For Sale - Hop Rhizomes

[drsmurto]

3 varieties for sale this year - Chinook, Cascade and Victoria.

Same price as last year (and the year before) - $10 each.

I will package each rhizome in damp coir to keep moist.

1-2 rhizomes will fit in a 500g express post satchel for $10
3+ rhizomes will need to go into a 3kg express post satchel for $13.
Payment is by bank deposit only.

No pickups.

I WILL NOT post to WA or TAS due to quarantine restrictions.

Do not create a list here, send me a PM with the rhizome(s) you are interested in and I'll send you my bank details.

See my signature for an update on which varieties are still available, Cascade and Victoria are in short supply this year.

Victoria is my favourite hop, the first time i tasted a beer that used this hop i thought of loquats and have been hooked ever since. Wikipedia describes the flavour of loquats as 'a mix of peach, citrus and mild mango'. That works for me. I expanded my victoria hops last year and now have 3 plants growing!

I use all 3 hops (individually) as late additions in my golden ale, rye version preferred.

 

[Acasta]

PM sent.

When is a good time to plant in Melbourne?

 

[Wolfy]

If I knew what loquats were and tasted like, might i be disappointed I only made room for 1 Victoria plant?

Acasta, IMHO, wrap the rhizome/coir in some damp newspaper, and put it all in the bottom of the fridge until spring, plant them after the last frost.

 

[Dazza88]

PM'd. Anyone tried to grow Victoria variety in Qld yet?

 

[adz1179]

Pm sent

 

[iralosavic]

I believe late september, early october is the best time to plant in Victoria. Then again, I don't need to know these things as I just order the rhizome when my old lady says is a good time (late winter) and she does the rest, being the avid gardener and half an acre owner that she is. I rent, so this is a handy arrangement!

 

[jayahhdee]

PM'd

Looking forward to start my hop farm this year.

 

[Camo1234]

PM'd. Anyone tried to grow Victoria variety in Qld yet?

Keen to hear anyone's success as well.. I have ordered some so will give it a go and I am in Brissy as well..... Can't hurt to give it a go!


Camo

 

[homebrewkid]

my parents brought a few acres near Young earlier this year im going to start growing hops there one day when i setup my AG system [so far only have one old keg and a 80litre esky]

does anyone know how they grow down that way?

 

[hoppy2B]

I'd probably consider a Cascade but seeing as you said no pick up. <_<

Does anyone have a Cascade they'd like to swap for some other variety? I have Saaz, Goldings, POR, Cluster and one Victoria in a pot. Also have a bit of Tett but that didn't do much this year.

Bit early isn't it Smurto? :blink:

 

[cam89brewer]

I am pretty sure that would be a perfect region to grow in a lot of hops are sold from Canberra late winter/ early spring from those area's and those plants seem to thrive...

 

[drsmurto]

Cascade now sold out, still a few Victoria left and plenty of Chinook

@Hoppy2B - too early for what?

Busy answering PMs so will keep this brief.

The rhizomes come packed in damp coir, double bagged. Pop them in your fridge and wait until the last frost or late September to plant.

Plant each variety a minimum of 2m apart. Plenty of compost and manure and jobs done. If planting in pots, 1 rhizome per 1/2 wine barrel is ideal.

 

[Dazza88]

Keen to hear anyone's success as well.. I have ordered some so will give it a go and I am in Brissy as well..... Can't hurt to give it a go!


Camo

Yep, there will be at least two victorians grown in Brisbane later this year.

 

[kalbarluke]

If I knew what loquats were and tasted like, might i be disappointed I only made room for 1 Victoria plant?

Loquats are a small yellow fruit that grow on trees that are common in suburbia in many parts of Australia. I don't think you can buy loquat fruit in shops but I remember eating them when I was a kid. Flying foxes go nuts over them. Look them up on google images. I reckon you would have seen them before.

I get a "loquat" taste when I use Stella hops. Anyone grown Victoria hops in a warm climate?

 

[sponge]

I was going to say, going by the description DrS gave of Victoria, it reminded me a lot of Stella.

I get the floral and mango hits with a nice spicy-ness behind it all. Really nice hop. I may very well jump on board the rhizome bandwagon since I wouldnt mind trying some of that Victoria.

So if I was to get a couple of rhizomes, they will keep in the fridge in the damp coir til September when it comes time to plant? Will the coir need to be kept damp at all times to prevent the rhizome from drying out?


Sponge

 

[gava]

Plant each variety a minimum of 2m apart. Plenty of compost and manure and jobs done. If planting in pots, 1 rhizome per 1/2 wine barrel is ideal.

if they're planted within a wine barrel do they still require to be 2m apart?

 

[drsmurto]

I was going to say, going by the description DrS gave of Victoria, it reminded me a lot of Stella.

I get the floral and mango hits with a nice spicy-ness behind it all. Really nice hop. I may very well jump on board the rhizome bandwagon since I wouldnt mind trying some of that Victoria.

So if I was to get a couple of rhizomes, they will keep in the fridge in the damp coir til September when it comes time to plant? Will the coir need to be kept damp at all times to prevent the rhizome from drying out?


Sponge

No, the coir is already nice and damp. I soak blocks of coir in water for a few hours before packing the rhizomes in it so make syre the coir has sucked up as much water as it can. Wrapped in a plastic bag to retain moisture and then another bag to provide a better seal. These should retain their moisture kept in the fridge for months. The cool temperature of the fridge is key to keeping them dormant as they are at this time of the year. I like to think these are well packaged, particularly given the price of $10 includes all of that plus my time (digging, splitting, washing, packing). Postage is at cost.

if they're planted within a wine barrel do they still require to be 2m apart?

At least. Once they grow and you run strings up to something for them to climb they will send out side shoots as well. Planting them too close and then trying to keep them separate all season is painful.

 

[Malted]

if they're planted within a wine barrel do they still require to be 2m apart?

Seems like a humour related question but I'll bite.
From my experience, if they are different varieties then yes.

You want to be able to keep the roots and bines that come up from them separate, they spread quite a lot and throw new bines up some distance out from the original rhizome. Likewise you want to keep the growing bines and hop cones on the above ground vegetative material separate too, so that if you have different varieties you can easily pick your hops cones and be assured of which variety they are. So if planted in the ground then I think you should consider it a minimum spacing of 2 metres apart.

If in half wine barrels, the bines grow all over the place and send out lots of laterals and you could easily have the above ground portions of the plants intertwining with it's neighbouring 1/2 wine barrel planted rhizome of a different variety. You may have trouble harvesting each variety separately. It may be that you can tell the cones apart from their differing shape or size etc but reaching through one to get to the other would be a PITA.

They have a tremendous growth of roots and rhizomes under the soil, more than one rhizome per 1/2 wine barrel could lead to them becoming root bound, honestly. They will act like Bonsai too, small pots seem to lead to small growth of above ground material. The bigger the pot the better. I think a half wine barrel should be the minimum sized pot to be able to expect that you might get a harvestable amount of hop cones. Planted in the ground simply is best but is not possible for everyone. The bigger the pot the better, otherwise you are planting them as an ornamental plant.

So one rhizome per half wine barrel in any circumstance.
If different varieties, then further than 2 m allows you to keep the cones separate.
If the same variety, still one rhizome per 1/2 wine barrel but put them side by side only if you want to let the bines climb a common trellis etc and don't mind them intertwining.

 

[RdeVjun]

I'll endorse Smurto's rhizomes, I have been lucky enough to get several in the past and they're always generously divided and packaged superbly. You can confidently bung them in the fridge until spring just as they are, in a month or two it may pay to check there's no free water accumulating in the plastic bag, you don't want them saturated just damp- hops can't handle wet feet.

 

[DarkFaerytale]

sorry to off topic a little, i have a saaz at home, it's in the ground, it's about a foot and a half high climbing a wire. it's still it's first year, i planted late. i'm wondering if i should leave it this way or cut it down to ground level over winter?

cheers and thanks for the rhyzomes Dr.S

-Phill