Hop plants/rhizomes - growing report

[terrym]

Mine is close to a foot tall. Was crap last year so i just left it in an old youngs fermentor. Should i dig it up and plant some in the ground?

Going well
What is the hop you have?

 

[prog99]

Just thought I'd bump this thread since the growing season appears to have started.
I have two Prima Donna (First Gold) plants in large pots having planted the rhizomes last year. They each have upwards of 10 shoots on each plant with a few about 100mm long, and some shoots have overwintered . I have already cut a few off so that the remaining shoots are stronger. At present I will be aiming for 3 bines to string up.
I live in Sussex, so whats it like further north given the mildish winter we have had.

No signs of life with mine yet (edinburgh). Last year it didn't get going until early april.

 

[BeerCat]

Going well
What is the hop you have?

Cascade. Should I replant it? It's in about 20l of soil so I would like to out some into the ground and the rest in a bigger pot.

 

[chrissyr63]

Planted my new ones late last year but nothing showing yet - didn't expect much in the first year.

 

[terrym]

Cascade. Should I replant it? It's in about 20l of soil so I would like to out some into the ground and the rest in a bigger pot.

Given I'm no expert whatsoever but from what I have read the time to replant is nearly over if not done if you want to get a good crop this year. So you really need to decide what you want to do soonest.
If you split it now you are unlikely to get a good crop this year since you put the plants back, but next year you should get a bigger yield from the two plants. But if you don't split I would tidy up the plant and then let it do its stuff, then split next year, especially since the plant rhizome system will be bigger too.
The choice is yours.
But whatever you do make sure you feed it well now and throughout the growing season. Mine got regularly dosed with chicken manure pellets plus Miracle Gro until the burrs set . Some use tomato fertiliser.
Hope this helps

 

[terrym]

Planted my new ones late last year but nothing showing yet - didn't expect much in the first year.

I had one or two shoots about this time last year from the rhizomes I planted earlier in January. So yours should not be far away .
Then in September I had 250g of wet hops off one plant and 100g off the other so didn't do too badly . The lower yield plant was in less sun, so this year I will move the pot into a sunnier position hoping the yield will be relatively better.

 

[chrissyr63]

Good to hear that it could still kick off.
My little dwarf cherry tree has blossomed big time.

 

[prog99]

Mines appeared today.

Nets & slug pellets down now until it gets established.
No I don't like using them but its only until it gets to a reasonable size. The nets are incase it was the wood pigeons last year who nipped off some shoots.

 

[chrissyr63]

Just noticed a couple of shoots popping their heads out on my fuggles (hope the do the same as yours last year terrym).
Nothing visible on my brewers gold one.

 

[keat64]

I bought a small Humulus lupulus root last summer.
Just for future record, there were no signs of life on mine last weekend when I looked

Wakefield area.

 

[Summer Lane Brewery]

I've got a Fuggles hop plant which I was given in a pot a couple of years ago. It had a few flowers on it the first year but last year, after I'd planted it in the ground, I got 450g of hop flowers from it. I cut it back at the end of last year and it's got shoots again as of a couple of weeks ago. I'm hoping for even bigger things this year.

 

[Alex.mc]

I have planted this year both a Fuggles and a Magnum. Both have just shoved a shoot above ground as of about 5 days ago.

 

[keat64]

First signs of life on mine now.

 

[prog99]

I've been away for 10 days and came back to find mine went a bit crazy.
Its in its 2nd year so I guess I need to cut back the smaller shoots so it concentrates on the stronger ones?

 

[jceg316]

I meant to write in here a while ago. A couple of weeks ago I cut off the first shoots and the second lot have been growing back in full force for most.

My Fuggles is doing best, after cutting the first shoots there were a lot of second shoots so had to cut off a lot. That's probably doing the best right now.

My centennial is in a pot and it's very well established, I had to cut back a lot of the second shoots.

I have a couple of columbus which are doing well. Second shoots aren't numerous and haven't had to get rid of any yet. They are growing up a goalpost, one planted at each end.

The Saaz is doing well. After cutting back first shoots loads more small ones appeared so I took out the small ones leaving the strongest looking 4.

Cascade is ok. I think this is a later developer than the others as I'm only now seeing the second shoots appearing.

My Bramling X isn't doing so well, I've not seen it appear this season yet. This is its 3rd year and it's done really well the past 2 years. I'm hoping it's down to a lack of sunlight or something.

 

[chrissyr63]

I put my hops into tubs this year - do I still need to prune them or just let them establish themselves the first year? Watched a YouTube vid and they mentioned leaving them first year like you would with asparagus.

 

[prog99]

In year one I left them alone. At the end of the season you cut them back and they "hibernate" over winter.
This year (year 2) I nipped off any weaker looking shoots.

 

[Cwrw666]

Just had a look at mine - they're about 4 foot high now which is ridiculous for April.

 

[prog99]

Mine are over two which is about 2 more than this time last year. Had a huge growth spurt over the bank holiday.

 

[dan125]

I got my cascade plant strung up at the weekend. In its 3rd year now so hopeful of a good crop this year.
It got way too bushy last year so this year I removed the first 5 or 6 big shoots and am going to try to keep it to 3 shoots per string and pull out everything else.