Early Hop Planting

[Beermatt]

Good morning Guys,

I have read through as many threads as I can stand regarding Hops and am just after a few simple answers.

It seems that once the Hops Growing season is over the rhizome can remain in the soil dorment throught the winter months until the next season. So if this is the case will it matter how early they're planted? :unsure:

I am wondering if it is too soon to put my rhizomes in a pot in front of a nice sunny window now to try and give them a head start before spring? If I water during this time will they rot? Has anybody tried using a heat lamp to get a good early start?

I have seen that many people recommend that you plant before Sept 1st but don't know how much earlier it can be done.

Hope someone can help,

Cheers :icon_cheers:

 

[matt white]

Mate dont worry about giving them a "head start".

They will only pop up through the soil when a certain minimum of daylight hours shine ie they will sit dormant whether in the soil or in the fridge, warm or cool. Warming them may spin them out and reduce your yield.

Keep em in the fridge OR put them in a pot, water very infrequently, and generally forget about them.

There is no hard and fast Sept 1 rule. At least if they are refrigerated you can see if they are rotting or too dry etc. In the ground you will be like most keen newcomers and dig them up when they are trying to get comfortable to see what they are doing.

 

[mash head]

Mate dont worry about giving them a "head start".

They will only pop up through the soil when a certain minimum of daylight hours shine ie they will sit dormant whether in the soil or in the fridge, warm or cool. Warming them may spin them out and reduce your yield.

Keep em in the fridge OR put them in a pot, water very infrequently, and generally forget about them.

There is no hard and fast Sept 1 rule. At least if they are refrigerated you can see if they are rotting or too dry etc. In the ground you will be like most keen newcomers and dig them up when they are trying to get comfortable to see what they are doing.

I hope you havent made a rod for your back by selling us your hop roots be cause I am sure this wont be the fist question on the subject. Good work though Greg

 

[Beermatt]

Mate dont worry about giving them a "head start".

They will only pop up through the soil when a certain minimum of daylight hours shine ie they will sit dormant whether in the soil or in the fridge, warm or cool. Warming them may spin them out and reduce your yield.

Keep em in the fridge OR put them in a pot, water very infrequently, and generally forget about them.

There is no hard and fast Sept 1 rule. At least if they are refrigerated you can see if they are rotting or too dry etc. In the ground you will be like most keen newcomers and dig them up when they are trying to get comfortable to see what they are doing.

Cheers Gilbrew,

I might just put half in a pot and half in the fridge and see which works out best for me, being that you were so generous with your rhizomes.

 

[HoppingMad]

From the reading I've done, rhizomes tend to respond well to lying dormant in the cold over winter before they 'wake up' and start shooting. Kind of like they need to store energy for the big grow. From some of the threads I've read the colder it has been over the winter with the rhizome in the ground/pot - the better the result/yield the following march. Could be part of the reason why they grow well in places like tassie and NZ where there are some good low temps.

I'm not suggesting you put the 'zome in the freezer - in fact would advise you against that, but just saying that the lying dormant period is a necessary part of the process of growing a hop.

Beermatt, you mention growing indoors/infront of a window.

In terms of growing hops indoors, there was an article in Brew Your Own Magazine late last year about a guy in the US growing a hop plant in his office - he got quite an impressive vine, but no flowers and the plant died prematurely. Make of that what you will, but most successful growers who want flowers stick to outside and natural conditions. There has been some threads about dabbling with hydroponically raising them but no one here I can find has posted anything on it.

Hopper.