Rubus Strawberry Shortcake G2 RAZ

I highly recommend purchasing the Blackberry Babycakes from this seller, if stock is available. I purchased two of the 1 gallon Babycakes. These plants came to me extra large, basically dormant or just waking up, and in bad need of a pruning. I pruned my plants as soon as I got them. I pruned in a very straightforward way, just cutting off any branches that looked dead, or with no new growth. I left everything that showed signs of new buds or new growth. Each plant had a couple branches that needed to be pruned all the way to the ground. I pinched off all the old mottled, dark looking leaves. These plants were much larger than you would normally receive in a one gallon. Larger than any one gallon I’ve gotten before.This plant is normally very pricey everywhere else. A one gallon normally costs $49 before shipping, and a 2 gallon normally $69. That being said, I didn’t mind doing a little pruning, for the value. The plants were also VERY root bound. I took my time massaging the root balls, to loosen up all those roots and soil, before potting. (I used my bare hands for this step, to cause the least amount of damage to roots). I planted BOTH of my one gallon Babycakes, together in an extra, extra large pot. I rotated them next to each other in the pot, until they were as close together as possible, and the vines from both plants criss crossed into each other. I also added a couple tiny Babycakes primocanes I had left over from a previous planting, but I just did that cause they were left over and it’s a large pot so why not?After potting, I thought the plant still looked a little “leggy”, so I added a trellis to make the plant more upright and bushy. I’ve never seen anyone trellis the Babycakes blackberry before, and it certainly does not need it, but I absolutely love the way it came out looking with the trellis. I am just so pleased with my results and can’t wait to see what the plant looks like when it fully leafs out and blossoms.I’ve had the plants a week and a half as of writing this, and my plant is absolutely covered in buds, with more forming everyday. I counted around 40 flower buds. I can see why Blackberry Babycakes won “Best in Show” for new varieties the year it debuted on the market. I currently grow Blackberry Babycakes, Raspberry Shortcake, Pink Icing Blueberry, and PeachSorbet Blueberry. And a new strawberry variety. All from Bushel and Berry. The Babycakes has absolutely been hands down the least picky, easiest, most beautiful plant to grow. My raspberry shortcake needed trellising (even though it says they don’t). They do, unless you want your plant hanging off the side of the pot, or the fruit on the ground. The shortcake gets top heavy! The blackberry babycakes is more erect, and does not seem to need trellising, but I did so because I love the way it looks. Again, these are two of the one gallon plants that I purchased and put together into one big pot. I live in zone 8a. Photos were taken in order as follows:4/6/2021- unboxing of plants, before pruning4/6/2021- after pruning4/6/2021- after potting4/16/2021- growth a week and a half after pottingUPDATE 5/21/2021- updated photos taken on May 10th, Mother’s Day. Lots of flowers. Today, I have lots of berries growing (still green) but my camera is broken currently, so I am posting photos I took of the plant flowering on Mother’s Day. I had originally planned to gift this plant, but have decided to keep it for myself! Also, I did not skimp on potting soil. Even though it’s tempting, the soil is what sustains your plant, and you want your plant to be with you for a long time. I also feed very lightly (like two tablespoons sprinkled on top) with Holly Tone, or Berry Tone, by Espoma, twice a year. Holly tone and Berry tone are the exact same ingredients, marketed under diff names. Either will work. This is my secret. Once in early spring, once in late fall. Coulda probably left out the extra primocanes I added. Those two tiny primocanes have exploded growth all the way to the edge of the pot, and I can tell already that this plant will need a bigger pot sooner than later.6/23/2021- photo of about the average size of the blackberries I’ve been getting. Some larger, a few smaller, but as you can see, they are generally large fruits. Sweet, classic, blackberry flavor. If you pick them too early, they are more tart and mild. The flavor really develops later on. I let mine grow and ripen at least a good 5 days after they turn black, before I pick them, so they are sweet.UPDATE 7/24/2021- updated photo taken today. Unfortunately, I won’t be getting the late, 2nd crop this year. I am in zone 8a, and I’m sure this is because of the oppressive, southern heat we have been having. It is just too hot here. The new buds I’ve been getting don’t reach maturity, and basically shrivel up after blooming. If I were in a slightly cooler climate, I’m sure it would do fine. But that’s ok, I’m still very pleased and looking forward to more berries next year.Everyone loves the blackberry. I really wanted to post a great photo of the plant with its berries, but i couldn’t keep my family’s hands off the plant long enough to get a good picture. As soon as one would go ripe, it would disappear. Now the plant is finished producing for the season.I am currently battling beetles on the plants. They love it, and they eat the leaves clean just like they do my roses.I also had a wasp take up residence in the plant and refused to leave.Check out the big, tall primocane my plant produced!

Tbh, I usually buy my bulbs and plants from fairly high end growers with a guarantee. My usual source had these at nearly twice the price, plus shipping. Based on the hit or miss reviews, I had extremely low expectations. But I also have a green thumb, so I figured at about $20, each I could probably even get pretty sad looking plants to grow eventually. Well, I was shocked by how beautiful these are! They were carefully packed, and arrived in spectacular condition. These are the one gallon. If your bottom line is strictly cost, I found the actual dormant, bare-root version for $9.99 at a local farm store with the initials TS. But if you want berries sooner, I’d go with these any day!

The plant came earlier that I had expected. It was packed well and looked very healthy. Within a couple weeks it had blossoms on it and I'm now picking berries. Would order again.

A beautifully formed plant with lots of branches distributed evenly arrived with signature required so I had to go to UPS to pick it up. Keep in mind where it ships from, it came from a warmer location to my zone 7 in late February and the plant was already starting to leaf so the leaves froze off the first week - however, I will wait to see if it comes back, there's no rush and raspberries are usually tough. If you order it earlier or later than February this shouldn't be as much of an issue. As advertised, there were no thorns on the branches. It's rare to get such a well-formed plant from mail order and there was a good amount of root system established upon planting so I was impressed!

I ordered two of the same type of plants one from fast growing trees (my go to) and one from Amazon after the fast growing trees plant was very small. I was originally impressed by the size of the Amazon order. This spring however I noticed it had no growth I did a scratch test and it showed signs it was alive but still didn’t have any growth. Latest test revealed it is dead. We had a very mild winter compared to most winters in zone 5.If you want a large one year preformer that looks nice this is a good one. Would it survive winter inside? Idk

Other nurseries I’ve bought from have sold 2 gallon plants that are mature, several years old, with thick canes and excellent root systems. This is a very immature plant in a 2 gallon pot; it should be in a 2.5 quart, 1 gallon at the most. I originally intended to return this because it looked so puny upon arrival (it was almost solid white with several broken parts, it had clearly been kept somewhere way too dark for a lot longer than transit time) but the root system looked healthy when I pulled it up so I’ve decided to keep it. It’s already putting on some new growth and I anticipate it being healthy based on how it’s looking.At least for the positives, I didn’t see any signs of major pest infestation (aside from a single snail and some fungus gnats), the roots are white and healthy, and the potting mix looks appropriate for it.Because the size of the plant does not match the size of the pot (and the implied maturity that goes with that), I can only give this 3 stars, but it is a healthy, albeit immature, young plant. You get what you pay for here.

I’ve bought quite a few plants online, but this supplier definitely gave me my money’s worth as far as how large and leafy the plant was upon arrival in mid fall. Great packaging kept it safe. Loss of several leaves is perfectly normal in transit. I was amazed at how nice it was when I pulled it out. I’ll be potting it in a larger, more permanent pot. Looking forward to getting good fruit next summer.

So I was really nervous after reading some of these reviews, but I ordered it anyway. So I got it and it could of been packed better in the box it came in, but anyway, it wasn’t too bad looking, kinda dry and the leaves were crumbly, so I waited a day to plant it, and I put it in a 25inch planter and am watering it every morning, after the day I planted it, it really started to come to life! I’ve had it planted now a week and it looks amazing! I’m so excited to get some berries!