Blackberry Varieties With Disease Resistance

Navaho

• Navaho blackberry was introduced by the University of Arkansas in 1989, according to the Texas A&M University Extension website. It is an erect and thornless blackberry cultivar. The berries tend to be moderate in size, approximately 5 g in weight, and are very firm with an excellent flavor. While Navaho's rosette resistance is very good, it is susceptible to leaf diseases, such as orange rust and leaf spot.

Brazos

• Brazos, a Texas A&M variety that was released in 1959, has been the standard raspberry cultivar in Texas for 35 years, according to the Texas A&M website. It is an erect-growing, thorny plant, producing a large and firm blackberry with a tart flavor, making it a good choice for jams, jellies and baked desserts. While it tends to be highly susceptible to rosette, it is very resistant to anthracnose.

Apache

• Apache is a cultivar of blackberry released from the University of Arkansas in 1999, according to the Louisiana State University website. It is thornless and bears a fairly large berry, weighing up to 10 g. This is the largest berry produced by the thornless cultivars, according to the University of Florida Extension. They also note that Apache has higher yields than other thornless cultivars. This variety of blackberry is resistant to orange rust, anthracnose and rosette.

Ouachita

• Ouachita is a 2003 release from the University of Arkansas. This blackberry variety has a large fruit, averaging 6 to 6-1/2 g, which is excellent in flavor. It is an erect, thornless cultivar that produces consistently high yields. Ouachita is very resistant to rosette disease and orange rust and fairly resistant to anthracnose.

Hull

• Hull is a thornless, semi-trailing variety of blackberry that was released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 1981 It bears a berry that weighs approximately 5-1/5 g, which has a good flavor if allowed to ripen to a dull, black color. Berries that are not fully ripe have a tart taste. This is a vigorous blackberry and relatively disease free.