusted research and expert knowledge come together. Weak canes include any cane with a diameter less than 1/2 inch (1.25 cm) at its base. Blackberries producing satisfactory growth in their first year can be pruned according to standard annual requirements. Harsh winters can injure the tips of canes and laterals. "Clear and simple instructions that were easy to follow.". ), simply prune off the top inch (2.5 cm.) wikiHow is a “wiki,” similar to Wikipedia, which means that many of our articles are co-written by multiple authors. Do this pruning after you have already planted the cutting in the ground. As a result, the plant spends less energy on growing outward and more energy on its fruit producing branches. Tip Pruning Blackberry Bushes In the spring, you should be doing tip pruning on your blackberries. During active growth, primocanes are considered weak when they exhibit poor foliage growth, appear damaged, or show signs of disease. Remove weak primocanes when you cut off dying floricanes after your floricane harvest. This article has been viewed 24,864 times. They’re very easy to distinguish from the canes that will bear this year’s berries. Primocanes of vigorous, erect blackberries should be headed down so that they are 48 to 60 inches (122 to 152 cm) above ground. You should be able to see visible fruit stalks on the canes even after the berries have been removed. Tip pruning is exactly what it sounds like; it is cutting off the tips of the blackberry canes. Cutting these spent canes off the blackberry bush will encourage the plant to produce more first year canes, which in turn will mean more fruit producing canes next year. If you are working with a type of blackberry plant that does not produce root buds and only produces crown buds, simply remove weak canes measuring less than 1/2 inch (1.25 cm) in diameter at the base. Tip pruning is exactly what it sounds like; it is cutting off the tips of the blackberry canes. If you really can’t stand to see another ad again, then please consider supporting our work with a contribution to wikiHow. Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered. To create this article, volunteer authors worked to edit and improve it over time. Damaged canes, diseased canes, or dead canes should be cut off, as well, to prevent the possible spread of disease or insects. Keep reading to learn how to trim blackberry bushes both of these ways. When pruning blackberry bushes for clean up, use a sharp, clean pair of pruning shears and cut off at ground level any canes that produced fruit this year (two year old canes). Light pruning should be done in the summer, but heavy pruning should wait until the dormant season. Only remove the canes that bore fruit that year. We use cookies to make wikiHow great. If you notice winter damage on a lateral cane, cut it back far enough to remove this damage, even if doing so will shorten the branch more than usual. {"smallUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/images\/thumb\/0\/03\/Prune-Blackberries-Step-1.jpg\/v4-460px-Prune-Blackberries-Step-1.jpg","bigUrl":"\/images\/thumb\/0\/03\/Prune-Blackberries-Step-1.jpg\/aid4590401-v4-728px-Prune-Blackberries-Step-1.jpg","smallWidth":460,"smallHeight":345,"bigWidth":"728","bigHeight":"546","licensing":"