Take the Thorns Out of Harvesting Blackberries!

What’s the worst part of harvesting blackberries? The hot sweat-inducing temperatures outdoors, the biting insects, or the blood dripping from your arms when you reach for that plumpest berry, only to have them ripped open from those !*#/!*/#* (expletive deleted) thorns? While we can’t change the weather, we can mow the grass to cut down on the chiggers, and we can grow thornless blackberries. Currently, there are four thornless blackberry cultivars, Arapaho, Apache, Navaho, and Ouachita (pronounced WAH-shi-tah). These four cultivars have been developed and released from the University of Arkansas fruit breeding program.

Arapaho plants are less vigorous growing plants with fewer canes produced from the crown. However, this cultivar produces fruit earlier than the other cultivars. Its fruit size is also smaller than that of Apache and Ouachita. Because Arapaho ripens early, it isn’t quite as flavorful as the other cultivars. After Arapaho, Ouachita is the next cultivar in the harvest sequence, followed by Navaho, and then Apache. Navaho and Apache have the sweetest berries. If you only plant one cultivar, my favorite pick of the bunch is Apache, because of it is easy to prune and it has good plant health, berry size, and flavor. However, if you find seed size troublesome, avoid this cultivar! Arapaho has the smallest seed size of the four cultivars. If you want a good-sized, firm berry, choose Navaho. Bon appetite!

Michele Warmund
Ag Ext.-Plant Sciences
573-882-9632