Boysenberry Plants

A boysenberry is a large, shiny, juicy berry related to raspberries, blackberries and loganberries. It's popular and favorite among American people. Boysenberries are also used to make different types of jams, syrups and preserves. Its taste is quite similar to a raspberry, but with a tangy undertone. They are available in supermarkets and grocery stores across the US. Boysenberries damp off soon after being taken out from the vine. So it's necessary that you consume these delicious berries within 2 or 3 days of its purchase.

Boysenberry plants were discovered by George M Darrow of the US department of agriculture in 1920s'. He found these plants with the help of a farmer named Walter Knott, on a farm near northern California, which belonged to a man called Rudolph Boysen. After that, Darrow and Knott started cultivating these plants in Knott's farm. Walter Knott started selling these boysenberries to people and it became a favorite among people. He named the berry after the originator "Boysen".

How to grow Boysenberry Plants

Raspberries and blackberries are distant cousins of the boysenberry. The big, tasty fruits of boysenberry change their color to reddish or dark purple when they ripe. These plants have energetic vines and will spread out freely, if you can grow a more generative plant by following some tips on growing boysenberry plants.

Location and Soil: Boysenberry require ample sunlight and a soil that drains water effectively as well as is rich in organic resources. To control its spreading out, always use a big container to grow your plants. They have a tendency to climb, it means get a strong trellis for your plant to grow.

Avoid Used Plant Sites: If you're planning to plant your boysenberry plant in the ground, skip sites where you have or had grown potatoes, peppers, eggplant, tomatoes or other berry plants for the last 3 years. These plants leave diseases in the soil that may even poison or weaken your boysenberry plant.

Growing Time: If you are living in the northern side of climate zone 6, plant your boysenberries in the late spring, but if you are residing in the southern part of zone 6, wait for the fall to pass and then plant them.

Evolving Cycle: Like their cousins, boysenberries will not produce fruits in the first year of their growth. Boysenberries will have fruits in the second year, these fruits will die away after the harvest is complete.

Care and Feeding: These plants require water in small quantities and a little dosage of mild fertilizers until the harvest season. Start a weekly feeding of liquid plant food, just before the plant is about to have berries.

Thornless Boysenberry Plants: Thornless boysenberry plants is an ideal example of hybrid plants. They grow very easily at homes. Hybrid boysenberries have much larger and more juicer fruits than wild boysenberries. Thornless boysenberries bear fruits during the second year and continue to grow indefinitely. They are adaptable to almost all extreme climates and soils.

Pruning Boysenberry Plants

Boysenberries berries grow profusely with horizontal vines. After harvesting, the biggest job a gardener or a farmer has to do is pruning. After effective pruning you will prepare your plant for the next growing season.

• Do not prune these plants in the first year after it is planted, let it produce fruit and grow as much as possible. Prune it in the next year.
• Use bypass pruners to prune all the fruit bearing canes. Cut down the canes to 2 inches above the soil level.
• Tie all the new fruit bearing canes to a trellis. Use a string to attach the new canes carefully to the trellis.
• Remove the tips of the new fruit bearing canes in mid summer. This method of removing tips encourages lateral growth in the plant.
• Cut the side branches of the new fruit bearing canes of the last season. Cut these branches so that they remain 1 foot long.

This was all the information you needed about boysenberries. Do grow this delicious fruit plant and enjoy its benefits for many years.