Boysenberry like many cultivars has its own growing bug. Information technology doesn't assist of form that the berry comes from crossbreeding 4 berries. And just as the ripe boysenberry is neither pure black nor downright royal, the bramble sometimes looks like it tin't brand up its mind whether to produce berries the next year or just have a break.

Boysenberry growth (1)

Pests and diseases don't make the bush's life any easier either. They set on relentlessly from the fourth dimension the outset new leaves emerge until the berries are fully ripe. Add to that the winterizing process and cutting back boysenberries. You lot really got your hands full with this cultivar. But we're here to make your life easier. We compiled a list of the most mutual boysenberry growing problems and attached a few solutions to each problem.

Winterizing Boysenberry Plants

One of the chief advantages of growing boysenberry is that the brambles are tolerant to many weather atmospheric condition. Even cold winters will not put a dent in the dormant bramble and by side by side spring it volition roar back into life and flower every bit usual. Only sometimes when the winter is uncommonly harsh or frost is excessive, the boysenberry might struggle or even get damaged equally a issue.

To protect your investment and ensure that the boysenberry will survive the winter, yous demand to prepare the bramble for the cold months ahead. This can exist as like shooting fish in a barrel equally mulching and fertilizing in absurd climates. But in severely cold climates, the bramble will need a lot more than preparation than that.

How to Ready It

First, you lot'll need to make up one's mind whether your winter volition exist cold or extremely common cold. And based on that assessment, you can gear up the boysenberry for the wintertime. Here nosotros will hash out both options and the steps you lot need to take to protect the bramble.

  • Mild Winter: If the winter is mild overall and the temperatures at dark don't reach the freezing point then winterizing the boysenberry will involve mulching and fertilizing and that'due south about it. Cover the beds with a thick layer of mulch preferably afterwards pruning the bramble. A v-inch layer of harbinger, shredded bawl, or dry out leaves volition protect the roots of the bramble from freezing over. Renew the mulch if it rots or thins out until the spring.
  • Extreme Winter: If the frost seems like it'south endless from the autumn to the early jump, you need to protect the brambles. Prune the brambles past cutting erstwhile branches. Lay the canes on the ground in parallel rows and hold them in place by covering the tips with soil. Encompass the rest of the canes with soil and add a thick layer of mulch on superlative. In the spring, remove the soil and mulch and straighten upwardly the canes. If you have a rodent or hare problem, environs the canes of the bramble with chickenwire.

Growing Boysenberries In A Container

Growing a bush-league in a container might seem like a risky endeavor. Especially if the brier in question is the thorny type that scratches bare skin. But really growing boysenberries in a container is not only feasible but recommended. If yous live in a cold zone where the winter temperature drops sharply at night or frost is more than a passing incident, then growing boysenberries in containers is the logical matter to do.

For one thing, y'all tin can winterize the boysenberry by just moving the container to a more sheltered area away from the freezing air current. It is also easier to prune the bush and feed it in the contained space. Then how would yous go nigh growing a bramble in a container?

How to Fix It

Due to their robust root systems and a large appetite for both water and nutrient, you lot'll need to pick a container that rises up to the chore. A small pot will crowd the roots and make the plant stressed. The little soil in the pot volition dry out fast and nutrients go depleted fifty-fifty faster. So cull a 16-inch container that's 12 inches deep. You'll need to modify the container as the bramble grows thicker and heavier.

A terracotta container is preferable to a plastic ane. Plastic containers have poor ventilation and tend to blot the sunlight and heat up which could damage the roots. Identify some pebbles at the bottom of the container but don't cake the drainage holes. These pebbles will weigh the container and continue it counterbalanced as the bramble climbs upward the trellis.

Mix the soil with aged manure and organic compost at a ratio of 3:one. The organic materials volition improve water drainage and feed the plant. And before you plant the boysenberry, install the trellis in the container until information technology rests at the bottom. Transplant the young boysenberry to the pot and movement it to a sunny spot that gets 6 to 8 hours of sunlight a twenty-four hour period during the growing season.

Cutting Dorsum Boysenberries

Boysenberry growth (2)

Brambles are a curious lot among plants. And fruiting brambles such as boysenberry have some unique features that you should exist aware of before you prune the bramble. The stems and branches of the boysenberry in their first year are chosen primocanes. These canes will not flower or comport berries until they've turned into their second twelvemonth. Past then they're called floricanes.

Since the mature bramble has both primocanes and floricanes at any given time, y'all need to place both types and cull carefully which pikestaff to cut and which cane to go out backside.

How to Set up Information technology

Another issue has to do with boysenberries not growing flowers and berries on the same canes twice. That means the floricanes become expendable as soon equally yous pick all the berries for that season. As for the primocanes, these are the canes of the future. Next year, they'll carry berries.

Y'all should start your pruning in the fall after the first frost. One time the berries have been gathered and the leaves have dropped, use your pruning shears to cut off all the floricanes.

Every bit for the floricanes, they need thinning out as well. When the brier goes fallow, information technology doesn't want to back up a lot of floricanes. You should exit about 7 floricanes on the brier after pruning.

In the summer equally the found starts growing and reaches the top of the trellis, trim off the tips of the canes to encourage lateral growth and make the bramble bushy.

Common Boysenberry Diseases

Despite all the in a higher place problems, they're naught compared to the diseases that plague the boysenberry. It'south safety to say that the main reason that boysenberry has get less popular among gardeners and farmers alike is the number of diseases the brier suffers from.

Although to be fair, almost cultivars are prone to more diseases than natural species and variants. And the boysenberry existence a hybrid of 4 different types of berries inherits the various diseases that each berry is susceptible to. Here are some of the common boysenberry diseases and what you can do nigh each 1.

How to Fix information technology

Of course, each disease requires a different approach to remedy information technology. Some diseases however are lethal and it's all-time to prevent them and protect the boysenberry against infection.

  • Anthracnose: The mucus Elsinoe veneta is the culprit behind anthracnose or dieback disease. If you find purple circles on the new shoots and leaves in the spring or summer, chances are the bramble is infected. As the spots bring together together, the whole cane becomes gray and dies out eventually. Apply a fungal spray in the early on spring and and then again in the summertime to prevent this illness.
  • Crown Gall : This disease is caused by the bacterium agrobacterium. It manifests in the form of knots or galls in the root system and the base of the canes nearly the ground. There's no cure for crown gall and you should uproot the infected plants and burn them in a remote corner of the garden to prevent infecting any other plants.
  • Orange Rust: This fungal infection is also untreatable. It commencement appears as spots on both sides of the leaves. The spots on the underside will turn into pustules that wait the correct atmospheric condition conditions. These pustules will explode and spread orange spores all over the bramble. In one case infected, the berries will non attain ripeness. Dig upward infected brambles and dispose of them safely.
  • Dryberry Disease: when the regular downy mildew infects a bramble, it opens the door for another mucus to accept root as well. Both diseases piece of work on the berries causing them to shrivel and become dry. Get rid of infected brambles to avoid spread the fungi to healthy plants.

Bugs That Eat Boysenberries

In add-on to the diseases discussed in the previous section, the humble boysenberry attracts many pests. Some of those pests are regular garden-diverseness insects and some are birds. Birds bask the gustation of boysenberries only as humans do. For a bird, a few of the large berries are plenty for a repast. They're nutritious and full of energy. But even if a few berries are enough for a repast, the bird volition come back the next day with his friends to feast on this free meal. Pretty presently, your berry-laden brier becomes stripped of the last berry.

Insects such as bronze beetles, and leafhoppers also feed on the foliage and berries. And so how would you gainsay all of that?

How to Gear up It

Each pest has a different way to deal with it and save your boysenberry harvest. And then let's become through them and the proposed solutions.

  • Birds: Since birds are only interested in the ripe berries, you tin save your berries by harvesting them in the early forenoon before the birds pay the bramble a visit. Unripe berries are too sour for the birds and they'll leave them alone.
  • Bugs: Aphids, mites, and leafhoppers are all besides tiny to choice by hand. So spray the bramble with neem oil and dispose of the fallen insects. As for bronze beetles, y'all can pick them manually and drown them in a saucepan total of soapy water.

Picking Boysenberries The Right Way

Harvesting boysenberries is non as uncomplicated or straightforward as other berries. This is especially true if the bramble is packed with thorns that stand guard around the berries. To complicate things farther, not all berries mature at the aforementioned time. Your harvesting flavor usually stretches out betwixt 2 months. And so how practise you choice boysenberries without bruising or crushing them?

How to Fix Information technology

You should wait for your boysenberry to go through the usual colors of its parents. In one case it settles into black with shades of majestic, the berry is ripe for the taking. But be conscientious. In that location are thorns around it and the berry itself is soft. Use protective gloves and eyewear as you lot gently pick each ripe boysenberry and collect information technology in a saucepan. Each drupe volition have a white stem attached to it. Remove that i gently and your boysenberry is ready for jams, smoothies, and fruit salads.