With the addition of varieties of berries which ripen at different times of the year, your garden can furnish different berries from spring through fall. Beginning most berry plants from cuttings isn’t difficult. However, be mindful that patented varieties can not be propagated without a permit. The key methods of starting berries out of cuttings are, rooting cuttings out of runners, roots or wood, and burying canes in soil while they’re still attached to the plant.
Blackberries
In late summer or early fall, bend a flexible blackberry (Rubus spp.) Cane into the floor and cover the bent part with soil, where roots will form. Dig up the suspended cane the following spring, then cut it out of the mother plant and transplant it into the garden. You can even take root cuttings. Dig pencil-sized roots in midwinter to spring up, cut them into 3- to 6-inch lengths and plant them in pots or right where you need them to grow. Paul Vossen, of the University of California Cooperative Extension Service, advises against house propagation of blackberries, despite its own simplicity. Blackberries often carry viruses or fungal infections, and it is ideal to purchase certified disease-free plants by a known source. Blackberries grow in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 4 through 9.
Raspberries
Raspberries (Rubus spp.) Come in many colours — red or yellow (equally Rubus idaeus), black (Rubus occidentalis) and purple (Rubus neglectus). Raspberries are hardy in USDA zones 3 through 9, depending on the species and cultivar. Root raspberry canes as for blackberries. Again, it’s suggested to purchase disease-free plants. Plant raspberries 300 feet from blackberries or wild desserts. Avoid soil in which eggplant (Solanum melongena), potatoes (Solanum tuberosum) or berries (Lycopericon esculentum) have grown.
Blueberries
Southern highbush blueberries (Vaccinium corymbosum) do best in areas with mild winters. “Misty,””Reveille” and”O’Neal” are hardy in USDA zones 7 through 10, and”Sharpblue” climbs in zones 7 through 11. Propagate highbush blueberries out of hardwood cuttings, which do not require frequent misting as do softwood cuttings. Take one-year-old wood shoots about pencil thickness from twisted plants in early spring before leaf buds unfurl. Cut them into 6-inch lengths, and put several up to half of their length in 4-inch nursery containers full of equal parts moistened perlite and peat. Set the containers in shade and water them each week, more frequently after leaves open or during warm weather. Containers shouldn’t dry out. Cuttings begin to root during late spring and early summer. Transfer frozen cuttings into individual pots and grow them for planting out the next spring.
Strawberries
Strawberry plants (Fragaria x ananassa) are hardy in USDA zones 5 through 8 and grow as cool season annuals in zones 9 and 10. Plants create runners with individual plantlets at the end. Remove cuttings from runners when they have two fully developed leaves and small roots at the bottom of the cuttingedge. Put each cutting into a 3-inch kettle full of half peat and half perlite. Keep cuttings evenly moist in the color until they root. Alternatively, leave the clipping attached to the runner, then put it along with a pot full of flashing medium, and then grind it down with a bit of bent wire. Cut the runner after the plantlet roots.