November and February are the harvest season for blackberry at the southern states of Brazil, where is the largest cultivation area in the country. It is Known that the fruit offered outside the harvest season has higher prices, so the present study aimed to stagger the harvest season for blackberry, by performing the winter pruning at different time, taking into account the number of hours exposed to cold temperatures and accumulated degree-days. This study was conducted at the Fazenda Experimental São Manuel, at São Manuel-SP. It was used blackberry plants cv. Tupy, 3 years old, conducted in 4 main stems in espalier in T, with 1.2 meters high. The experimental design was a 2x5 factorial arrangement, with two cropping systems (irrigated and non-irrigated) and 5 treatments (pruning times: 05/20, 06/26, 07/24, 08/23 and 09/26) with blocks repetitions. Irrigation did not alter the cycle of blackberry, but resulted in higher productivity independent of pruning time. The higher the number of chilling hours accumulated, the lower the cycle and the need for day-degrees of the blackberry 'Tupy'. The winter pruning held on 05/20 provided the highest blackberry harvest in mid-September, at São Manuel - SP.
Rubus sp; productivity; day-degrees; cycle; quality
