Black raspberry (Rubus occidentalis 'Black Jewel') organic - 2-liter pot

The 'Black Jewel' black raspberry is a productive raspberry that will treat you to an abundance of juicy, deep-black berries from July to September. The shrub grows compactly (approx. 1.5–2 m), making it suitable for smaller gardens or containers. The fruits are sweet with a light, intense berry flavor and firm texture, perfect for eating fresh or using in jams, sauces, and desserts. It grows best in fertile, moist soil in a sunny location and will yield a bountiful harvest soon after planting.

The flavor of a black raspberry is somewhere between that of a raspberry and a blackberry. The fruits are dark purple to black in color. Unripe fruits are red. The black raspberry grows similarly to blackberries, tayberries, and Japanese wineberries and therefore doesn't spread like traditional raspberries.

Key Features

• Harvest: July-August
• Taste: sweet, more complex flavour than red raspberries
• Thorns: yes
• Location: sun to partial shade
• Planting distance: 50-100 cm
• Cultivation method: support with wire/fencing
• Height on delivery: 30-40 cm (without pot)

Tips and care:

• Planting: Plant the shrubs from September to March. If you plant later in the season, keep in mind that you'll need to provide extra water in warm weather, as the roots aren't yet well established.
• Support: The black raspberry needs support to grow well. This can be achieved with a fence, but a row of posts with wire stretched between them also works well. Ruud & Merel grow their raspberries in their row-cropping system. In this blog post, they show you step by step how they set it up.
• Pruning : Black raspberries should be pruned in the fall. Remove the old fruiting canes, which are the branches that bore fruit in the previous season. These branches will not produce new fruit and are best removed.
• Open ground or pots: you can grow all soft fruit in pots; the larger the pot, the better they will do. They will always grow better and produce more fruit in the open ground. In the open ground, this variety does require support in the form of a fence, trellis, or wire tied to posts.