Blackberry varieties /

Navaho Big And Early blackberry variety

Rating [ 4.9 ]

Fully thornless and robust erect-growing unpretentious cultivar, selected from American Navaho variety

Plants are thornless

Bushes have erect canes

Fruit weight is 6 g

Berries have a conical shape

Fruiting habit - floricane fruiting (summer-bearing)

Flowering on floricanes starts in the fourth week of May

Ripening date (regular) - third week of July

Productivity is 3 kg per plant

Cold hardiness is moderate

Current status - modern or widely used

Country of origin - Switzerland

Asterina Direttissima Montblanc Jumbo Lowberry Little Black Prince Navaho Big And Early Navaho Summerlong Navaho The Big Easy Polarberry

Navaho Big And Early is late-ripening floricane-bearing variety, selected by Lubera AG from original Navaho cultivar. This fully thornless and robust unpretentious plant is vigorous like parent Navaho, and has 3-5 very upright strong stems, doesn't need a trellis. Typical stems length is 1,5-2 m. First flowers appears at the end of May or beginning of June, the harvest season begins in late July and is finished at the end of September. Flowers are pink colored or white with pinkish shade. Berries are large (6-7 g), slightly elongated, same in size, have black glossy color, they are are very juicy, but are exceptionally firm. Taste and smell is very attractive. Harvest is great, 2-4 kg per plant, over 4 kg in good soil.
Winter chill requirement (below 5-7 C) to achieve adequate bud break in spring is around 700 to 800 hours. In cold northern regions requires winter shelters.
Navaho Big And Early has good resistance to many bacterial diseases.

Useful Growing Guides:

Berry Soil and Nutrient Management – A Guide for Educators and Growers. M. Pritts, C. Heidenreich, L. McDermott, and J. Miller; Cornell University, Ithaca, NY

Caneberries Nutrient Management Guide. J. Hart, B. Strik, and H. Rempel; Oregon State University

Blackberry cultivars comparison table (2021). Compiled by myblackberryplants.com

High Tunnel Raspberries and Blackberries. AJ Both, Kathy Demchak, Eric Hanson, Cathy Heidenreich, Greg Loeb, Laura McDermott, Marvin Pritts, and Courtney Weber; Cornell Cooperative Extension

Raspberry and Blackberry Production Guide. L. Bushway, M. Pritts, D. Handley; Natural Resource, Agriculture, and Engineering Service Cooperative Extension, Ithaca

Growing blackberries in your home garden. B. Strik, E. Dixon, A.J. Detweiler and N. Sanchez; Oregon State University Extension Service

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Reviews of the variety Navaho Big And Early

Review from [GARDENVIDEO.COM]

Our blackberry Bigandearly® ripens very early, in mid-summer. Don't prune the Blackberry Navaho® Bigandearly® (Rubus fruticosus) in autumn. In spring you can cut the side shoots and the top of the plant shorter.

Review from [GARDENVIDEO.COM]

Fruit plants are not only for their fruit. They are also fo their flowers. Look here at the wonderful blossom of Bigandearly. The blackberry blooms of this Lubera variety has also a little hint of rose.

Review from [5]

From flowering late May or early June the picking season is usually very late July to late Sept. In the UK and colder climates. First berry ripening time is 55 to 60 days from first inception of flowers. By the way the fruits are exceptionally firm, firmer than Chester Thornlesss which is considered the finest of all! This plant after 8-10 years, if planted in heavy soil will also stop producing canes from the cane and start sprouting new canes from its roots 2 metres away in search of nutrients especially, if the soil is exhausted. It is also extremely upright. Yields can be 4kg+ in good soil. It is vigorous with its new canes just like its parent plant Navaho. It can also double drop late in the season with newer basal shoots on lower parts of existing fruiting cane and showing some primocane activity by cropping again the following year unlike the usual pattern of once flowering the whole cane/shoot is dead after fruiting that same year!

Review from [ALLAN]

It's a nice plant to grow Navaho Bigandearly. My daughter bought me one a few years back after retiring. About 75% of its very big fruits ripen anytime from mid July to late July in a fairly concentrated period of 3 to 4 weeks.

If you are lucky to get the sun the rest will ripen mid August to mid Sept otherwise its best to chop the plant down like other thornless types as the fruit never ripen. Yields are moderate 4 to 6 pounds per plant on two canes usually, but are very firm fruits resistant to mould and pesky flies. Good to grow in a large container as I do and easy to tend.

Review from [JED]

Finished my 3 year trial of Navaho BigandEarly and is a very disease resistant compact growing plant. 1st year establishing- no crop of course; 2nd year 1.82 kg of quality fruit; this year picked 450 fruits, discarded 50 late Aug as no chance of ripening. A few early ripening ones were lost to hungry birds in July.

Most ripened from mid July to mid Aug with final small batch into Sept first week. Final weight was 2.5 kg from two canes, with the plant putting out four more new canes for next year. Average fruit weight of 100 fruits was 625 g as well as total yield so a very uniform plant overall. Some fruits weighing 7.5 g. Fruit is very firm and juicy with small seeds. Pleasantly mildly sweet when fully ripe.

Great garden plant much better than blackberry Helen which is too acidic and disease prone. This Navaho has some ornamental value as the flowers are a pretty rose pink and the plant is very stout and upright. It survived some poorly drained soil in my garden without problems. Verdict: ideal plant.

Review from [RICHARD]

The Navaho Summerlong may well be one of the earliest fruiting blackberries due to its flowering pattern. It flowers mid May to Mid June. Barely 4 weeks or so. The fruits set well and are quick forming for a late July or earlier ripening. Ideal season and good yields.

The Navaho Early has a better flower display, but is more erratic in ripening evenly. More disease prone too and its vigor declines after only a few years.

Review from [K. RICE]

We bought a Navaho BigandEarly last year online. Last year it has cropped really well from the last week in July until end of August giving big blackberries. There are still loads of undeveloped green fruits on its stems, but with the heavy showers and lack of sun unlikely to ever ripen in this very wet Aug month.

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