blackcurrant and blackberry

hi guys,

2 questions. I brought a black currant and a blackberry from the garden centre (£1 each!!) big bargain because they were very dry and didnt look overly happy. so here are the questions......

the blackberry is going in a pot so.....
1)is there a particular type of soil that is best?
2) is there a certain type of slow release fertiliser we should use?

the blackcurrant is going on a fence so....
1) is there a good specific slow release fertiliser I can mix in with the soil?
2) other than soaking it and then planting it, is there anything else I should be doing??

Thanks and sorry for the basic questions, my friend has borrowed my fruit books! Grrrrr!

 

My blackberry seems to love the clay soil, its a wild type with huge thorns.
I`ve never purposefully fed it but it takes over the fence in summer and tries to root wherever a growing tip hits the ground. They seem to be quite robust :wink:

 

I'd give them both a good soak, and leave them in their pots to see if they start to look a bit happier, and then I would plant in a couple of weeks, if they are looking 'better'.

I wouldn't plant with a slow release fertiliser, I would use blood, fish and bone or your usual planting fertiliser in the hole before planting, and then I'd treat them like other soft fruit plants, and water with a liquid feed.

I got a bit of a bargin today, £3 for a blueberry bush from Wilkinsons! Its a bit of a twig and not much else, but its a lot cheaper than the £6-£10 I had seen for them! ( I prefer to buy 'bargins', they tend to be the best/healthiest plants I have!)

Hope this Helps!

 

Mz, I would think that the blackberry would be better on the fence and the blackcurrant in the pot.

 

I did wonder but its a small garden and the blackberry will probably try to take over - they can be a bit keen sometimes!!! Blackcurrants seem to be a bit more manageable (but am going on grandad's garden memories and a bit of internet research!!)

 

ps - nice bargain for the blueberry! :-)

 

My concern about planting your blackberry in a pot is that you will need a large structure to accommodate its rambling habit. I would agree with Blackthorn and put the blackcurrant in the pot. You will certainly need to manage the blackberry, but I would have thought that this is easier to do on a fence. Your choice, of course, but I will be interested to hear how you cope with a pot grown blackberry.

 

I might be wrong, but I imagine that the cultivated blackberries are bred to be garden worthy, ie: to produce lots of good quality fruit rather than masses of growth, so hopefully yours would not be as rampant as the wild blackberry. Even so, because of their lax habit they would be better off on a fence rather than in a pot. If it does get out of hand, it can always be cut hard back.

 

You can grow the blackberry in a pot but you need to think about training it.


I use to of those ubend canes and spiral it round those as it grows. Cut back to the ground each spring it will be just fine with a multipurpose compost and feeding with tomato food just as the flowers go over.


And I would plant them as soon as.

 

Thanks Claire. I have a wine berry that I did that with and it was very happy so was thinking the blackberry should be ok spiralling up a pyramid. Think I'll give it a go - its a giant pot so should be happy enough :-)

 

I'm back with my humble pie ;-) Did a bit more research (thanks for prompting that!!) and I am going to switch them round and put the blackcurrant in the pot and the blackberry on the fence ;-)

Cheers!