Columbia Giant blackberry variety

Rating [ 5 ]

New thornless trailing blackberry cultivar with very large fruit

Botanical designation

Rubus subgenus Rubus Watson 'Columbia Giant'

Originated from a cross of

Originated from a cross of NZ 9629-1 x ORUS 1350-2

Variety denomination

Variety denomination - 'Columbia Giant', tested as ORUS 3447-2

Plants are

Plants are thornless

Bushes have

Bushes have trailing canes

Fruit weight is

Fruit weight is 12 g

Shape

Berries have a oblong shape

Fruiting habit

Fruiting habit - floricane fruiting (summer-bearing)

Flowering on floricanes starts in the

Flowering on floricanes starts in the third week of May

Ripening date (regular) -

Ripening date (regular) - third week of July

Productivity is

Productivity is 5 kg per plant

Soluble solids

Soluble solids - 11.25%

Acidity

Acidity - 1.85%

Cold hardiness is

Cold hardiness is good

Heat tolerance is

Heat tolerance is low

Patent

Patent US PP28,369 P3 dated September 10, 2017

Current status

Current status - modern or widely used


Columbia Giant is a thornless trailing blackberry cultivar with very large fruit from the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) breeding program in Corvallis. Columbia Giant is introduced as a high quality, high yielding, thornless trailing blackberry with good flavor and firm fruit that are suited for local fresh market sales but can be machine harvested for the processing market with very good frozen quality. Columbia Giant should be adapted to areas where other trailing blackberries can be grown successfully.
Average fruit weight is about 12 g. Average yield is about 4-6 kg from each plant. The large fruit size makes it particularly attractive for roadside marketing and homeowners but may be problematic for the wholesale fresh market as a very large berry can cause problems with making the stated unit weight when packing fresh fruit in clamshells.
Fresh fruit of Columbia Giant are rated as having better firmness than either of the current industry standards. Columbia Giant has comparable performance for aroma, flavor, color, and overall quality with its sibling Columbia Star and Marion, which are considered industry standards for quality. Columbia Giant is rated better than Black Diamond for flavor, but worse for titratable acidity. Columbia Giant ripened in the early midseason for trailing blackberries, similar to Black Diamond, a couple of days before Marion, and weeks ahead of Navaho erect and Chester Thornless semierect blackberries. The harvest interval (5% to 95% ripe) for Columbia Giant has about a 23–25 days harvest interval and is similar to Black Diamond and Marion (from the end of June to the middle of July). The canes of Columbia Giant are as vigorous as those of Marion and Black Diamond.
Columbia Giant nuclear stock has tested negative for Apple mosaic virus, Arabis mosaic virus, Cherry leaf roll virus, Cherry rasp leaf virus, Prunus necrotic ringspot virus, Raspberry bushy dwarf virus, Raspberry ringspot virus, Strawberry necrotic shock virus, Tobacco ringspot virus, Tobacco streak virus, Tomato black ring virus, Tomato ringspot virus, and Xylella by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and has tested negative for Blackberry chlorotic ringspot virus, Blackberry virus Y, Blackberry yellow vein associated virus, Black raspberry necrosis virus, Raspberry latent virus, Raspberry leaf mottle virus, Rubus yellow net virus, and Strawberry latent ringspot virus. The winter hardiness is good, about minus 17 C.
Table 1. Yield and average berry weight at Oregon State University’s North Willamette Research and Extension Center (planted in 2011)
Cultivar Berry weight, g Yield, kg/plant
2013 2014 2015
Columbia Giant 12 9.23 4.49 4.07
Black Diamond 5.7 6.51 2.90 4.63
Marion 5.2 5.3 3.01 3.15
Table 2. Subjectively evaluated fruit quality traits for Black Diamond, Columbia Giant and Marion blackberries (planted in 2011, scale from 1 to 9, where 9 is the best expression)
Cultivar Columbia Giant Black Diamond Marion
Firmness 8.0 7.1 4.5
Color 8.0 8.1 7.7
Shape 8.6 8.5 5.6
Texture 8.2 7.0 7.7
Flavor 7.3 5.9 8.1
Table 3. Soluble solids, pH and titratable acidity of fruit for popular blackberry cultivars and Columbia Giant (2012 - 2015 years)
Cultivar Soluble solids, % Titratable acidity, % pH
Columbia Giant 11.72 1.88 3.18
Columbia Star 13.18 1.50 3.20
Black Diamond 11.79 1.23 3.37
Chester Thornless 12.54 1.10 3.28
Marion 13.70 1.59 3.14
Table 4. Harvest season (avg. from 2013 - 2015)
Cultivar Ripening
First (5%) Peak (50%) Last (95%)
Columbia Giant June 22 July 3 July 17
Navaho June 26 July 5 July 15
Black Diamond June 24 July 3 July 17
Chester Thornless July 31 August 12 August 30
Marion June 26 July 5 July 15

Columbia Giant  sweet?

Is blackberry Columbia Giant sweet?

Columbia Giant blackberries mostly have a sweet flavor
How to cultivate blackberry

How to cultivate blackberry Columbia Giant?

1. Include annual preemergence and postemergence herbicide applications;
2. Include annual spring nitrogen (N) fertilization (about 78 kg/ha) using ammonium nitrate (NH4NO3);
3. Postharvest removal of floricanes;
4. Sprinkler irrigation apply weekly during the growing season;
5. Training of primocanes to a two-wire-trellis;
6. A single application of liquid lime sulfur (94 L/ha) each spring at budbreak for control of anthracnose;
7. Use sun shelters.
Diseases resistance

What diseases is blackberry Columbia Giant resistant to?

Columbia Giant has very good resistance to diseases such as Rosette or Double-Blossom
Diseases susceptibility

What diseases is blackberry variety Columbia Giant vulnerable to?

Useful Growing Guides

Useful Growing Guides:

Clark Gold
Previous variety
Columbia Star
Next variety

Reviews of the variety Columbia Giant

Review from [BIG JALM]

Carl describes the Columbia giant blackberry
 

Review from [EKLAND MARKETING CO. - EMCO CAL]


Discussions about variety Columbia Giant

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