When To Split A Hop Rhizomes And How To Store Them.

[roddersf]

Hi all,

Two questions really -

1. Can anyone tell me what the best time of the year is to split hop rhizomes in the east coast of Aussie? (I live in Sydney)

I've asked the internetz for an answer to this, but haven't found anything. Lots on how to split them but nothing on when the optimal time is in our part of the globe.

2. I remember someone mentioning to me once that you can keep rhizomes in the fridge over winter for spring planting - is this true?



Cheers,

Rodders.

 

[Wolfy]

Dig up and split the rhizome when the plant is dormant over winter, usually another month or 2 from now is a good time.

I have kept them in the fridge over winter, packed in slightly damp potting mix, coconut fiber, shredded newspaper or similar, wrapped in a couple of sheets of damp newspaper and then sealed in zip-lock bags. If you check them for mould every month or so you should not have a problem.

 

[roddersf]

Cheers, for that - I've harvested all the cones from them and I've left them with about 6 foot of growth. So far they seem happy enough, though I'm concerned that they'll use up energy stores if I leave this much growth on them - so two more questions:

- should I just cut off the whole bine or OK to leave it as is for now?

Also - do you feed them at all before you dig them up?

Thanks again champ.

 

[Wolfy]

Actually (as far as my non-scientific plant growing knowledge goes) I think that leaving the leaves on the plant will help them prepare better for winter, it helps the rhizomes grow by adding additional stores of reserves. If you cut them off at the ground now (as commercial growers do) you are preventing the plants natural growth and winter-preparation habits.

If you are digging them out of the ground it is far too late (as far as I know) to feed them, however sometimes - with some fertilizer - it takes a deal of time for it to be available for the plants use so it's not always a bad idea to fertilize a bit before they actually start growing in the spring.

 

[roddersf]

Cool, that makes sense - Thanks for the advice Wolfy! :icon_cheers:

I might feed them this week for the last time just to help them along.

Cheers,
rodders

 

[MaltyHops]

Actually, the advice seem to be to leave the until they brown and dry up by
themselves as this allows the plants to transfer their nutrients back into the
rhizomes for the dormant period so if you cut the bines before this, you're
actually reducing the energy stores the rhizomes will get.

Feeding is probably not a good idea as they're about to go dormant and wont
actually need fertiliser.

Another question is why you want to dig them up? I guess if you plan to split
them in order to sell/give some away or where they're grown is going to get
very damp for long periods there's probably no need? Could always dig them
up at winters end to split if you're trying to increase your number of plants.

Mine are all in large pots and I plan to leave them there over winter, just cover
so they don't get too much water and also make sure they don't dry out.

T.