# Storing rhizomes long term.



## Dave70 (8/3/16)

This seasons crop was a bust due to many factors, none of which were the plants fault. So I've decided to cut back to ground level and hold out till next season. 
Whats the best way to keep the rhizome healthy until re-planting? Zip lock bag or newspaper in the keezer (about 3 deg) Or would I simply be better off leaving them in the pots with a sprinkle of water now and then?


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## Yob (8/3/16)

leave them in the pots mate, better yet get em in the ground if you can. Mulch over, keep moist not wet.


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## goatus (8/3/16)

Agree with keeping them in the ground if possible. They seem to still put a lot of work into root growth even after the growing season is done.

On that point: I've got a few plants in the ground in really crappy soil (lifeless, hydrophobic sand pretty much ). Needless to say they didnt do as well as the plants i put in properly prepared soil, but I assume they put down a decent root system anyway. Am I best to dig these up, replace the soil, and put them back in the ground, or leave them be, and pile on a heap of soil improving goodness on top? I heard digging them up can knock them about a bit?


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## Dave70 (9/3/16)

goatus said:


> Agree with keeping them in the ground if possible. They seem to still put a lot of work into root growth even after the growing season is done.
> 
> On that point: I've got a few plants in the ground in really crappy soil (lifeless, hydrophobic sand pretty much ). Needless to say they didnt do as well as the plants i put in properly prepared soil, but I assume they put down a decent root system anyway. Am I best to dig these up, replace the soil, and put them back in the ground, or leave them be, and pile on a heap of soil improving goodness on top? I heard digging them up can knock them about a bit?


Thats part of the reason I thought it better to make a fresh start. Mine are in pots that contain a mix that was 'premium' two years ago, is well past its prime. Might as well be a cardboard imitation of potting mix. 
However, these things went for over I'd guess six months of total neglect after last summer after I lost interest. The only water they got was _very_ occasional rain. Yet this year I gave them a bit of love and they still came back, though a shitty yeild as you would expect, sun and heat blanched potting mix and all. Tough as nails, at least cascade and Chinook.


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## Mardoo (9/3/16)

Don't cut them back until they start dying back. At that point they're pulling the nutrient out of the bines to store it in the rhizome for over-wintering. Let them do that. You don't need to wait until the bines are brown, just once the leaves go significantly yellow. And yes, leave them in the soil and replant them mid-winter.


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## wide eyed and legless (9/3/16)

The reason that we put compost to the soil is more to do with feeding the soil, the plants use up the nutrients in the soil and the compost replenishes the nutrients back into the soil. I would be leaving the rhizome where they are in your case Dave until winter then re plant, goatus your soil will improve by adding compost all around the area the plant is.I would suspect as our winters are mild over here that rhizomes would still be growing during winter.The hop is one of those plants that has an perennial root system and a annual top growth.


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## Dave70 (9/3/16)

Mardoo said:


> Don't cut them back until they start dying back. At that point they're pulling the nutrient out of the bines to store it in the rhizome for over-wintering. Let them do that. You don't need to wait until the bines are brown, just once the leaves go significantly yellow. And yes, leave them in the soil and replant them mid-winter.


Dying back nicely. 
Wont be taking any ribbons home from Florinade 2016 with these babies I reckon.


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## Mardoo (9/3/16)

Looks perfect. String them along towards a nice slow death then cut 'em off at the knees.


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## Yob (11/3/16)

Dave70 said:


> Dying back nicely.
> Wont be taking any ribbons home from Florinade 2016 with these babies I reckon.


that's the smallest basketball ring Ive ever seed...


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## Charst (11/3/16)

Is that hops aged on the bine? Lambic time


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## Curly79 (11/3/16)

Mardoo said:


> Don't cut them back until they start dying back. At that point they're pulling the nutrient out of the bines to store it in the rhizome for over-wintering. Let them do that. You don't need to wait until the bines are brown, just once the leaves go significantly yellow. And yes, leave them in the soil and replant them mid-winter.


That's a great point Mardoo. This year I cut my victoria off at chest height for harvesting rather than picking flowers off a ladder.? Bad idea you think?


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## Mardoo (11/3/16)

I always made sure to leave about that much so there would be some leaves to keep providing nutrition for a bit. I also always had "ground growth" around the base for the express purpose of making sure the plant had a small bush of leaves solely for feeding the rhizome during flower production and ripening. I never cleared everything away from the base of the crown. However I did limit producing bines to 6 to 8. That ground growth stayed around too, as well as the section of producing bines that was left. I always figured that if you take care of the rhizomes the flowers will largely take care of themselves. Hops are a long-term proposition so rhizome health is crucial. I would likely have not left the ground growth if I had downy mildew problems, but I never did.


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## wide eyed and legless (11/3/16)

I did put a link up a few weeks back from an American professional hop grower, he did say that when the hop is three years old and over they cut the initial growth back down to ground level simply for the purpose of eliminating or lessening any chance of fungal diseases it may be carrying.


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## Mardoo (12/3/16)

Sorry, just to clarify, I never cleared everything away from the base of the crown during the growing season. I kept it trimmed, but still bushy (as well of leaving some of the production bines after harvest). Then, once the wind told my thumb it was time to cut back the growth, I cut it back to the ground. I didn't leave anything on over winter.


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## Ducatiboy stu (12/3/16)

Dave70 said:


> Thats part of the reason I thought it better to make a fresh start. Mine are in pots that contain a mix that was 'premium' two years ago, is well past its prime. Might as well be a cardboard imitation of potting mix.
> However, these things went for over I'd guess six months of total neglect after last summer after I lost interest. The only water they got was _very_ occasional rain. Yet this year I gave them a bit of love and they still came back, though a shitty yeild as you would expect, sun and heat blanched potting mix and all. Tough as nails, at least cascade and Chinook.


Bunninks have composted sheep,cow& chhok manure fairly cheap. I have used it and it is good stuff. Might be worth looking at using it . Use those and some Blood & Bone to make up a potting mix and then just add some cheap potting mix to bulk it up. Dont use the manures straight, they are to strong


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## seehuusen (12/3/16)

I've jumped a growing season by chucking my 2015 rhizomes into the fruit store of my fridge, wrapped in news paper i sprayed with water and then put into shopping bags from woolies.

They've faired very well over the past year, no rot or anything (in fact they throw out bines, searching and wondering when spring will srrive  )
I'll be planting mine late qld winter/early spring. 
Batz got a few cascades rhizomes off me a few weeks back (actually, originally he told me the above trick). I guess we'll have to show off the results in the 2017 show us your hop garden thread


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