If you are growing all the same variety of raspberry, your plants will have a fruit crop. Pollination. Berries were true to form. In terms of pollination, some blackberry plants are able to self-pollinate, while others require cross-pollination to set fruit. Raspberries and blackberries need full sun and well-drained soil that's rich in organic matter to stay healthy and at peak performance. Or, you could use seperation tenting. Raspberry and blackberry cultivars range from completely self-fruitful to completely self-unfruitful with most erect blackberries being fruitful yet prostrate growing cultivars often requiring cross-pollination. In general, trailing blackberries require cross-pollination while upright blackberries are able to self-pollinate. Apply 4 to 5 pounds of fertilizer per 100-foot row of raspberries. Cross-Pollination. Could I have help with identifying some suitable blackberry varieties to cross the raspberry with and guidance on how to pollinate? To obtain a large, well-formed berry, most of the individual pistils in an inflorescence must be pollinated. I once read very clear instructions that said I had to plant my blackberries "x" amount of feet away from my raspberries or they would cross-pollinate. I live in northern Virginia and would like to develop a blackberry raspberry cross starting with the local wild red raspberry (Rubus Idaeus). Any cross-pollination that could occur would not be an issue unless you saved the resulting seeds, planted them and then grew the plants. I know it isn't for cross pollination, because you need a seperation of 2 miles, taking into consideration the travel distance of honey bees. Asked May 25, 2016, 9:11 PM EDT. It is only when you plant the seeds do you see a change. I didn't find a clearcut reason listed for the 700 ft. distance. You may want to plant the blueberries between the raspberries and blackberries though because the pests that love raspberries love blackberries, so by having a … Both blackberries and raspberries are self fertile so you only need one of each. Blackberries and raspberries produce an aggregate fruit with individual pistils that form drupelets. To learn more about how our team naturally cross-pollinates berry plants , we sat down with Jessica Gilbert, Driscoll’s Molecular Blueberry Breeder , to learn more about how she and her team breed only the finest berries. As I'm expanding my fruit, I have no choice but to get them closer and closer. In this study, the effects of artificial self- and cross-pollination were studied in 15 strawberry and 6 red raspberry cultivars grown in a protected environment in a greenhouse. The answer: we naturally cross-pollinate plants, and a lot of them. Most raspberry varieties are self-pollinating (or self-fertile), meaning your raspberry plants will fruit when they mature, without requiring the availability of another raspberry variety’s pollen. Even if they cross the berries will be the same. But … Just remember, when you are planting them that the blackberry is pretty "violent" when it grows. Raspberries do best with a balanced 10-10-10 fertilizer spread in a 2-foot band around the plant. Four strawberry cultivars benefited from cross-pollination and one required it. There are indications that crop yield and quality might benefit from cross-pollination. Raspberry Blackberry Cross. A number of cane varieties are hybrids between blackberries and raspberries, but this is not an issue for the home gardener. You will need to leave a space at least 2-3 metres wide just for the blackberry. Kathy Ann, It is likely your Fall Gold was mislabeled or died out. 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