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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
