Can You Propagate After Sprouts Start?

I'm in Spokane, WA, and have about 20 shoots just starting to come up. I just purchased a new house and the previous owner had this plant growing. It is in pea gravel and the majority of the rhizome is exposed. I'd like to divide it and move it to some better soil.

all of the shoots are about 0.5-2 inches high and none have leafed out yet. Do you think it is too late to move or propagate for this year? It looks very established with about 14" of rhizome above the ground and a another 1.5 inch diameter section curving down into the ground.

Thanks for any input you can give!

On a side note, I believe it's Willamette. I'm planning on purchasing some other rhizomes this year. Any recommendations on what would compliment the Willamette well?

Thanks,
Scott

Hops are hardy weeds so yes, you can divide them now. Get as much root as possible with the division when moving. The sprouts might pout for a while but should recover just fine. Do it on a cool rainy day for better results.

COngrats on that!. I wish my new house came with free hops.

A couple years ago, I gave a friend a bunch of rhizomes. We picked bines that were around a foot long, jammed a shovel between the shoot and the main plant to cut the root, then dug the rhizome out. They thrived at their new location.

Thanks for the responses everyone! One other question--How long should the sections of rhizome be? I was planning on cutting them about three inches on either side of the bines. would longer sections give more root growth and possibly a chance of some blossoms this season?

Thanks again. . .

Thanks for your help everyone. I divided the plant about 10 days ago. I ended up cutting off around 30 sections, with 1-3 nodes per section. I currently have them in fresh bed that was tilled and amended for our garden. I'm hoping this will be an okay temporary home while friends and family come to pick up their rhizomes. I'll try to post pics once I get mine planted in the next few weeks.

Thanks,
Scott