In terms of the calendar, Spring has Sprung! Though Mother Nature this year has been doing her thing throwing a lot of the days off this last month with two snows and some really cold temps, it is still time for all those brewery supply stores/home brew stores to have rhizomes ready for the home grower.
Rhizomes of course are the root stock for Hops. Similar to that of the root stock for grapes in terms of how they grow and the time it takes to reach a plants maturity. Rhizomes are cut from an existing plants crown that may be anywhere from three to ten years old in some cases. There is some debate like every thing else with the proper age a rhizome should be cut from a plant (harvested), but I prefer not to cut rhizomes from those that I have planted for at least three seasons. There may be exceptions of course to that rule, but I really want the root to take hold in the soil and develop over those three seasons. This may not apply to container growers. I have seen and experienced incredible growth from rhizomes in pots/containers. I believe this is to the fact that the soil is easily amendable during the season, those on your deck/porch are easily accessible for watering and the heat from the summer sun actually keeps the soil thermals great throughout the summer and consistent AND if potted properly have better drainage than a lot of soils in your garden or field.
When you secure rhizomes, keep in mind that there tends to be a 30-40% failure rate from those purchased online. Rhizomes do not seem to be dated so there is no way of knowing if you are getting one from a year ago, two years ago or what. It is important to evaluate them upon arrival and take the steps to get a refund if you see that the condition of the rhizome (which run from $4-6) is acceptable. Once you locate a reputable source, I tend to think less about cost but about quality. If they are $1 more but grow that's better than a cheaper one with very high failure rates.
So, a simple look at potting these rhizomes brings us to this post. I like to start my first rhizome cuttings in pots even before I tend to transplant them out into the field/rows of the hop yard. This can be done in a greenhouse or even your garage throughout the late spring weeks du to danger of more snow or late frost into April. I really do not like keeping rhizomes stored in bags and such unless of course its over winter.
All you will need:
1. Pots/Containers: You can get these pretty cheap and a lot of times reusing containers from hanging plants works the best. Re-use & Recyle!! Very important to have adequate drainage holes and almost all of these already have them in the container as well as the shield cup on the bottom of the container that is removable. (See photo) I use one to mix the soils together and another for the planting of the rhizomes.
2. Soil/Compost: If you plant to plant the rhizomes after they have "sprung" then incorporate a mix of 50/50 with compost or potting mix with the soil that the plants will be getting planted in after transplant. **Will cover this part in a future post in a few weeks.
Most rhizomes that do fail as mentioned above either had no areas for establishment of buds OR they actually rotted in the soil due to poor drainage conditions. Most of the time excessive late season rains that come in waves which is why if you are planting directly in your garden to mound or "hill" the rhizome. You can follow that same as if potting but just mound the "hill" first and then go from there.
3. Rhizomes- secure your rhizomes from reputable sourcing. Examine your rhizome and evaluate it for potential in terms of placement of small white "heads" which will be the future growth points off the rhizome that will yield your first bines eventually as they break the soil in a few weeks. You may also determine like some of the photos in this post that number of them and if on both ends whether you can cut the rhizome in half to create two plants instead of one. Remember that you will likely be cutting back quite a few of the bines which will bunch in a pot if not provided enough room so if you see that you could possibly get a doze or so from each end; split the rhizome and pot in different pots.
4. Sharpie/Label. Use a sharpie to label your sticker for your pot. This may seem like a mute point but trust me if you have different types of rhizomes for the varying hop plants you do not want to fall back on memory a few months from now regarding which pot is which, especially if you are looking to brew with the hop cones yourself upon harvest. Besides each of them require a bit different growing regimen as well in terms of nitrogen additions and such.
5. Camera and Notebook- I learned a long time ago from my mother and grandma that any gardener worth their tomato has notebook for jot down tidbits of info during the season. Over the years, this has come in handy quite a few times for our hops. Take a picture every few weeks or so; more in the June/July when your bines really start to fly to the sky.
So here we go: You got your rhizomes!
First thing you want to do is separate your rhizomes if you have different ones. You want to grow them together and not mix types in your pot--or in your row. If planting in garden, make sure you have some spacing between different types. If same type, we typically space 36-42 in a formal hop setting but in a garden go with about 32-36 seems to be fine. Separate two different types---maybe ending with one type like Cascade and starting another like Columbus about five feet apart is a good rule.
Its important to take a look at your soil make up. Most home growers may never have had a soil test done for their garden and that's fine. If you using some soil augmentation, examine the bag and you will get a good idea of the make up of the mix. Hops will not grow well in heavy or compact soils even in pots. Hops need the "Big Three"- Nitrogen, Phosphorous and Potassium. These ratios will be located on your bag of soil mix from your garden supply store. Of course, hops need some others as well but these will be found in your soil as well, especially if you are doing a combination in your pot of your soil and the mix.
After filling your soil in your container- size here varies with folks but I prefer to begin the season with a hanging plant container and then as the season moves forward determine times to upgrade the size of the pot especially with first year potted plants. Mix your soil mix and compost together and place in pot, Make sure its loose and fluffy.
Take your rhizomes that you have examined and find the area with the most concentrated bud points- those white heads you were looking for earlier. Some may have already begun to sprout as in the photos here as well and position your rhizomes:
There are two areas of thought on this:
1. Plant the rhizome horizontally in the soil about one to two inches beneath the soil. This way both ends have the potential to bud and grow or
2. Take your rhizome and position it vertically in the soil with the best end with the most bud points pointed up and the other going down into the soil. Cover the head with about an inch of soil so that the buds sprout will break the soil and climb to the sky.
** there is a camp that does not support #2 in large part if fertilizers are being used from the starting point because what happens is the head of the rhizome draws up water and soil from the pot or ground and as the water rise up and evaporate a residual salt from the fertilizer may be left on the head which can be burned on expose areas of the rhizome and potentially kill it. However, if you are not using supplemental fertilizers, I have found this method to work in pots and containers and has the sprout reaches and begins to turn color to green due to photosynthesis I then begin to replenish the soil atop the head point where the bud sprout meets the rhizome.
Here is a pic of a rhizome planted vertically in the soil started about two weeks ago. You can already see the growth starting above the soil line. These are some of the smaller rhizome cutting that were only about three inches we have babied and will continue to grow in pots throughout the season in hopes of replanting them back into the rows of the hop yard during Fall planting season to go into dormancy for next year.
Make sure that you have not compacted the soil at all under where you plant to place the rhizome when you create the home for it in the pot. Do not push down to create the hole, but rather pull soil away from left to right to make the hole. Place the rhizome into the location and then cover with your one to two inch soil preference. I like to also add some water at this point to the soil. I prefer to use rain water captured at home or use some filtered water from your faucet at home. Some localities waters may be higher or lower in amendments which can alter your growing success.
3. Once you have your rhizomes covered in the pot, be sure at this point to label your pot with a sticker identifying the date at which you planted and the variety.
In a few weeks you will begin to see sprouts breaking the soil level of your pot or container. At this point your sprouts become "bines" and will begin to grow. Some will suggest that these first bines often called "bull shoots" should be cut. Reasoning is these are the weakest "first growth" bines of the season and will not withstand the late Spring weather changes or wind due to the fact many tend to be hollow inside the stem of the bine. Thus far for me, I have not seen significant increases in yield to plants that have had "bull shoots" cut than those that have not where I grow. It may be simply a "commercial" technique for more established plants that may be sprouting in early Feb/March that this technique is meant for that has trickled its way down to home growers. This options is left up to your own preference.
Once your sprouts turn to bines and begin to reach a level of about a foot or so it will be time to start thinking about "training" the bines. We will cover this in a few weeks as well, but begin to think about the twine and trellis-like set up you would like to establish for your hop plants.
The really awesome thing about container growing is you can move your plants into the garage or off the deck to a protected area during storms and such early in the development stages. If a late season winter storm or severe frost is being predicated, they can easily be brought inside as well.
