# Rotten Rhizome Rant



## philistine (8/10/14)

So Im just gonna have a little rant here - no participation required - but hopefully some other amature urban hop farmers such as myself out there will benefit from this little bit of info

Im starting to see some really good growth out in the garden - of the 12 varieties of hops I have, I've got strong growth appearing on 4 of them, small but healthy growth on 2, pissweak growth on 2 and NOTHING from the remaining 4. I've had a bit of a look at the 4 unproductive ones and discovered that the rhizomes have rotted and are basically f*****d

The varieties I have that are doing good things were all given to me by hoppy2B for free- CHEERS DUDE YOU"RE A LEGEND!

The other 6 were all purchased from established commercial hop growers - for between $15-$20 each, not including postage.
Of the 6 commercial rhizomes, only 2 of them are alive.

So i just wanted to point out a couple things that are fundamental plant biology principals of which almost 99% of all modern agricultural and horticultural standard practices are based on.

Firstly - some terminology, dumbed down to very basic terms that are relevant - (i just googled, then copy/pasted this to save time)

*Node*: the part of a plant stem from which one or more leaves emerge, often forming a slight swelling.
*Internode:* A segment of stem between two nodes
*Meristem*: A group of actively dividing plant cells - in other words: the bit where shit grows from

Now these three terms a relevant because when you take a cutting of a plant - be it soft wood, hard wood, root, or rhizome - it is vital that the cutting contain at least 1 node, otherwise basically you're just cutting a section of inactive plant matter that will be more or less clinically dead within minutes of it separation from the plant and soon rot and decompose. There are many exceptions to this rule, but Im not going into them.
The 2nd most vital thing to successfull propagation from cutting is hygiene. Just as it is important to clean and disinfect a wound on a human, it is equally important to observe the same care on plants.
PLants are obviously far more resilient than humans in many respects and even though dettol and bandaids are completely useless in horticulture, things like sharp blades and wounds that are kept free of contamination before forming a dry layer or callus (as a human would devolpe a scap) go a long way towards ensuring success and preventing disease and rot from killing off propagation material before it has a chance to grow.
The 3rd thing on the list - which sort of goes hand-in-hand with the 2nd thing - is to reduce the routes of infection on any propagation material in order to maintain its health long enough for it to begin developing on life sustaining processes. The big one here is basically to make cuts as close to a node as possible without damaging it and to avoiding leaving any internode material that has been severed from either one of its nodes. The reason for this is because basically, any part of the cutting thzt isn't 'capped off' at both ends by a node will rot away and ultimately become a very likely cause of disease entry to the remaining portion of the material.
Here's a couple pics to show what im on about


SHIT RHIZOME
http://www.northwesthops.com/v/vspfiles/photos/casc-2.jpg

GOOD RHIZOME
http://www.midwestsupplies.com/media/catalog/product/c/a/cascade-hop-rhizome.jpg

You can see the shit rhizome only has one point of growth - one small cluster of meristem tissue. The rest is effectively 'dead weight' that will rot once buried and moistened.
The good rhizome is obviously far more developed and likely to be more than a year old, but it's been cut at both ends very close to active nodes and as you can see it's busting to grow.


So basically, im out of steam now and just want to conclude that if anyone pays something like $20 for a rhizome from a commercial hops grower (or anyone really, but you'd think that a commercial grower should know better) and upon arrival you discover that its a shit rhizome, then I think you should feel you have the right to complain and/or ask for a replacement.
It may well grow on to be a healthy and productive specimen, but if you were to grow it side by side with a well harvested cutting, you would undoubtedly notice a significant difference between the two plants.

The end
:chug:


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## indica86 (8/10/14)

Wow, that shit one is shit....


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## Dave70 (10/10/14)

Shitty and informative.


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## Grainer (10/10/14)

Had one shitty one (small and only 1-2 nodes) out of all my 12 and that one did not tAke it was a Victoria Rhizome


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## Mardoo (10/10/14)

I have to say that EVERY rhizome I've gotten from AHB members has been top notch and grown well. And all but one rhizome from commercial growers has been well and truly substandard. Strike rate on the commercials has been about 40%, at best, grown in exactly the same soil under exactly the same conditions. Buy from the board folks, unless you just can't get that one hop you really want.

Edit: That shit one looks good compared to what a fellow AHB member and myself were recently supplied by a major Australian commercial grower.


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## mfeighan (10/10/14)

all my rhizomes from hops west were massive and i got a good crop the first year from them 4 plants 300g dried
when seeing your picture(s) i would have thought they wore both shit compared to the size i got from the guy down in albany

my 2c


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## BottloBill (10/10/14)

Seems to be a bit of a pattern emerging amongst growers in my area....all zomes recieved from Canberra and further south have thrived extremely well in the warmer area's like Newcastle and surrounding places. I wonder if this has something to do with rhizomes bursting to life given the greater warmth in their new environment....


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## Mardoo (10/10/14)

Mikey said:


> all my rhizomes from hops west were massive and i got a good crop the first year from them 4 plants 300g dried
> when seeing your picture(s) i would have thought they wore both shit compared to the size i got from the guy down in albany
> 
> my 2c


I'll have to try them next year, as they're one I haven't tried.


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## Dave70 (11/10/14)

Mardoo said:


> *I have to say that EVERY rhizome I've gotten from AHB members has been top notch and grown well.* And all but one rhizome from commercial growers has been well and truly substandard. Strike rate on the commercials has been about 40%, at best, grown in exactly the same soil under exactly the same conditions. Buy from the board folks, unless you just can't get that one hop you really want.
> 
> Edit: That shit one looks good compared to what a fellow AHB member and myself were recently supplied by a major Australian commercial grower.


Same here.

Not a dud among them. All three have kicked off again despite my deadbeat parenting level of attention.


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## 431neb (11/10/14)

Unfortunately, I've had 'zomes from AHB that were pathetic skinny sticks with only one node and they did the same thing - just rot away to nothing. Mostly AHB has been a great source for hop rhizomes and I have received great big fat buggers and often a spare or two for the same price which is really nice.

Edit to add a big shout out for Phil from Bayside for some most excellent plants that will fill out my collection nicely. I now have one German, one English and one American variety. Nice….


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## real_beer (11/10/14)

Next time take some good quality toilet tissue such as 'Lady Scott" and wipe each rhizome with a long firm even pressure but don't press too hard as you risk your finger going through the paper!!! Next examine the result from each test, if nothing shows on the tissue the [SIZE=13.63636302948px]rhizome is fine, if 5% of the [/SIZE][SIZE=13.63636302948px]rhizome ends up on the tissue the [/SIZE][SIZE=13.63636302948px]rhizome is just a little shitty, if 40% to 50% of the [/SIZE][SIZE=13.63636302948px]rhizome ends up on the tissue the [/SIZE][SIZE=13.63636302948px]rhizome is shit get rid of it, if all the [/SIZE][SIZE=13.63636302948px]rhizome ends up on the tissue the [/SIZE][SIZE=13.63636302948px]rhizome is complete shit and you'll have to flush it. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=13.63636302948px]A handy tip: Until you get the wipe pressure correct rubber gloves are your best friend. :icon_cheers:[/SIZE][SIZE=13.63636302948px] [/SIZE]


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