Growing Berries and Grapes in the Home Garden

Growing Berries and Grapes
in the Home Garden
Chuck Ingels
UC Cooperative Extension, Sacramento County
Master Gardener Training
Feb. 9, 2011
Cane Berries
This is Not How They Have To Grow
Blackberries and Hybrids
Plant Characteristics
• Most have long, trailing runners
• Thorny and thornless available (revert?)
• Shoot tips root in soil in fall
• Plant spacing: 3 ½-4 ft. apart
Blackberries and Hybrids
Fruiting and Pruning
• Fruit produced on 1-yr.-old canes
(“floricanes”)
• Floricanes cut to ground after fruiting
• New canes (“primocanes”) allowed to
grow through season
• 9-12 primocanes per plant cut to 6-8 ft.,
tied to or wrapped around wire
– These become floricanes
Primocanes in Feb.
(boysenberry)
Bud
Shoot
grows
and forms
flowers
One-Year-Old
Canes in March
(Ollalie)
One-Year-Old
Canes, early April
(boysenberry)
New Canes in
Early March
New Cane in April
(boysenberry)
Cut old canes to ground in
July (after harvest), tie new
canes to wires
New Canes in May
Canes Growing to Ground
Oct. 2009
Blackberries and Hybrids
Varieties
• „Ollalie‟ – black x Logan x youngberry
• „Marion‟ berry
• Boysenberries:
• Nectarberry
• Thornless youngberry (seedless)
• „Black Butte‟, „Thornless Black Satin‟
• Loganberry – wild black x raspberry
Boysenberry
Raspberries
• Semi-erect; shoots grow from roots!
• Prefer afternoon shade (?)
• „Oregon 1030‟, „Bababerry‟ OK full sun
• Spacing: 2½-3 ft. apart
• 3 types
• Summer bearing (red)
• Everbearing (red)
• Black
Summer-Bearing Raspberries
• Fruit produced on 1-yr.-old canes
(“floricanes”)
• Floricanes cut to ground after fruiting
• New canes (“primocanes”) allowed to
grow through season
• 10-12 primocanes per plant or per 2-3 ft.
tied or wrapped around wire
• „Newberg‟, „Latham‟, „Willamette‟, etc.
Everbearing Raspberries
• Produce 2 crops:
Small
crop on floricanes
Larger crop on primocanes
• All canes usually cut to ground in winter
Harvest later crop only
• „Bababerry‟, „Oregon 1030‟, „Heritage‟,
„Fallgold‟, „Indian Summer‟, etc.
Summer-Bearing
Everbearing
Primocane Growth
Raspberry Burning
Sept. 2009
Black Raspberries
• Also called black cap raspberries
• Fruit are bluish-black, firmer, distinct
• Grown as shrub, but trails far if unpruned
• No shoots from roots
• Shoot tips root in soil in fall
• Summer pruning – shear long shoots
• „Munger‟, „Cumberland‟
Black Raspberry
Trellising for Cane Berries
• Strong end posts, posts or stakes in between
• 12-gauge galvanized wire
• Blackberry – wires 2, 4, and 6 ft. high
• Crossarm if desired
• Raspberry – wires variable, top wire 4.5 ft.
• 3 or 4 wires, crossarm
• Moveable wires optional
Raspberry Trellis
Examples
Trellis in Oregon
Blueberries
• Delicious, very healthy
• In high demand for antioxidant content
• Easy to grow
• Small plant, low maintenance
• Many varieties for extended ripening
• Mid-May through June or (higher
elevations) July
Blueberries
• “Southern & northern highbush” types
Southern – lower chill requirement
• Self-pollenized, greater set w/ pollenizer
• Spacing 3-5 ft. apart; grow to 4-8 ft. tall
• Best varieties (?): „Reveille‟, „Misty‟,
„Sunshine Blue‟, „Bluecrop‟, „Southmoon‟
• Grow best in low-pH soil (4.5-5.5)
• Acidify soil with soil sulfur before planting
• Soil should be 20-40% org. matter
Blueberry
Plantings
Young Blueberries
in Kern County
Blueberry
Heath Family (Ericaceae)
(Manzanita too)
Planting at
FOHC, 2007
Problem in first year
-Heat shock?
-Lack of water?
Looked and grew
much better later
that year
Soil for Blueberries
• Good drainage essential
• Blueberry roots need air
• Compaction, hardpan, shallow soil
make for poor growth and production
• If clay loam to clay soil
– Use berms or raised beds
Fertilizing Blueberries
• Very sensitive to overfertilization with N
• Desirable growth = 10-12” on a
2-year-old cane
• Synthetic: N or balanced fertilizer
– Ammonium sulfate is acidic
• Organic: Pelleted manure, feather meal,
Stem Blight of Blueberry
Botryosphaeria dothidea




Mainly 1-2 year-old plants
Enters through wounds
Cut well below infection
Avoid pruning late fall –
winter
Blueberries in Containers



Excellent choice for
containers
Adequate watering is critical
Dwarf varieties available
 Sunshine Blue
Soil Mix for Containers
Dave Wilson Nursery
•1/3 pathway bark (1/4 inch)
•1/3 peat moss (coarse, if you can find it)
•1/3 leaf mold or forest humus-based
potting soil
•Mix together and add 2 Tbsp. soil sulfur
•NOTE: Org. matter will break down so
soil level will go down.
Soil Sulfur Needed to Achieve pH 4.5
(tsp./cu. ft. of soil mix)
pH
5.0
5.5
6.0
6.5
7.0
Sand
0.5
1.0
1.4
1.8
2.5
Loam
1.5
3.0
4.3
5.6
7.5
Clay
2.3
4.5
6.5
8.4
11.3
Soil Sulfur Needed to Achieve pH 4.5
(lbs./1,000 sq. ft.)
pH
5.0
5.5
6.0
6.5
7.0
Sand
4
8
12
15
19
Loam
12
24
35
46
59
Clay
18
37
53
70
88
Citrus Thrips Damage
Leaf deformation
 Shoot stunting
 Reduced growth & yield

Thrips
 Flower
thrips damage rare
»Halo spots on fruit
 Citrus thrips – leaf deformation
 Control: forceful stream of water
»Late spring, summer
Growing Grapes
in the Home Garden
A Few Good Grape Varieties
Table grape varieties
» Thompson Seedless, Flame Seedless,
Black Monukka, Fantasy Seedless,
Perlette, Diamond Muscat
Red wine varieties
» Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot,
Pinot Noir
White wine varieties
» Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Gris
Grape Bud
Grape Shoot
Grape Flower
Growing Grapes from Cuttings
• Take cutting from dormant vine, ½ in. dia.
• Cut to 18 in. long
• Cut off all buds but the upper 2
• Stick in loose soil, upper 2 buds exposed
• Plant 2 per hole, remove weaker one
Grapevine Pruning
Grapevine Terms
• Head – upper portion of trunk
• Cordon – permanent branch on wire
• Shoot – current season‟s growth
• Cane – mature, woody shoot
• Spur – 2-bud section of cane for fruiting
• Arm – old growth of years of spurs
• Tendril – twining organ used for support
Head Training, Cane Pruning
Head Training / Cane Pruning
• Used for varieties that produce no fruit
from lower buds (e.g., Thomp. Seedless)
• 4-6 canes per vine, 10-14 buds long
• Wrap or tie canes along wire
• Leave 1½ spurs per cane to produce
replacement canes
Bilateral Cordon, Spur Pruning
Quadrilateral Training,
Spur Pruning
Cordon Training, Spur Pruning
• Majority of varieties
• Trunk divides into 2 or 4 cordons
• Create 5-8 spurs per side (~6 in. apart)
• Remove weak canes or make 1-bud spur
• Select lowest of the 2 canes for the spur
Arbor Pruning
Arbor Pruning
Arbor Pruning
Before/After
Before/After
Before/After
Before/After
Before/After
Spur Pruned
Cane Pruned
Balanced
Vine
Grape Growing Terms
Increasing Fruit Size & Quality
• Cluster thinning – removal of clusters
• Berry thinning – removal of lower portion
of clusters
• Girdling – removal of ring of bark
• Gibberellic acid – spray used to increase
fruit size (commercial use only)
• Shoot thinning – removal of unwanted
shoots to open canopy
• Leaf removal – around cluster, air circ.
Thompson Seedless
Raisin grape:
No berry thinning
Table grape:
Berry thinned
Trunk Girdling to Increase Berry Size
• Disrupts downward movement of sugars
• Increase in weight about 50% (seedless)
• Increase in weight about 5-10% (seeded)
• Done at fruit set, 10-14 days after full
bloom (about mid to late May)
• Remove strip of bark ~¼ in. wide
• Cut all the way around trunk or cordon
Trunk Girdling
Callused over
after 2 months
Grapevine Problems and
Pest Management
Sunburned Fruit
Powdery
Mildew
Yellow blotches
early on
Powdery
Mildew
Strands of spores
on berries
Brown blotches in
fall/winter
Powdery Mildew
Characteristics
• Fungus – Does not require moisture
• Limiting factor in growing European
grapes; American varieties resistant
(Concord, etc.)
• Growth is minimal below 70 F and
above 92 F
• Spring conditions required for growth:
70 F for 6 hrs., 3 days in a row
Powdery Mildew
Symptoms
• Initial – Yellowish blotches on leaves
• Later – White powdery fungus on
leaves, fruit
• Fruit – Small, don‟t ripen
• Canes – Brown blotches
Powdery Mildew
Control
• Plant in full sun
• Thin and trim shoots in late spring
• Thin clusters in May/early June
• Remove leaves around clusters
• Spray with water or 10% milk solution
• Dust or spray with wettable sulfur
• Oil sprays (not with sulfur)
Powdery Mildew
Use of Sulfur or Oil
• Preventive only!
• Spray early season, dust late
• 1st spray: bud break to 2 inches of
growth
• Then every 7-14 days through June
• Good coverage essential!
Erineum Mite
(Aesthetic problem only!)
Bottom of leaf
Erineum Mite
• Large, puckered spots on leaves
• Felty white underneath early, brown later
• Aesthetic problem; not harmful to plant
• Sulfur applications for powdery mildew
control it
• Soap sprays in spring