How to Grow Raspberries, Blueberries, and Blackberries in Containers

IN THIS VIDEO

Huge thank you to Bushel and Berry for sponsoring this video - I love their container fruit varieties, especially their low-chill hour requirement varieties that work well in my warm zone.

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TIMESTAMPS

0:00 - Intro
0:43 - Raspberry Basics
1:48 - Raspberry Growth Habits
2:24 - Raspberry Soil Needs
3:36 - Raspberry Care
4:20 - Raspberry Potting and Mulch
6:04 - Raspberry Watering, Fertilizing, Pests
7:11 - Blackberry Basics
8:05 - Blackberry Growth Habits
9:08 - Blackberry Potting and Pruning
10:35 - Blueberry Basics
11:45 - Blueberry Soil Mix
13:45 - Blueberry Potting and Bird Control
15:32 - Blueberry Care and Mulch
17:09 - Berry Corner Overview

DISCLAIMER

[joycemiller]

Lol, the first time I met my neighbors chicken, she was jumping up to pick blueberries off my bushes. We developed a loving relationship in the next couple years. They moved & I sure miss her.

[SparkySezz]

Just now watched this video…. I have Red Raspberries and Black Raspberries that i let grow wild in the back yard. I get about 10-12 1 gallon freezer bags every summer lol they’ve been growing there since the late 70’s. We love them. I make jellies, pie filling, syrup, etc. that carry us through until the following year when it’s time to pick again. Our neighbors and friends love when i start canning/preserving them. The best part of any garden is sharing what you grow ❤️

[matthewstarnes]

Hey Kevin, can we get a 6 month update on these berries? It would be awesome to see how they are doing and would help me in my berry garden? Thanks man, keep putting out the good stuff!

[NoHSara]

Watching this as I'm eating my oatmeal with blueberries that I just picked from the pots on my porch!

[skatingcanuck]

" I like to teach you how to become a gardener, to think like a gardener. Instead of becoming a google search engine on youtube." Love this quote Kevin! Gardening is about the journey, not just finding the solutions.

[writerinfact]

My grandmother, who lived on a farm in Michigan, loved raspberries and passed the raspberry gene to me. She had wild blueberries out behind the barn, wild blackberries behind the garage, and raspberries nearly everywhere else. Not roses; raspberries. There were red, yellow, black, and purple raspberries and they all taste just a little bit different, with slightly different seasons. My uncle was the one, though, who taught me about "canning" raspberries - which just means that whatever you can't eat goes into the can, which eventually winds up in the house, to the benefit of those who didn't make the effort to pick them. I'd rather eat than can! 🥰

[virginiaflynn]

I’m in my 4th year of growing blueberries in containers. They are in grow bags mainly because clay and plastic don’t do well in western New York winters.
For netting I put a tomato cage over each plant in early spring and periodically check to make sure the branches are growing inside the cage. After they flower and fruit start to develop, I cover each of them with extra large white mesh laundry bags, two per plant. One bag has the bottom cut out and is slipped over as a “sleeve” and anchored with landscape staples to the soil in the pot. The other bag is slipped over the top and clipped to the top of the sleeve with clothes pins. This netting method keeps not only birds, but harmful insects, chipmunks and rabbits out of them. Water goes right through the mesh and to harvest, I open up where the two bags meet.
I hope this helps. 🫐

[samslens]

You gave me the motivation to have plant babies again in containers on my back porch (sadly no garden space). I live in a tiny apartment on the ground floor so I've got herbs and a Thai chili plant with my first 2 little chilies popping up. My little lilac is also about to bloom. Someday I hope have an epic garden of my own.

[Crysark]

Hey Kevin, the reason that bark mixed into the soil of your blueberries does well is because it promotes fungus. Having soil high in fungus makes it acidic due to how they break down their food, with acids. Thanks for the video!

[zhippidydoodah]

Happy accident I found for blueberries in containers - I planted some lettuce seeds in one, and the blueberry plant took off like crazy. It is easily 1.5 times the size of the potted blueberry grown without a lettuce. The small one has more berries, but the one partnered with lettuce has amazing growth.

[parrotsandmore]

Blackberries are the Bain of my existence! My yard is FULL of blueberries, strawberries and blackberries. The blackberries have thorns, and they spread everywhere. I cut them down twice a year and they still produce berries and multiplies rapidly

[CB-odpw]

So the garden dept at Lowes/Home Depot will know what I am asking for if I ask for the mulch like Fruity Pebbles? 🤣

[Sahentry]

Great topic, I was working in a nursery when some of the container variety raspberries got some publicity and were selling like mad, the fact that they're thorn-less makes them easy to work with (in most cases). I also started mulching my berries this year with sunflower seeds that I was feeding chickadee and junco's over the winter cause they're fun to watch and they help in my area with some of the pest pressure. And the last thing I'll say is that i'm experimenting this year, I put some garlic in with my blueberry plant, because it's said that they give off a little uric acid and so far it seems to be going well, it was just some leftover small cloves I had from my garlic planting and i'm not expecting them to produce a harvest, just to see if my blueberry appreciates the company.

[ashleywong]

Can you do a video about caring for aging container blueberry plants? When and how to trim it up, adding to or supplementing the soil, etc?

[robatosan]

Living in Japan and can only grow in containers. Thank you so much for all the information. Have been struggling with blueberries and have yet to try blackberries. Looking forward to trying blackberries now.

[Lilac_Blade]

These intros give me life. Always popping in out of nowhere. Adorable, haha.

[jennmccaleb]

I have a ton of pecan (5 trees in our yard!) so I use the shells as mulch for the blackberries. Seems to work great.

[nerdicus]

I seriously can't wait until I have property to farm. Currently living in an apartment with little to no extra space and I realllyyy want to grow my own food. These videos have been extremely informative and helpful for a beginner like me :)

[foodforestnextdoor]

I like to use organza bags over the blueberry bushes. They tie on over the fruit only. It’s a cheap, effective way I’ve used for several years to keep birds off of my plants.

[cclothier]

Gosh, I have boyenberry, and blackberry to plant this weekend. I needed this video. Thank you!