Weeds are the biggest threat to your lingonberry plants. A thick mulch of wood chips around the plants can reduce that problem and improve soil structure, help retain moisture, and eventually add nutrients to the soil. Your lingonberries will not require much in the way of fertilizer. In fact, adding too much nitrogen increases the odds of your plant dying in winter. A better choice would be to top dress around your lingonberry plants with a little bit of aged compost or fish emulsion and leave them be. You can also use a complete fertilizer, such as 5-10-5 each spring.


Lingonberries perform well in raised beds and containers. You should protect your lingonberry plants from severe winds. Lingonberry plants are sensitive to chlorides, which means your need to keep them away from chlorinated pool water, de-icing salts, and fertilizers containing potassium chloride.


Lingonberry pests and diseases

Birds, bears, and foxes love lingonberries. So do aphids, armyworms, mealybugs, and whiteflies. Bacterial leaf spot and gray mold may occur, but these diseases can often be prevented by not watering from above. Instead, use soaker hoses or furrow irrigation to keep water off the leaves.


Not everyone lives where lingonberries grow. If you do, you owe it to yourself to give them a try.

Gooseberry pests and diseases

Gooseberry plants are susceptible to several fungal diseases, such as American gooseberry mildew, anthracnose, currant cane blight, gray mold, and septoria leaf spot, so avoid overhead watering and be sure to provide good drainage.


In North America, gooseberry sawflies (Nematus ribesii), also known as currant sawflies and imported currantworms, are the most common pest. Aphids, brown marmorated stink bugs, currant borers, gooseberry fruitworms, and clearwing moths may also cause problems. And birds.


Note: If you live in New Hampshire, North Carolina, or West Virginia, you are not allowed to grow gooseberries or other Ribes plants. If you live in Massachusetts, New Jersey, Rhode Island or Delaware, you’ll need a permit. These bans are in place because Ribes can carry white pine blister, an imported Asian rust fungus that has devastated high elevation pine forests.


Thanks to reader Carol Peck, I learned that California hosts several native edible gooseberry varieties. These include canyon gooseberry (Ribes menziesii), flowering gooseberry (R. speciosum), hillside gooseberry (R. californicum), Santa Lucia gooseberry (R. sericeum), Sierra gooseberry (R. roeslii), spreading gooseberry (R. divaricatum), and yellow gooseberry (R. quercetorum). Thanks to Carol Peck for the information!


If you are lucky enough to live where you can grow gooseberries, give them a try. These shrubs are very prolific and the fruit is delicious!

Yesterday, I harvested my first sun-warmed, tangy-sweet raspberry of the season.

Currants are edible plants, native to the northern hemisphere.


Not to be mistaken with the tiny black raisins made from black Corinth grapes, currants are members of the Ribes family, along with gooseberries and jostaberries (a cross between currants and gooseberries).


​Most Americans are unfamiliar with currants because they were banned in 1920. This ban was put in place because currants are co-hosts, along with white pine, to white pine blister rust (Cronartium ribicola). This fungal disease was devastating to white pines on the east coast. That ban was lifted, in 1966, as resistant cultivars were developed.


​The small, pea-sized fruits can be red, pink, white, or black and are produced in clusters called ‘strigs’. Currants are tart, so they are not usually eaten fresh. They are more commonly used for jams, jellies, pies, syrups, wine and brandy. The flowers are also edible.

Currant plants are thornless, deciduous shrubs that make excellent additions to native gardens. They are drought tolerant and provide food and shelter to many indigenous birds. Native Americans frequently used currants as both food and medicine. In particular, they used currant roots to treat menstrual and menopausal problems. Scientists have found that currant roots and seeds contain high levels of gamma-Linolenic acid, a chemical known to be effective for those same issues.


Currant varieties

According to Wikipedia, there are black currants, red currants, and white currants. According to the University of Massachusetts, “Species are Ribes rubrum (most red currants and some whites), R. petraeum (white), R. vulgare (pink, white, and red), and R. nigrum and R. ussurienses (black). Native currants… belong to the species R. odoratum."


My order of Golden Currants (Ribes aureum) just arrived. Clearly, there is some confusion. Here’s the bottom line, as well as I can figure: 

• Ribes rubrum - red and white currants are really the same plant with different colored fruit; an upright shrub from northern Europe
• Ribes sativum (R. vulgare) - a large-fruited spreading shrub from western Europe
• Ribes petraeum - a vigorous shrub from Europe and north Africa
• Ribes aureum (R. odoratum) - native to North America (except southeastern U.S.); drought tolerant; smaller shrub with yellow flowers; loses its leaves in late August

How to grow currants

Traditionally, currants grow in cool climates with fertile, well-drained soil, where they are found in full sun or partial shade. Currants prefer heavier soil and more shade. Mulch can be used to keep roots cool and moist in summer. Most currant bushes reach 3 to 5 feet in height, but they can go as tall as 9 feet, under ideal conditions. Currents can be grown in large containers. Currants are normally purchased as bare root stock or young saplings that were propagated from hardwood cuttings. These young currant bushes need a lot of water to get established, but are very drought tolerant later on. Currents also need a lot of potassium. My clay garden soil tends to have plenty of that, so no treatment is needed around here. Most currant plants are self-pollinating, but production is significantly higher per plant with multiple plants nearby.


Pruning currants

Currants can be pruned as shrubs or trees, depending on your preferences and the plant’s location. Currants should be pruned once a year in winter using a method called renewal pruning. Renewal pruning ensures that there are fruit-producing 2- and 3-year old stems each year. Use the following pruning schedule on currants:

• Year One -  remove all but up to three stems at ground level
• Year Two - remove all but two or three of the previous season’s new stems 
• Year Three - repeat Year Two
• Year Four and ever after - remove any stems that are more than 3 years old and trim back any low-hanging branches

Pests & diseases of currants

Aphids, mites, currant borers, and the larva of some moths and butterflies are really the only pests that bother currants. Problems are more commonly caused by mineral imbalances in the soil or improper irrigation. Rust, powdery mildew, anthracnose, and leaf spot can sometimes appear on currants.


Since currant flowers tend to appear early in the season, sometimes as early as February, they provide pollen and nectar to our earliest pollinators. This helps set the stage for a more productive year overall. Each bush can produce up to 10 pounds of fruit, so it won’t hurt to leave some behind for the birds.


Add some native golden currants to your home garden in early spring or late fall for many years of fruit and flowers!

Blueberry varieties

There are three main types of blueberry plant: southern highbush, northern highbush, and rabbit eye. Southern highbush and rabbiteye varieties often perform well in higher temperatures. Generally, the northern highbush types need more chilling hours than my garden can provide. Even when they do grow, the fruit often lacks good flavor. Also, the northern highbush types will take longer to start producing fruit in warmer areas. Two popular southern highbush varieties for warm areas are Southmoon and O’Neal. Santa Clara County Master Gardener offer this list of blueberry plants that perform well in warmer climates.


Prepare for planting

Blueberry plants are nearly always sold as 1-gallon yearlings.These young plants will benefit from 7 to 10 days of acclimation, or hardening off, after growing in a greenhouse. Be sure to keep the soil moist but not soggy. The root system is a hairy ball that should never be allowed to dry out completely. If it does, the plant dies. At the same time, too much water can set the stage for fungal disease. Yeah, I know - picky, picky, picky! Of course, once you start picking scrumptious blueberries off your very own edible hedge, you’ll realize it’s well worth the effort. 


How to grow blueberries

So, choose the best varieties for your microclimate and taste. Even though most blueberry plants are self-pollinating, you will get a substantial increase in both fruit quantity and quality through cross-pollination with multiple plants. Plants should be spaced 4 to 6 feet apart. Blueberries perform best with 6 to 8 hours of sunlight each day, so select the site accordingly. Good drainage is important, too, so be sure to amend the planting area with plenty of aged compost. This is critical in area with compacted clay soil. Plants should be placed with the crown at soil level. Since blueberries have a shallow root system, you can help them stay happy and healthy by mulching and watering regularly in summer. Blueberries can also be grown in containers.


Feeding blueberries 
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Blueberries seem to prefer ammoniacal nitrogen based fertilizers over nitrate based. I have heard tell that blueberries do not take up the nitrogen in nitrate based fertilizers. Too much nitrogen can burn blueberry plants, so do not feed until leaves have emerged, and then feed sparingly.


Acidifying blueberry soil

Blueberries prefer a soil pH of 4.5 to 5.5, while most San Jose, California soils are 7 or higher. This means that you may want to acidify your soil. To really know what you are working with, have your soil tested by a reputable lab. Over-the-counter test kits and strips are unreliable. Unless you want to spend hundreds of dollars on lab equipment, lab tests are really the only way to go. If it ends up that acidification is needed, try amending the soil with coffee grounds, citrus rinds, or oak leaves. You can also buy commercially available acidifiers. Keep in mind that changing pH is a slow process and that it requires regular monitoring.


Blueberry pests and diseases

Citrus thrips, katydids, light brown apple moth, masked chafer, blueberry bud mites, cranberry weevils, scale insects, Pacific flathead borers, plum curculio, sharp nosed leafhoppers, spotted wing drosophila, span worms, and Asian longhorn beetles will all try attacking your blueberry plants, but birds will probably cause the most damage. Personally, I built cage frames around my blueberry bushes and stapled netting to the frame. It works very nicely. Common blueberry diseases include twig blight, canker, stem blight, mummy berry, anthracnose, and blueberry stunt disease. Removing dead or diseased canes and treating with dormant oil can go a long way toward protecting your blueberry plants.


Your blueberry plants can live for 20 years, producing fruit after the third year. 

Did you know that the fruit of a pomegranate tree is a berry? That’s if you ask a botanist. Like other berry plants, pomegranates (Punica granatum) have spiny branches and delicious fruit.


When I was a child, growing up in the San Fernando Valley, there was an empty lot down the street. On that lot was a giant old pomegranate tree. It had grown up and out and down, almost like a willow, creating a magical circular space underneath. No one could see us from outside the tree, the growth was so thick! We would pick sun-ripened pomegranates from the outside of the tree and then enter our Secret Clubhouse, where we would tell stories and make wild guesses about growing up, as we munched on the sweet-tart fruity seeds. These healthful fruits are perfectly suited to growing in drought-prone areas. With a small initial investment of time, money, and water, your family can enjoy fresh pomegranates for many years to come.

Pomegranate varieties

Before you buy a pomegranate tree, be sure that the variety you are buying is an edible and not an ornamental. There is no sense dedicating space and water to an inedible variety when you can have an edible! Pomegranates grow in a variety of colors and sizes. Rinds can be red, yellow, pink, orange, green, and even black. Some varieties have seeds that are very hard, while others are softer. The most popular cultivars in California are ‘Wonderful’, ‘Granada’, and ‘Foothill’. The later two are early season varieties. UC Davis offers a helpful Pomegranate Cultivar Chart to help you select the best variety for you and your family. Both ornamental and edible types can be self-pollinating or cross-pollinated by hummingbirds and insects. It takes a pollinated flower up to 7 months to produce an edible fruit.


How to grow pomegranates

Pomegranates are a very tolerant plant, when it comes to soil types and irrigation. They prefer full sun and hot summers, but they can handle some partial shade. Pomegranates will founder in wet soil or full shade, so choose your site accordingly. Pomegranates can be grown from seeds, but it will take a few years before you get any fruit, and pomegranate seeds do not always grow true to the parent plant. You can also plant rooted cuttings or bare root trees. Grafting does not work for pomegranates. Newly planted trees should be watered every day until new growth is seen. Then water only once a week (assuming it doesn’t rain). Keep weeds away with mulch, just be sure the mulch stays 6 to 8 inches away from your pomegranate.

Pruning pomegranate

Pomegranates are deciduous trees that can grow up 30 feet in height and 15 feet wide (most are 6 to 12 feet tall). Pomegranates produce fruit on second-year wood, so you will want to make sure that you leave some of the last year’s growth when pruning. Pomegranates can be pruned as full-sized trees, hedges, landscape anchors, or shrubs. They can also be grown in containers. You can even create bonsai and topiary from pomegranate! 


Pomegranate pests & diseases

Like tomatoes and citrus, pomegranates are susceptible to citrus fruit split. Other diseases that can turn up include Alternaria rot, Armillaria root rot, Botrytis blight, and other fungal diseases, especially if plants are over-watered. Common pests include whiteflies, fruit flies, ants, cotton aphids, mealybugs, soft scales, leaf-footed bugs, and the pomegranate butterfly.


Eating a pomegranate

Those little seeds are tasty, but getting to them can be a pain. The easiest way I have found is to cut the fruit in half, hold one half peel side up, over a bowl, and beat the bejeezus out of it with a wooden spoon. The seeds fall out and the rest of it tends to stay put. It is easy to remove any other debris simply by adding water to the bowl: the fruit sinks and everything else rises. Viola!


Pomegranates grace holiday tables, a symbol of prosperity, but you can add them to your yard or balcony for some  prosperity of your own!

Nothing compares with the sun-warmed sweetness of a raspberry freshly plucked and popped into your mouth!

Once the plants are established, they can produce fruit for decades. In addition of the traditional red raspberry, you can also find cultivars that are golden, purple, and black.


How to grow raspberries

Raspberries love water. Sunburn is a common sign that your raspberries are not getting enough water. Our raspberries get nearly daily waterings from the bucket of water we collect in the shower as we wait for the water to heat up, at least when it’s not raining. At the same time, our heavy clay soil can also lead to drowning if there is too much water. Since raspberries have relatively shallow roots, regular light watering is better than less frequent deep watering. ​

Raspberries prefer cooler, damp weather, but you can recreate those conditions by adding them to a shade garden or growing them in containers under a pergola or on a shady balcony. The plants need lots of sun but they prefer a little shade in the heat of the afternoon. Raspberries grow best in soil with a pH of 5.5 to 7.0. They love raised beds, and fence lines provide the perfect medium for trellising. If the cane tips reach the ground, rather than producing fruit, new roots will form, so trellising is a good idea. That’s how bramble fruits spread in the wild. They also spread using underground stems called stolons.


While you can start raspberries from seed, it is much more satisfying to start with cuttings, dormant bare-root plants, or potted seedlings. You should remove any damaged roots or stems before planting your raspberries in a shallow hole, making sure that the crown is slightly above soil level. Spreading the root mass out, covering with soil, and mudding them in to eliminate air pockets will help your plants get a good start in their new location. Be sure to water well, to help the soil settle. Plants should be placed 2 to 3 feet apart and new plants should be trimmed down to be only 6 inches tall, to encourage strong root growth. Black and purple raspberries should be spaced 3 to 4 feet apart.


Raspberry plants have perennial roots and crowns that grow new canes each year. These new green canes are called primocanes. Then they turn brown and go dormant over the winter, to one degree or another. In spring, these now 2-year old canes are called floricanes. Flowers and fruit are only produced on floricanes, so you don’t want to prune them out.


Fruit production varies between everbearing and summer-bearing varieties. Summer-bearing raspberries bear one crop in summer on two-year old canes, while everbearing cultivars have two crops, one small crop in summer on new canes and one heavier crop in fall on two-year old canes. Everbearing cultivars are sometimes called fall-bearing. It is a good idea to check with your local Cooperative Extension Office to find the best cultivar for your location.


How to prune raspberries

Raspberry pruning methods will vary, depending on the cultivar. Fruit-producing canes of summer-bearing red and yellow raspberries should be cut to ground level after harvest and removed. Thin primocanes to no more than 4 or 5 per foot. Fall-bearing raspberries can be treated the same as everbearing varieties, if you want both the summer and fall crops. Otherwise, leave the canes in place for an extra year. If you are growing black or purple raspberries, you will need to pinch the canes when they reach 2 to 2-1/2 feet in height and then again two or three times during the summer. This will promote lateral cane growth for more fruit. Be sure to remove any dead or damaged canes whenever you are working your bramble fruits. Canes left to grow a third year may produce some fruit on the lower part of the canes but they should be pruned out after that to make room for new canes and to reduce the spread of disease.


Raspberries pests and diseases

Raspberry pests include borers, spider mites, aphids, and Fuller Rose Beetles. Fungal diseases, such as yellow rust, and raspberry leaf curl can also be a problem. Healthy plants are far less likely to be vulnerable, so you will want to feed your raspberry plants each time they start a new bloom cycle. According to UC Davis, 3 to 6 pounds of blood meal, feather meal, or fish meal should be applied for every 100 feet of row. Most of us don’t have a 100 feet row of raspberry plants, so I did the math and it works out to approximately 1 to 2 ounces per plant.


Raspberries are self-fertile, which means you can get fruit from a single plant. If you really love raspberries, and have the room, you can grow a raspberry hedge as part of your edible landscape!


Note: If you have never grown raspberries before, you may be surprised to learn that they ripen unevenly. One part of a berry will look ripe days before the rest of it does. This is okay, simply wait (if you can!) for the entire berry to ripen before picking.

Sunny days and cool nights make the best strawberries.


Like many other edible plants, strawberries grown and harvested at home tend to have much better flavor than store-bought varieties. While strawberries are grown commercially as annuals, they are actually a perennial plant.


Technically, they are not berries at all! Strawberries are actually aggregate fruits, along with raspberries and blackberries. And those tiny seeds are a special variety of seed known as an achene, which is actually a dried fruit!

How to grow strawberries

Strawberries make excellent container plants. They grow very well in towers, raised beds, narrow planter boxes, and even rain gutters can be used. Ideally, containers should be 6 - 8” deep and at least 18” long. Potting soil mixed with aged compost or organic fertilizer should be used to provide plenty of nutrients. Use these steps to successfully grow strawberries in the ground:

• Select a sunny location where members of the nightshade family (tomatoes, peppers, eggplants) have not been planted in the past 3 years.
• Clear the planting area of all weeds.
• Amend the soil with aged compost or manure and fertilize with alfalfa meal.
• Build rows that are 6” tall and 10” wide, with each row being 28” apart.
• Cover the planting area with straw.
• Plants should be placed 10 - 14” apart. 
• Crowns should be at or just above the soil line after watering.
• Drip irrigation is ideal because it keeps the soil moist.
• Prune any runners the first year to encourage fruit and root development.

Strawberry varieties

Strawberries are classified as either “day-neutral” or “short-day” varieties. Day-neutral strawberries, also known as “everbearing", flower and produce fruit year round, peaking April through October. Aptos and Fern are popular everbearing strawberry plants. Short-day varieties, such as Pajaro, Seascape, Tioga and Chandler, produce more as days become shorter, in fall, through early spring. 


Strawberry pests & diseases
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Slugs and snails, earwigs and sowbugs will eat fruit that is lying on the ground, which is why a barrier of straw is used to cover strawberry beds. Keeping fruit off of the ground will also reduce berry rot. Powdery mildew, Botrytis fruit rot (gray mold), Verticillium wilt, and leaf spot diseases are common on strawberries.


Strawberries occasionally undergo a process called vivipary, in which each tiny seed sprouts a leaf.

Sweet, juicy summer favorites commonly include strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries. Of course, in the world of botany, you'd be wrong on most counts.


What are berries?​

Botanically, berries are the fruit (pericarp) produced by a single ovary. By this definition, the following plants are all berries:

Berries that are not berries

Strawberries and raspberries are not berries. Weird, right? Strawberries are accessory fruits. The flesh of an accessory fruit is not made from the ovary. Instead, it is a protective growth from surrounding tissue. Raspberries and blackberries are aggregate fruits. Aggregate fruits are made from single flowers, but many ovaries that are held together in a cluster. Speaking of clusters, what about grapes? Yep, grapes are, by definition, berries.

Cultivated berries

Plants that produce berries are called baccate or bacciferous. [I wonder if that name comes from Bacchus, the Roman god of wine.] Most berries are sweet and delicious, but not all of them. Potato flowers produce berries, but don’t eat them - they’re poisonous! Elderberries and mulberries are fine to eat when ripe, but poisonous when unripe. People have been eating berries for as long as we have existed, but we’ve only been cultivating them for a few hundred years, so there’s probably a lot more to learn.


Berry plant basics

Generally speaking, nearly all berries are shallow-rooted plants that prefer southern or western exposure. They do best in loose soil, so you can help berry plants by working a lot of compost into any heavy clay before planting, especially for blueberries. Soil compaction will seriously interfere with berry production. The use of deep-rooted green manure crops, such as hairy vetch, mustard, fava beans, marigolds, or rye before planting will help loosen the soil, add nutrients, and reduce erosion in berry plantings.


Berries do well in raised beds and they prefer soil with a pH of 6.2-6.8 (slightly acidic). My soil tends to be more alkaline, and our water supply is very alkaline, so regular acidification may be necessary.
Over-the-counter pH tests are very useful in this regard, unlike DIY soil tests. I urge you to get your soil tested by a lab.


Berry pests and diseases

While each species has its own particular problems, most berries are susceptible to verticillium wilt and other fungal diseases. Crops should be rotated every 5 years to interrupt the pathogens’ life cycle. Commercial berry growers regularly fumigate with methyl bromide to combat black root rot. Methyl bromide is an ozone-depleting chemical that has been phased out of use in most other countries. You can help harvested berries last 30% longer by storing them in the refrigerator and only washing them just before eating.


Strawberry
​
People started cultivating strawberries commercially in the late 18th century. The Romans thought its wild cousin had medicinal uses due to the heart-shaped berry. Strawberries require an accumulation of 200-300 hours of temperatures between 32-50 °F to break dormancy. These are called chill hours. Strawberry flowers look hermaphroditic but they function as either male or female. New plants can be propagated using runners. If you want fruit, remove the runners. Like potatoes, strawberries are especially well suited to planting in towers. Powdery mildew, leaf spot, and leaf blight are common diseases, and pests include ants, fruit flies, slugs, moths, thrips, weevils, mites, and aphids.


Blueberry

Did you know that blueberries were not domesticated until 1911? Unlike strawberries, most blueberry varieties need 650-850 chill hours. What this means in warmer areas is that blueberry bushes may not know what to do with themselves after an extremely mild winter, Blueberries love acidic soil. They perform best in soil with a pH of 4.2-4.8. You can acidify soil by adding sulphur. Be sure to follow package directions when adding sulphur. According to researchers at Cornell University, nitrate-based fertilizers can be toxic to blueberries.


Blackberry/raspberry

Blackberries and raspberries are close cousins. Due to color variations, sometimes the only way to tell the difference is to pick them. If the torus (receptacle stem) stays with the fruit, it’s a raspberry, if it separates from the fruit, it’s a blackberry. Both varieties are called bramble fruits or caneberries, because the fruit is produced on bristly canes each year. First year canes (primocanes) produce palmately compound leaves and no flowers. Second year canes (floricanes) do not get longer. Instead, they produce lateral buds with 3-5 leaflets. At the ends of these lateral buds, fruit is produced on short stems called racemes. These members of the Rubus genus don’t seem to care what type of soil they are in.


​The most common problem with Rubus plants is insufficient pollination. You can improve the odds of pollination by installing plants that attract pollinators. Keep in mind, every time the tip of a cane reaches the ground, a new plant will start to grow, so it is important to trellis these berries, unless you want an impenetrable bramble patch! Birds, caterpillars, aphids, weevils and beetles are the biggest  pests. Anthracnose cankers can be treated with Bordeaux mixture (lime, water and copper sulfate).  Raspberries should not be planted where peppers, eggplants, tomatoes, bulbs or potatoes have been grown. These plants are often hosts for verticillium wilt, which can stay in the soil for many years.


​Traditional folklore says you should not harvest blackberries after Old Michaelmas Day (October 11th), because the devil has spit on them. Though it sounds funny, the truth behind the fiction is that cooler wet weather can cause certain molds to start growing on the fruit and may make it toxic. Once established, blackberries and raspberries will come back, year after year.

Currants

In 2015, I installed three young currant seedlings. They do well in our area and the fruit is delicious, but the summer heat really took a toll. There are three basic varieties of edible currants: blackcurrant, redcurrant, and white currant. They are, along with gooseberries, members of the Ribes genus. Despite the name, these fruits are not related to the dried currants used in baking; those are a type of grape. If you want to grow currant berries, you can’t live in New Hampshire, North Carolina, or West Virginia. If you live in Massachusetts, New Jersey, Rhode Island or Delaware, you’ll need a permit. These bans are in place because Ribes can carry White Pine Blister, an imported Asian rust fungus that has devastated high elevation pine forests. Currants generally prefer cool, well-drained soil, in partial shade or full sun. In our warmer climate, they prefer heavy soil (yay!) and partial shade. They can be grown as either shrubs or trees. Fruit is borne on spurs of 2- and 3-year old wood. Pests include aphids, spider mites, imported currantworms, and currant borers. Currants need a lot of potassium, but they are sensitive to potassium chloride, a common ingredient in fertilizer.


Whether or not it’s technically a berry, you can add these plants to your garden or foodscape for many years of delicious fresh food.

Have you ever seen strawberries with leaves growing out of the fruit? This is called vivipary.

Vivipary, also known as phyllody, describes a condition that occurs when the embryo within the seed breaks through the seed coat while still attached to the parent plant. Viviparity mean “giving live birth’. Viviparity is normal for mammals, but it looks strange when strawberries and other plants do it.


When strawberries begin to exhibit vivipary, the tiny black seeds on the surface, called achenes, are actually sprouting leaves! These fuzzy strawberries are still edible, but the tiny leaves don’t taste very good. After showing it to all your friends and neighbors, you could try planting the viviparous strawberry, but you wouldn’t have any luck. Strawberry seeds that develop viviparously generally do not develop any roots.


Vivipary in strawberries is rare. While vivipary in other plants can be caused by phytoplasms (bacteria-like parasites carried by leafhoppers), physiological damage is the culprit in strawberries. This damage occurs in runners held in cold storage or subject to freezing temperatures during the winter.


So, protect your strawberry plants in winter and enjoy those luscious fruit in summer without tiny leaves attached!

People have been enjoying blackberries for thousands of years and blackberries are native to North America. This delicious perennial edible can be grown up a fence, trellised, or even on a window sill garden! While you will not get fruit the first year, a healthy blackberry plant can produce fruit for decades.


Blackberry behavior

Blackberry (Rubus fruticosus) plants propagate by sending suckers up from the roots and by generating roots where stems touch the ground. Because of the blackberry’s ability to propagate so readily, some gardeners consider them to be a pest. Rather than looking at this behavior as a negative, you can take advantage of this tenacious fruit producer in your garden!

Blackberries grow from a perennial root system, putting out new biennial stems (canes) each year. In a blackberry cane’s first year, when it is called a primocane, it will reach its full length without producing fruit. In its second year, it becomes a fruit producing floricane. The fruit is produced on racemes found at the tip of lateral buds. After the second year, the cane dies, making room for the next year’s crop. Botanically speaking, blackberries are not berries at all. Like raspberries, they are an aggregate fruit made up of small drupelets.


First and second year canes are often covered with numerous sharp prickles, mistakenly called thorns. Prickle-free (thornless) varieties are available. I have heard from several growers that thornless varieties produce bigger fruit, but that varieties with prickles have far better flavor. Personally, I’ll take quality over quantity any day!


There are two basic cultivars of blackberries: erect and trailing. Erect blackberries have stiff canes that arch. While not completely self-supporting, erect blackberries tend to grow into huge thickets if not pruned. Trailing cultivars, also known as dewberries, will spread horizontally across the ground. If you live in a cold area, there are even late-season blackberry varieties that can produce late summer crops. The University of California provides an excellent list of blackberry cultivars.


How to grow blackberries

Blackberries are rugged. In the wild, they grow best near creeks, in alluvial soil. Blackberries can be grown in containers, as long as they are at least 5 gallons in size. Blackberries can be grown in poor soil and will transform an empty lot into a fruit-producing thicket, left unchecked. Blackberries do best in raised beds where drainage and weeds are more easily controlled. To plant your blackberries, follow these tips for the best results:

• Select a sunny spot with good drainage. Standing water will kill blackberries.
• To improve sun exposure, plant multiple rows in north-south directions.
• If you are going to use a trellis, install it before planting. 
• Dig a hole that is 4-6” deeper and wider than the bare roots or potted plants. If your soil is heavy clay, be sure to rough up the edges of the hole to gives roots a toe-hold.
• Plants should be spaced 2-4’ apart, with 8-10’ between rows.
• Spread the roots out within the hole and cover with aged compost and planting soil.
• Make sure that the crown (where the roots meet the stem) is at the same level as the surrounding soil.
• Cut the new canes to 6” in height at initial planting.
• Water well but do not feed.
• Mulch within 12-18” of each plant to keep weeds down and moisture in.
• If the first summer is hot and dry, water every 7-10 days. Once the plants are established, they will only need 1-2” of water per week, mid-May through October, which is great in areas experiencing drought! I use water collected from the shower, as it heats up.

Pollination is critical for fruit production. If blackberries are being grown indoors, hand-pollination will be needed. To hand-pollinate, simply take a fine paintbrush or Q-tip and touch each flower repeatedly every day until the flower begins to turn brown. To protect your outdoor pollinators and other beneficial insects, avoid using chemical pesticides during bloom time.


Blackberry pruning and training

Like other cane berries, blackberries are very low-maintenance once established. After a cane has produced fruit, it can be removed. This cuts down on the thicket effect and it encourages the root system to generate new canes that will produce even more fruit.


First-year canes can be pruned to a manageable size or trained onto a trellis. It is a good idea to wear long sleeves, long pants, and heavy gloves when working with blackberries. Those prickles are sharp!


Harvesting blackberries

Blackberries are green when they are red. This old saying reminds blackberry growers that unripe blackberries are red. They become ripe 2-3 weeks later, when the fruits are black, but still firm. Do you know how to tell blackberries and raspberries apart? Hint: It’s not the color. The only way to really tell the difference between blackberries and raspberries is to look at the way the fruit comes away from the torus, or stem. If the torus comes with the fruit, it is a blackberry. If the torus breaks away from the fruit, it is a raspberry.


British folklore warns against picking blackberries after Old Michaelmas Day (October 11) because the devil is said to have spit on them! This tradition has a reasonable explanation in science. As cooler, moist weather kicks in, several types of mold can begin to grow on the fruit which can make it toxic. So, enjoy your blackberries before October 11th and leave the rest for the birds!


Blackberry pests & diseases

As rugged as blackberries are, there are still some pests and diseases to watch for. Deer, birds, and other critters will try to enjoy your harvest before you do. Netting can help, but it’s a pain to take off. Many varieties of caterpillar will also happily munch on fruit and leaves, so monitor plants every few days in spring and hand pick those beasties. You can always feed them to your chickens!


Being close cousin to raspberries, blackberries are prone to many of the same pests and diseases. In either case, watch for signs of these blackberry (and raspberry) pests:

• Blackberry aphids (Amphorophora rubi) are large green aphids that cause leaf curl and can transmit disease.
• Crown borers (Pennisetia marginata) are moths that look like yellow jackets. Eggs are laid on the underside of leaflets in autumn. When eggs hatch, the larvae migrate down the stem to the crown, where they overwinter. In spring, the larvae dig burrows into the crown, damaging or killing the plant.
• Raspberry horntail (Hartigia cressoni) are tiny wasps that lay eggs in bramble canes. When the eggs hatch, the larvae girdle the cane and cause wilting and dieback. Remove infected canes.
• Red berry mites (Acalitus essigicause) cause fruit to ripen abnormally. Treat with liquid lime sulfur.
• Spider mites cause yellow stippling of leaves, interfering with photosynthesis. Keep plants dust free and rinse infested plants off with the hose. 

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Blackberries may also be infected with the following diseases:

• Anthracnose is a group of fungal diseases that causes cankers on infected wood and can girdle and kill plants. Infected canes should be removed.
• Crown gall is caused by a soil bacterium spread by splashed water. Warts appear on roots and cane bases, stunting growth. Cut out infected canes, disinfecting cutting tools between each cut.
• Dieback can be a viral infection or a physiological disorder caused by freezing or drought. Twigs start dying at the tips and move back toward the base. Damaged canes should be removed.
• Dwarf virus is spread by aphids, causing stunted growth and death. Remove infected plants completely and immediately.
• Leaf and cane spot are fungi that live on leaves and stems, causing leaf drop, sunburn, and reduced yield. Avoid overhead watering and apply fixed copper treatments when necessary.
• Root rots are caused by soil fungi that thrive in moisture. Overwatering should be avoided to prevent this fatal disease. Infected areas should be left fallow for at least 2 years.
• Rusts are another fungal disease that sap the strength from your canes and reduce yield. Rusts can be yellow or orange. There are no treatments available, so diseased plants should be removed, roots and all.
• Verticillium wilt causes floricanes to yellow and fall. Canes turn bluish-black, from the base upward. Remove and dispose of infested canes.

Now, don’t let all those threats to your blackberry crop discourage you from trying this amazing plant. They are only possibilities and blackberries seem to survive against the odds. Even notorious Brown Thumbs have been able to grow blackberries successfully! You can, too!

Fire blight is a bacterial disease that frequently attacks trees in the pome family. Pomes include apples, pears, quince, and crabapple. Fire blight can also strike raspberries and blackberries.

The Erwinia amylovora bacterium is the cause of fire blight, but you’ll never see it without a microscope. The most common first sign of infection is the die-off of an entire twig. The dead leaves hold fast to the stem throughout the growing season as the infection spreads.


Fire blight can be fatal to fruit trees and is difficult to manage. Carefully monitoring your trees when they flower can provide early warning. Fire blight enters through the blossoms, carried in by bees and other pollinators from neighboring infected trees. As blossoms become infected, they wilt and turn dark brown. The infection then spreads down the twig. Very often, the tip of the diseased twig will curl into a shepherd’s crook shape.


Insects pick up the bacteria from small, insignificant-looking cankers that become active in spring. These cankers are dead tissue from the previous year’s infection. A clear, tan ooze may drip from these cankers. Each droplet can contain millions of bacteria. Prevent fire blight by applying a Bordeaux mixture in the fall and winter.


Inspect suspect twigs by scraping off the bark and cambium layer to see if pink or orangish-red streaks are visible. Once identified, the only treatment is the removal of the diseased tissue. The cut should be 8-12” below the infected area. Be sure to sanitize the pruners with a household cleaner after each cut to prevent infecting healthy tissue.