Kiowa Blackberries

Ken W Wilson wrote:Has anyone grown Kiowa Blackberries? I ordered six from Starks, then read that they are an extremely low chill variety. Does anyone know if their blooms are likely to get frosted in western Missouri?  I don't want to end up with just a blackberry thicket but no berries. I have grown several thornless varieties. Most years they don't get frosted.

I wanted a thorny variety to naturalize in what will someday be a food forest. Trees were only planted this spring except for a few around edges.  I'm also wanting them to make cover for wildlife.

The huge size sounds great. I wonder if they taste good?[/quote


You got me wondering what kind of Blackberry I have ( just planted it this year) and I just wrote "blackberry bush" in my garden journal.  Duh.   Rubas X Kiowa Grows in hardiness zones 4 to 9 and was bread at the University of Arkansas

Stark Bros is showing the zones as 5 to 8,   A youtube video shows an Alabama AG professor giving a pruning lesson on the Kiowa in Alabama,   SFgate.com is saying the Kiowa grows in zones 4 to 9.  Agristarts.com says zones 6 to 10 with a chilling requirement of 200 hours.

Of course, none of this means that the fruit will set.  If you have 200  chill hours, i.e. 200 hours between 34 and 45 degrees, you should be good to go.  My stomping ground as a kid was Iowa, Nebraska, and Missouri...I"m thinking you have the chill hours covered.

Looks like a good eater and it produces fruit for almost six weeks.  

I know none of this is definitive but it's the best I could come up with...good luck.  For Chill hours follow the link to the station closest to you in Nevada, Missouri

http://www.getchill.net/  I used station KKAPRESC1 (Prescott Kansas).  I'm guessing that is in your general area.  

This is what the calculator is showing for 2016:


Below 45 Model: 1073 chill hours
Between 45 and 32 Model: 486 chill hours
Utah Model: 455 chill units
Positive Utah Model: 514 chill units
Dynamic Model: 33 chill portions

Ken W Wilson wrote:Thanks!

I'm actually worried that two hundred chill hours isn't enough and they'll bloom too early and get frosted. Our Spring weather goes back and forth a lot.

Good to know the berry quality is good.