# How to transplant Blackberry plants



## two_barking_dogs (Sep 17, 2002)

Hey, Can someone provide me with an overview on how to transplant blackberry bushes. I'm in north Ga.

Do I prune the reeds to say a 12 or 18 inchs long and then dig/transplant or do I leave the currently growing reeds full size.

What is the best time of year to do this. While dormate and the ground is still frozen'ish or when the weather is warmer.

I ask because I have about 10 plant clumps of thornless blackberries plants that I'd like to more from one piece of property to another.

Thanks, Mike


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## marvella (Oct 12, 2003)

i don't know about the thornless ones, but the wild ones can be cut way down and moved while they are dormant. i expect yours would be the same.


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## Callieslamb (Feb 27, 2007)

Now, let's begin by saying I have never done this.....

But I have moved black raspberries that grow the same as the blackberries.

If you move them, the canes that are grown now stand a good chance of dying. This means, you could lose this coming year's crop. Blackberries produce on yr old canes. Cutting them back that far (12-18 inches) will also limit your crop for this coming year - if the canes survive the transplanting. The plant won't necessarily die, but this year's cane could. If they absolutely HAVE to be moved - I would do it while they are still dormant but not when it is really cold out. 

The way I "moved" my black raspberries:
I let new plants root from the tips of canes. This does not take long. I help them by burying the tip of the cane in the ground about 1-2 inches. I had to put a rock on one it to keep it down.. When the new little plants had a good little rootsystem going, I dug them up and moved them. Those will grow the canes for next year's ('09) crop. After I harvest ('08) the crop from the old plants -I will dig them up and move them. I figure this way I will not lose my crop for a year. If the transplanted plants don't die back- I am really set, if they do, I still haven't lost an entire crop. 

Perhaps someone else will have another idea. This one has worked for me.


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## marinemomtatt (Oct 8, 2006)

ROTFLMAO !!!!! I can't help it but get a good giggle going!
Here in the Northwest Blackberries are a real nuisance almost an invasive....Miss Blackberry will overrun a pasture or field in no time at all. Constant battle around here.

Yup, just what Callieslamb instructs...I see Nature using that method herself.


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## Ernie (Jul 22, 2007)

So my understanding of this is that the older canes (two years old) don't produce and only the current year's canes will. My blackberry plants are continuously shooting out runners and taking root, so they are moving in a generally west-east direction. I cut down the two year old cane so that it doesn't grow anymore and I don't have a big bramble to deal with. I only have a rolling line of blackberry plants waiting to be picked. 

By my current estimates, they will have reached the eastern border of my farm and escaped into the forest by 2031. They certainly have a will of their own.


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## Rockytopsis (Dec 29, 2007)

Marinemomtatt, 
We to have everyday run of the mill blackberries but I think that Two Barking Dogs is talking about the tame thornless variety. 

We transplant in the fall of the year without any problems and at least one long vine each year I will lay over and the tip just takes root but I do have to either put a clump of dirt or a shovel full of mulch with a rock on top to hold it down till it does root.


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## JGex (Dec 27, 2005)

two_barking_dogs, here's the link the the UGA ag school page on blackberries and raspberries:

http://www.uga.edu/fruit/rubus.html


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## two_barking_dogs (Sep 17, 2002)

Thanks all for the replies. My issue is that I can get free plants if I take them within the next month or so or get nothing if I wait. Thus the root tip method will not work for me. 

These are nice big blackberries on thornless canes that I do not want to pass up. Missing a crop this year also isn't an issue as I'm not currently getting anything anyways.

It appears that most agree that cutting the canes back and transplanting should work. I'll keep my fingers crossed

Thanks


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## gracie88 (May 29, 2007)

> ROTFLMAO !!!!! I can't help it but get a good giggle going!


Yeah, the best way I know to get them in a spot is to clear it out nicely and plant something else


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## dahliaqueen (Nov 9, 2005)

two_barking_dogs said:


> It appears that most agree that cutting the canes back and transplanting should work. I'll keep my fingers crossed
> 
> Thanks


You can move them mid-season if you keep the roots wet- soak them in Agrogel- and keep the roots covered to protect them from harsh sunlight- best to transplant on a cloudy/rainy day.

I would dig them up, plunk them in a big bucket of water and transplant as fast as you can.

Good luck.


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