How to Propagate Blackberries

by Marcie
Close up of a ripe blackberry

How do you propagate blackberries? It’s so easy! Probably the easiest of all the plants, trees, fruits, veggies that I propagate. All you do is cut off a piece of blackberry vine and stick it in the ground where you want it. Or let it grow until it’s tip touches the ground.

The First Way

When your blackberry bushes are done producing and you’re ready to cut them back, don’t throw away all those pruned canes! Instead, cut them into 12″ pieces and stick them in the ground wherever you want more blackberries to grow. I do this from August to October but you can do it anytime you’re pruning them. During the summer they are growing and producing so you wouldn’t prune. However, if one cane is super long and doesn’t have berries on the end, I will cut it off so it stays out of the way of the lawnmower. So I do propagate during the summer sometimes too. I walk by, get hit in the face with a blackberry cane, pull out my shears, cut off 24″, cut it in half, and stick both halves into the ground wherever in my garden/yard I want more blackberries. So easy!

A Second Way

Another way to propagate blackberries is to let them grow super long in the summer and by early fall the tip will bend over, reach the ground, and start putting out it’s own roots even though it’s supposed to be the top of the plant. Then after a few weeks you can cut it off and it’ll be growing all by itself.

Propagating blackberry: Long blackberry cane growing over other canes and planting itself into the ground.
This is one long blackberry cane that ended up planting its tip into the ground.
Propagating blackberry: Tip of blackberry bush bending over and growing into the ground, forming new roots.
The tip of a very long blackberry bush that bent over and planted itself into the ground.

Cut it with pruning shears, leaving about 12″ in the ground. Then you can stick the tip back into the ground to produce more roots. Or cut more 12″ pieces off of the long cane and put them in ground wherever you’d like blackberries to grow in your garden.

If you’re planting in the summer: Water them every day (unless you get a lot of rain like I do.) They’ll start to grow and you’ll notice new leaves/growth on the canes.

If you plant in the fall: No need to water unless it’s hot and dry. They will look dead all winter but in the spring they will grow new leaves and height.

The first summer they grow about 24″. The next summer they will grow much more and produce fruit.

Here are some pictures of our blackberries:

Close up of one ripe blackberry and one still red.
One day when Alexis had taken all the kids places I got out the fancy camera and actually took some good pictures around our property! This is my favorite. I’m always going and don’t usually have the time or patience but my goal for 2023 is to learn how to use the camera and take better pictures.

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7 comments

Barbra-Sue March 13, 2023 - 3:16 pm

We love blackberries on our farm! Sadly we lost a patch due to the driveway construction, I’m hoping it will come back, I may help it a bit !

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Cheryll Wesoja July 9, 2024 - 1:56 pm

Wanting to learn to propagate

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Marcie July 12, 2024 - 3:40 pm

It’s easy! A lot of things you can just cut a piece of and stick in the ground. Other things you can help by putting in water or soil in your house for a bit for it to grow roots. Blackberries are the easiest. You can do it!

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Shelley August 15, 2025 - 5:37 pm

So when you propagate with the cutting, does it now become a floricane or will it be a primocane?

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Marcie August 21, 2025 - 3:14 pm

When I take a piece of the thick pirmocane and put it in the ground, it becomes a primocane. But when I’ve taken a floricane and put it in the ground, it has become a floricane. I mostly take primocanes and propagate those. Or let them propagate themselves by growing long enough that the tip touches the ground and grows roots. Then I’ll cut it and either leave it there or gently dig it up and put it in a new location and it will become a primocane. I hope this helps! Others out there know a lot more than I do; I just know what I’ve tried.

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phillip September 13, 2025 - 4:32 pm

I live in NW Fla. and have tried to air layer propagate, burry runners, with no success. water a lot and check PH to maintain below six. Use rootone, nothing. Stalks are dry as a bone in six months!

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Marcie September 13, 2025 - 4:54 pm

Darn! I’m so sorry!I live in Virginia so I don’t know anything about Florida or your soil type. Sounds like you’re doing everything right! I need to update this post and video because lately I’ve had more success with cutting and planting them when they are actively growing in July verses when they’re dying off for winter. When I do try in fall only about 50% are growing the next summer. The others haven’t. But when I try in summer it is more like 80%. What has been 100% is letting the end touch the ground and start growing roots for a couple of weeks. Then cut it like 5″ from the ground and it will be its own plant. I just have to be careful not to run over it with the mower or trimmer!
I’m sorry I can’t help you more. Maybe ask a gardener or nursery in your area for help. Thanks for visiting my blog!

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