Well, much as I hate to say it, the berry plants I ordered from Texas last year, and got this spring, bit the bullet. So did the two I gave to my sister. I babied the things, but they just died little by little. I'm so disappointed, as I was counting on trading Brad some of those Maine-grown, flying piglets he offered! Haven't had much luck with plants that I've ordered through the mail, guess I've learned my lesson. They looked sooooo good in their video! I knew they wouldn't produce like the advertisement claimed, 20 to 30 gallons per plant when mature at 3 years, but I sure was hoping to get SOME off of them. Have to stick to locally grown stuff, I guess. Jan

-- Jan in CO (Janice12@aol.com), November 15, 2001

Answers

I'm disappointed in my bramble crop too. They're three years old and not squat. Read all the books, did what I thought was right and still nothing. My strawberries are doing great, it's the grapes, raspberries and blackberries that I need help with.

-- Mike in Indiana (mparish48@msn.com), November 15, 2001.

Jan, I assume you are referring to the DOYLE blackberry from Texas. I bit the bait, and ordered 5 plants, and the video, and the nutrients suggested. 4 died. the 1 left doesn't look too promising.

-- Charles Haddon Jr. (Buddybud@csranet.com), November 15, 2001.

Hi Jan..I learned awhile back to stick with what grows in this region so I just dig up wild ones, plant them in the little pasture, over the ugly stumps that haven't been gotten rid of yet..little fertilizer in the Spring and and hope for enough rain.. My neighbor ordered those climbing strawberrys he saw advertised.. He said there ought to be a law against that stuff..lol

-- Lynn(MO) (mscratch1@semo.net), November 15, 2001.

I got ten blueberry rootstock, different varieties, from Gurney's along with black and rasberries and all died bit by bit. So did the replacements they sent in guarantee. Seeds I bought this spring had a very low germination rate as well. Had a bad year due to Gurney's. I'll never order from them again.

-- Debbie Trimble (risingwind@socket.net), November 15, 2001.

Hi! Wow, you WANT blackberries??? Here in Oregon we try to hack out enough room just to stand freely with anything we can; machetes, weedwhackers, chain saws, D-9 cats... Of course I realize you're speaking about special high-producing types, but if you decide you'd like to try Oregon blackberries I'd be happy to send you some. Lol.

-- Leslie Coray (leslie@webolium.com), November 15, 2001.

Thought that blackberries only bear on second year canes.

-- paul (primrose@centex.net), November 16, 2001.

Jan, I'm so glad you posted this! I've been planning on ordering this variety ever since I read about them in MENS some years back. Only reason I didn't was because there was no mention about the flavor. I figured if they were incredibly sweet they would have mentioned that. Now I'll just stick with my wild brambles. Sorry you had such bad luck but you've probably helped a lot of people from a future disappointment!

-- Bren (wayoutfarm@skybest.com), November 16, 2001.

The video and a few articles about the folks raising these, show how large the berries are, how prolific the plants are, etc. They even have different varieties of berries planted on their farm to show folks the difference in production. Really tempting, but for the price, unless you have the perfect conditions, I think they are a total waste. My raspberries were eaten every year by grasshoppers before they could ripen, then the leaves were eaten, so I mowed them down. I love the berries, and would love to have them, but the only berry that grows well here is strawberries. Sigh. Guess I'll have to be content with them! Jan

-- Jan in CO (Janice12@aol.com), November 16, 2001.

A friend of mine mailed me 18 thornless heavy producing raspberry plants out of Washington state last fall. All but 2 died. The two that did make it, though, took off like wild fire! I planted those two in the semi shade of pine trees- the soil there is quite acidic, I believe, from all the pine needles. Since these plants are absolutely an unheard of variety, I have hopes that they will be as heavy producers here as they were in Washington.

-- Kevin in NC (vantravlrs@aol.com), November 17, 2001.

For all you berry lovers, I figured out the trick years ago. Dual trellis them, run your vines this year up one set. As they're fruiting, train some new canes from the groung onto another trellis for next year.When fruiting is done, cut canes off to the ground and strip the trellis to receive the next run. Come Spring, the canes are already there to put out berries, so energy is put into berry production and you get berries quicker. To protect against freezing, when dormant, roll in a hoop, bend over some stiff wire for sopport, cover with plastic, dirt on the edges, and lots of mulch on top.

-- Raymond L Gray (RorLGray@graytv.com), November 20, 2001.