Tayberries

People have been crossing raspberries and blackberries for some time now. These plant manipulations have given us a variety of delicious garden treats, including boysenberries, dewberries, loganberries, nessberries, olallieberries, Santiam blackberries, youngberries, and tayberries.
 
Tayberries are bigger and sweeter than loganberries, but they don’t ship well and they are tricky to harvest, so you are unlikely to see them in stores. For me, this makes them an excellent choice for the home garden.

Tayberry (Jean-Luc Toilet) CC BY-SA 2.0jpg

Tayberry description
 
Tayberries (Rubus fruticosus x R. idaeus) are cone-shaped accessory fruits that grow on shrubs. Some varieties are thornless, while others are nearly thornless. Those thorns are tiny and sharp, so it is a good idea to wear gloves when working your tayberry canes.

Tayberry fruits can be up to 1½ inches (4 cm) long and are available from early to late summer. These fruits tend to be red and very soft, so pick gently. Tayberries are like blackberries in that the torus or core stays with the plant when the fruit is picked.
 
Tayberry roots and crowns are perennial. Canes grow 6 to 7 feet (1.8 to 2.1 m) long. Like other brambles, first-year canes (primocanes) do not produce fruit. The second-year canes, they become productive floricanes. Once a cane has produced fruit, it is done and should be removed. This is an excellent way to reduce the chance of disease. It makes harvesting easier, too.
 
How to grow tayberries
 
Tayberries need full sun and good drainage. They grow best in loose soil, rich in organic matter. (Don’t they all?) Tayberries grown in soggy areas will have problems, but you will want to be able to irrigate your tayberries during the growing season to get the most out of your plants. It’s a juggling act, but worth the effort.
 
Also, your tayberries will be more productive and easier to manage if they are trellised. This improves air flow, reducing fungal disease, and makes it harder for pests to hide.
 
Bramble fruits grow best in soil with a pH of 5.8 to 6.2. Before planting, getting your soil tested to see what is present and what needs to be added. Generally speaking, bramble fruits need 2.5 pounds (1.1 k) of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium per 1000 square feet. A little extra potassium in late summer will help plants get through the winter and have a strong start in spring. As always, it depends on what is already in your soil so get it tested.
 
You may also want to plant a cover crop, such as buckwheat, millet, oats, or rye to prepare the soil and set the stage for tayberry success. A top dressing of aged manure or compost can supercharge the soil and help your tayberries thrive.
 
Once your planting site is ready, canes are best installed in mid-October. Be sure to invest in certified pest- and disease-free tayberry crowns.
 
Tayberry pests and diseases
 
Aphids, Japanese beetles, sawflies, and spider mites are common pests of tayberries.
 
Being a hybrid, tayberries are disease-resistant, especially to late yellow rust, but anthracnose, leaf spot, root rot, and orange rust can still cause problems.
 
Tayberries should not be grown  where members of the nightshade family have been grown in the last four years due to a higher likelihood of Verticillium root rot. Your tayberries will be healthier if they are at least 600 feet (180 m) away from wild bramble plants. This reduces the chance of viral diseases spreading to your crop.
 
These plants can tolerate temperatures as low as -15°F (-26°C) and are hardy to USDA Planting Zone 6.
 
Harvest your tayberries as soon as they are ripe to keep your plants producing. If you have more than you can use fresh, you can always cook them down into preserves or try your hand at making tayberry wine or beer.