propogating blackberries from wild bushes

[lay_reb]

can you take blackberry bush cuttings and grow successfully only i want to put some on my allotment and they are so expensive to buy my mum said to take some cuttings from a wild bush but i am not so sure?

[Hawkwalk]

you can but they are best grown from tip layering. This is done by bending down a fresh growing tip and burrying part of the stem in the soil where it will produce new roots, this can then be separated from the mother plant. Not easy when taking from the wild. You can also take root cuttings or remove one of the fresh suckers coming up from the ground.

The best thing to do is buy one plant and go for a thornless variety which is better to handle (you wont get one of those in the wild) then layer your own plants using this one. They grow fast so you will have lots in no time.

[Bromsgrove]

If you look around the wild bushes I'm sure you will find some layered rooted shoots, however I would buy plants of cultivated varieties.These will give you a better crop, good flavour and you can get thornless varieties, always an asset!

[lay_reb]

i have a black waldo planted already how long do you think it will take until i can tip these...

[Hawkwalk]

http://www.rhs.org.uk/Advice/profiles0705/blac kberry_layering.asp

look here for some info. It depends on how big your current plant is before you can start to layer it.