Abstract
The purpose of this study was to determine the duration from planting to reproductive phase, of wild blackberry (Rubus spp.) collected from the wild.It was carried out at the Horticulture Research and Teaching Farm, Egerton University, Njoro, Kenya. The experimental layout wasa randomized complete block design (RCBD) replicated three times; treatment was four wild blackberry species and one cultivated cultivar. The days to first flowering were significantly shorter in cultivated species Rubus fruiticosus at 126 days after planting while wild species Rubus pinnatus, Rubus steundneri Rubus volkensis and Rubus apetalu stook much longer time (341, 333, 332 and 227 days, respectively). Compared to other wild species R. apetalus took a significantly shorter time to flowering than all the other wild species. Analysis also showed that cultivated species, R. fruiticusos had significantly the longest harvesting duration compared to all wild species planted in the present study. It is concluded that wild blackberry species under conventional production practices have varying days to reproductive phase. However, more studies are necessary with a view to reducing the days to reproductive phase for the wild species to compare favourably with the cultivated types. Key words: Wild blackberry, reproductive phase, conventional production.  
Highlights
Blackberries were earlier considered as wild fruits and belong to the family of Rosaceae
Days to first flowering (Table 1) were significantly shorter in R. fruiticosus while there were no significant differences in the number of days to first flowering, among wild species R. volkensis, R. pinnatus and R. steundneri, which took longer days to first flowering
Wild species R. apetalus had the shortest days to flowering compared to the other wild species.A similar result was observed for the days to 50% flowering, whereby R. fruiticosus had a significantly shorter daysto all the wild species grown while R. apetalus had a significantly shorter days to 50% flowering in comparison to other wild species grown
Summary
Blackberries were earlier considered as wild fruits and belong to the family of Rosaceae. Gardening of this species is of great significant in a number of countries (Clark and Finn, 2014). With regards to nutritional benefits, blackberry has beenclassified second after Blue berry (Vaccinium sp.) among the berry fruit species in the world. They are rich in numerous nutrients such as vitamins, minerals, anti-oxidants and dietary fibers that are vital for health (Ding et al, 2006; Tulipani et al, 2008). Blackberries are extensively cultivated on over 20,000 ha worldwide, mainly in Europe and North
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