How to Manage Pests

Trellising caneberries

Blackberries should be trellised as soon as the canes are long enough to reach the middle wire. Early trellising will increase fruit production. Trellis systems need to be sturdy in their construction. They should be at least 4.5 feet high with the first wire about 1.5 feet from the ground and the second wire 1 foot above the first. If rows are longer than 6 feet, support for the middle of the row will be necessary to support the wires firmly. New canes can sunburn easily if left on the ground too long. Put up only the larger canes, called primocanes, and prune out the smaller ones. Small canes only produce small fruit. If your plants are spaced 3 feet apart, leave up to nine good canes per plant. Place the long canes in a fan shape to spread out the canes. The canes should be 6 - 8 feet long. Put them over the top wire, wrap once around the middle wire and then remove the tip. Tipping or removing the ends of the canes forces out the laterals on which fruit will be borne the following season. A cane that is not tipped will continue to grow. The farther the berries are from the crown of the plant, the smaller they will be.

For raspberries (see diagram), during mid- to late summer, tie new vigorous canes to the top wire, leaving the lower two wires on the ground. Let the canes grow through fall and winter. During the following May, reattach the lower training wire and gather up the canes inside the training wire. By August, new canes will be growing up though the center of the fruiting canes. Remove the canes that have fruited and again tie up the new canes onto the top wire.