How Can You Tell If Your Newly Planted Blackberry Bush Is Growing?

Question

I purchased a set of 3 blackberry bushes from directgardening.com. They showed up tied together and looked pretty dried out. I planted them as directed on pretty much every site I read on. They have been in the ground for about 2 weeks. I water them as directed but they still just look like sticks sticking out of the ground. I google how to tell if they are growing and all I get is “it takes 2 years for a plant to fully mature”. I understand that. But how long will it take for me to see growth and leaves. I’d like to know if they are just dead. I don’t want to waste my time watering something that is never gonna do anything…

Answer 1

You can scratch a stem to see if there's green under the surface, or see if a stem is flexible to determine whether the bush is alive. I think at the time you sent this, it was too soon to tell. A change of environment will often affect a plant, making it slow down or even stop growing for a while.
Here are two articles that may be helpful:
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/fruits/blackberries/growing-blackberry-bushes.htm
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/fruits/blackberries/blackberries-not-fruiting.htm