I planted BABA berries in Santa Clarita and they haven't done much either. My Boysenberries went nuts. Lots of freezer jam.

Todd

I've been growing Baba Raspberries for a few years now and I've never really had much of a harvest. I had big berries, but just a few here and there, like 3 or 4 berries at a time. Can't do much with those, but eat them in cereal. And to freeze them it wasn't worth it because I still wouldn't have enough berries to do anything with them, except for adding them to a glass of lemonade.

Now, in late 2005, I decided to plant some Baba's in a whisky barrel to see how they'd fair. And guess what? They did pretty darn good! I picked a nice amount. I'd eat some and freeze some. Now this year, they are doing really well, I have been picking berries every other day. Now I'm freezing most of them. Now and then I'll slip a few in my Cereal. Even my Heritage Raspberries are doing well now that I have them in a pot. I've been picking many of these as well!

I'm glad I decided to go with the whisky barrel, otherwise I would have totally given up on growing Babas.

Tania ~_~

Last summer I put Black Raspberry "Jewel" into one of my stock tanks that I use for my vegetables garden. I can control the soil and the amount of water they get.... and the critters that like to eat them. This June we've been blessed with loads of wonderful black raspberries; and now giant , new stalks are growing for next year's fruit.

Tania,

Can you share more about your planting in the whiskey barrel? What kind of soil, how do you fertilize, sun or shade?

I got some from a friend last month and they are still sitting in a one gallon pot. I have been trying to figure out where to put them, as I don't have any empty spots of soil left. But I like your idea about the whiskey barrel.

Karin

Sure karin!

The whisky barrel I have for my Babas is the reg old fashioned wood kind, which is slightly bigger than the faux ones they sell now, which also work well. I have black rasps in those.

I filled my WB with SuperSoil Potting Soil (it's the only potting soil I like), and I planted one in the center and 5 around. Each one was also in a 1gal pot, with about 2-3 canes each. I know that seems cramped, but i haven't had any problems to this point.

I have them staked up with skinny bamboo stakes (just finished staking up the new canes the other day). About 1-4 plants per stake, depending how far apart the canes are.

I tip prune them at 6 ft. (from ground level where my feet stand, not the soil level in the WB). I usually let them grow just passed 6ft before prunning so the canes are nice and thick from the soil level to where I'll make my cut.

As far as fertilizer goes... I feed them (when I feed them, which is not too often) either Dr. Earth 9 Fruit Tree Fertilizer, or EB Stone Citrus Fertilizer. Both are great for berries. I'm what you call a "Lazy Gardener", and during the first 4 1/2 months of the year I'm extremely busy with work, so I don't get around to feeding the plants until May, I do try to feed them again in 8 weeks, then again in another 8 weeks. But most of the time I've only given them one or two feedings. This year I have yet to feed them and were in June! As a matter of fact, tomorrow, I'll be fertilizing, and adding more soil to the WB (with time it settles).

Another fertilizer I like to add is Vermicompost which is just great! If you don't have any worms at home making it for you, you can purchase it at Armstrong. That's where I've seen bags of it. It's pretty pricy. It's awesome fertilizer. Plus after feeding it to the plants it seeps into the sap of the canes in about 6 weeks and makes the sap taste unpleasant to those scaley critters that love attaching themselves to the canes to suck out the sap. To get rid of any that I find, I take an old toothbrush, dip it in warm water with a drop of dish soap, picking up the bubbles, then I brush the scales off of the canes. It's a little tedious but it works great!

Oh yeah, Just last year I went to my local 99 and found some Diatomeceous Earth Cat Litter. It's all organich 100% DE. I was reading the package, and it said it could be added to plant soil to increase moister for the plants. So I've been adding it to every bed and pot possible! I didn't see it anymore at the 99 recently but I did find it at another $ store. So I'll be adding that as well to the WB.

I also like to mulch around the canes with shredded bark.

My WB is located on the South side of our office, and to the right there is a gate covered with Star Jasmin. So in the morning it's in the shade. Once the sun begins to peep over the gate, when it's almost overhead, that's when the plants begin to get full sun, until the sun goes away.

That's pretty much it! I hope this helps! Let me know if you have anymore questions.

Tania ~_~

Thank you Tania. I'll have to hunt around for another whiskey barrel. Can't wait til they take off. I love raspberries.

Karin :)

You're very welcome Karin!

Let me know how it goes! Post here or send me an e-mail.

Take pics after you plant, then snap a few down the road when the plants get bigger.

Tania ~_~