Blakely blackberry variety

Rating [ 5 ]

Medium-sized berries with sweet flavor, produced on very healthy plants with erect, thornless canes, that are primocane-fruiting

Rubus subgenus Rubus Watson 'Blakely'

Originated from a cross of APF-27 x Black Magic

Variety denomination - 'Blakely', tested as APF-238T

Plants are thornless

Bushes have erect canes

Fruit weight is 6 g

Berries have a rounded shape

Fruiting habit - primocane-fruiting (everbearing)

Flowering on floricanes starts in the fourth week of April

Ripening date (regular) - second week of June

Blooming on primocanes starts in the third week of June

Ripening date (remontant) - fourth week of July

Productivity is 2.1 kg per plant

Soluble solids - 12.8%

Acidity - 0.113%

Cold hardiness is good

Heat tolerance is low

Patent US PP33,329 P2 dated August 09, 2021

Current status - modern or widely used

Country of origin - United States

Agawam Amanda Anastasia Wyeberry Apache Arapaho Babycakes Bailey Big Daddy Black Butte Black Diamond Black Gem Black Jack Black Magic Black Pearl Black Satin Blakely Boysenberry Brazos Caddo Chesapeake Chester Thornless Cheyenne Chickasaw Chief Joseph Choctaw Clark Gold Columbia Giant Columbia Star Columbia Sunrise COX's miracle berry Danna Douglass Doyle's Thornless Eclipse Evergreen Thornless Galaxy Hall’s Beauty Heaven Can Wait Hedrick HJ-6 HJ-7 Hull Thornless Illiny Hardy Kelly Kiowa Kotata Loganberry Lucretia Marion Mary Carmen Metolius MM01 Natchez Navaho Nettleton Creamy White Newberry Nightfall Obsidian Onyx Osage Ouachita Ponca Prime-Ark 45 Prime-Ark Freedom Prime-Ark Horizon Prime-Ark Traveler Prime-Jan Prime-Jim Reuben Schultz Shawnee Siskiyou Smoothstem Sweetie Pie Thornfree Triple Crown Twilight Von Waldo Wild Treasure Willamette Thornless Marion

The new cultivar Blakely is thornless two-season harvesting blackberry from the University of Arkansas.
Plants have moderate vigor, primocanes and floricanes have erect stems without barbs. Size is medium - up to 140 cm in height and up to 100 cm in width when using proper tipping. Canes are not thick, diameter at the basal is 1.25 cm on floricanes and 1.45 cm on primocanes. Anthocyanin coloration mildly present on floricanes and primocanes with color most prevalent on sun-exposed canes. Blakely usually give 4-5 new primocanes per year. Leaves on primocanes are large, palmate in shape with five leaflets. On floricanes leaves are medium in size with three leaflets. Color of leaves is yellow-green.
Date of bloom on second-year canes is the middle of April. Flowers are big, up to 50 mm in diameter, have five white-colored petals. Date of bloom on primocanes is the second week of June. Flowers are larger than that on floricanes, up to 60 mm in diameter, also are white in color.
On floricanes berries typically ripen in the first week of June. Fruit have medium size and about 6 g in weight. Average first ripe date of fruit on primocanes is second week of July, average fruiting period is 40 days and can extend longer. Berries are medium, about 6 g each, up to 20 mm in diameter. Shape is round, drupelets are large, color is black-purple. Fruit on primocanes and floricanes are uniformed. Fruit yields of Blakely on floricanes are on average 2.1 kg, lower than that of APF-45. Primocane's yield is unknown, probably is comparable to or exceeing that of Ark. 45. Fruit firmness and postharvest potential also is lower than that of Prime-Ark 45. The fresh fruit rates very well in flavor and is a noteworthy attribute of the cultivar and is comparable to or exceeing that of APF-45. The flavor of Blakely berries is sweet and low acid with desirable aromatics.
The primary tendency of Blakely APF-238T is commercial use for local-market production and home garden.
Plants and fruit are resistant to anthracnose, shown no evidence of susceptibility to orange rust. Low susceptibility to cane and leaf rust. Blakely is hardy to minus 17 C.