We've had very good luck with our thornless blackberries here near Millbrook. Currently, we have Arapaho (400-500), Navaho (800-900), Apache (500-800), Ouachita (400-500), Boysenberry (600) and now Natchez (500-600) planted. The number ranges in parentheses are the estimated chill hour requirements for each cultivar in order for them to have a good fruit set. I've included a link below which lists the various accummulated chill hours for various Alabama locations. As far as other requirements, blackberries do good in well-aereated soil rich in organic matter with its PH between 6-6.5 with full sun. They also enjoy being fertilized at budbreak (breakfast), fruit set (lunch) and after harvest (dinner). As far as watering goes, we water every other day during non-rainy periods.

As far as pruning goes, the first thing to remember is that blackberries grow in a two year cycle, with first year growth referred to as primocanes and second year growth referred to as floracanes. Here at the farm we "tip" our primocanes at around 4 feet and their resulting laterals between 12-18". Then, after harvesting the fruit the following year, we wait until these second year "floracanes" die completely before cutting them back to the crown, leaving of course the new primocanes in place for next year's harvest. That's about it.

Hope this helps,

Ken Barber
Millbrook AL

Here is a link that might be useful: ACES Chill Hour Table

The stalks of my new plants grew up about 4 ft. tall on my trellis last year and I've left them alone. Should I leave them or cut them now?

If your first year growth (primocanes) after planting them were anything like mine, they grew all over the place. I would leave them alone and enjoy any berries they produce this year. You should notice new primocanes start to grow from or near the crown this spring. They should be more erect than last years and these are the ones you should consider "tipping" around 4 feet tall in preparation for next years "floricane" production.

Hope this helps.

Ken Barber
Millbrook AL

they look dead right now. No green showing up yet. Should I be worried or is it still too early?

It's still too early. All of our thornless blackberries are still dormant. However, with the warm weather coming you should start to see some new growth in the next 2-3 weeks I would suspect.