Blackberry canes mostly dead after winter - Ask Extension
I planted (3) Caddo blackberry plants in Spring 2022. They seemed to grow well enough, but this spring most of the canes are mostly dead, and one is c...
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Blackberry canes mostly dead after winter #828741
Asked May 06, 2023, 5:32 PM EDT
I planted (3) Caddo blackberry plants in Spring 2022. They seemed to grow well enough, but this spring most of the canes are mostly dead, and one is completely dead. I would appreciate any thoughts on what might have gone wrong, and how to do things better.
Thanks
Carroll County Maryland
Expert Response
Hi- Caddo is a floricane-bearing blackberry. Flowers and fruit form on 2nd-year shoots. If you saw any flowers or fruits on the canes last year they were growing on floricanes, which die naturally at the end of the season. That would explain the lack of green growth this year.
If the browning/dying shoots were 1st-year shoots last year it's possible that the crowns were stressed (drought, poor establishment, soil issues, etc.) And root rots can cause dieback where soils are poorly drained.
A lack of new shoots emerging from the crown or roots this spring would indicate that the plants are declining and need to be replaced.
Jon
If the browning/dying shoots were 1st-year shoots last year it's possible that the crowns were stressed (drought, poor establishment, soil issues, etc.) And root rots can cause dieback where soils are poorly drained.
A lack of new shoots emerging from the crown or roots this spring would indicate that the plants are declining and need to be replaced.
Jon
