Thornless blackberry (Rubus fruticosus 'Lochness') ORGANIC - 2 litre pot

The thornless blackberry bush 'Loch Ness' is a compact, user-friendly variety with large, firm, glossy black fruits and a pleasantly sweet aroma. The bush grows to approximately 1.5–2 m high, blooms in the spring with white flowers, and provides an abundant harvest from early August until the first frost. Thanks to its compact, neat growth, it is ideal for smaller gardens and easy to harvest. Grows best in fertile, well-draining soil in a sunny to semi-shaded spot.

Key features

• Harvest: mid-season to late (July-first frost)
• Fruit size: large
• Taste: sweet
• Thorns: no
• Location: sun to semi-shade
• Planting distance: 50-100 cm
• Cultivation method: train along wire/trellis
  
• Height upon delivery: 30-40 cm (excluding pot)

Tips and care:

• Planting: plant the bushes from September to March. If you plant later in the season, keep in mind that you will need to provide extra water during warm weather, as the roots are not yet well established.
• Support: the thornless blackberry needs support to grow well. This can be done with a fence, but a row of posts with wire stretched between them also works well. At Ruud & Merel, the thornless blackberry grows in their row cultivation system. In this blog they show step-by-step how they set that up.
• Pruning: the thornless blackberry must be pruned in the autumn. Remove the old fruit-bearing canes, which are the branches that bore fruit in the past season. These branches will no longer produce new fruit and are best removed.
• Open ground or pots: you can grow all small fruits in pots; the larger the pot, the better they will do. They will always grow better and produce more fruit in open ground. In open ground, this variety does require support by means of a trellis, fence, or being tied to wires stretched between posts.