Early Arrival of Hops

Hello!.

I'm first time poster. I am a big follower of HBT and I have learnt so much from you all for the last couple of years. So I take opportunity to thank you!.

I am located in Finland, half an hour north of latitude 62. I have heard that wild Hops grow happily here and this has encouraged me to give it a try and grow some hops. Considering that summer period is very short up here (but very long days) I have chosen the varieties that mature the earliest possible in the season, amongst the available in the online stores. Hoping that some of them like the area and reward me back with a cone or two.

From German Store i've got: Opal, Hallertau Mittelfrüh, Northern Brewer and Hallertau Aroma.

From UK Store: Fuggles, East Kent Goldings, Yeoman and Cascade (US).

The ones from Germany came in form of potted plants. And UK's as root setts.

As the varieties started going out of stuck I have rushed and purchased them in mid-March. Fact is that frost and snow do not go until beginning of May!. D'OH!. Similar experiences?.

Root setts are in the fridge and based of what i have read here they should hang on there "ok" until being able to put them under soil. However, there are a few shoots that are growing and braking because of the bag size and available space in the fridge. Should i pot them (first week of april)?. I got this idea (from an organic hop farm blog page) of potting them in 1 gallon pots for the first year until i find a suitable place in my in-laws's summer cottage maybe by the end of the summer or spring next year?. This way i would take a closer care of them near home. I live in apartment.

Also, the German hops arrived already potted in little nursing pots with a few tiny shoots and some leaves (i was honestly expecting rhizomes). All the same size, initially, however, you can see in the attached pictures that 3 of them started sky rocketing reaching a foot long in just 1 week. I was wondering if this will be another reason to pot them in 1 gallon pots, or should i just cut the long bines away?. I am fearing to hurt the plants, whilst wondering if the Hallertau Aroma (smallest plant) got stuck by losing some main shoots during shipping.

In both cases, potted and in root setts, they got little shoots broken during shipping. I was reading here that i could put them in water, but i noticed they were drowning and looking weaker, so i have just dug them in soil. I haven't seen any improvement or growing yet but they seem more stable. Do you think they will survive?. Some of the shoots are as short as an 1 inch. See pictures.

As a side topic. Do you reckon a 4-1-2 NPK Chicken Manure fertilizer would be enough to keep them happy?. Instructions suggest to add 2 table spoons to a liter of water. and use it once every week or so.

Any input, advice, similar experiences, comments will be highly welcome and appreciated!. You will be able to see more about in the picture, sizes, weather, pots, root setts.

By the way, sorry for the length of the story.

Best regards.

Pictures.

if you are running out of space in the fridge, i would suggest putting the roots in cold (pre-chilled) soil, in a pot, and storing that outside (preferably in a garage, shed, or somewhere that has protection from the elements). the roots will figure out that it's still too cold to wake up.

1 gallon (4 liter) is too small a pot. you can start them off in one of those, but you'll need to re-pot into a bigger pot in a month or two. you should try using the biggest possible container you can. a lot of people use half-barrels.

ideally you should not cut the long bines. you will indeed stunt the growth of the plant if you do. however, if you have no choice, then the plant will recover eventually. looks like you got those potted plants about 2 months too early!

I only have one years experience growing hops, and mine are potted. I strongly recommend larger pots, as the roots need a lot of room to grow outward.

I'd definitely put the potted/sprouted ones into bigger pots. And maybe move them to a cooler/shadier part of the house, just to slow 'em down a bit until you can get them into the ground?

If you've got the money/space, I'd also get those rhizomes into pots -- maybe they'll be OK in the fridge, but, no reason not to give them a "head start" for a month, so you're planting sprouted plants come May...

Regarding the broken-off bits... I've tried growing cuttings, you have to keep the soil very moist (which can lead to problems with mold), but a fair number of them should survive. Mine took a couple of weeks to establish roots, using powdered rooting hormone to encourage them to grow roots -- you should be able to buy it at any garden supply store.

Thank you very much for the quick reply!.

Yeah 2 months!. If all were roots, would have been ok, but plants?!.

Ok, bigger pots if considering to pot. We have a cellar in the basement at constant 5*C, however no light at all. For the root setts i guess it should be ok. Would it be too risky to also pot the little plants and put them to sleep in the cellar as well?. Leaves would fall i guess, but would the whole plant die?. or should go with different treatment with them. Maybe leave them grow a bit stronger, wait for more foliage and then pruning back the leaders?.

Pots will definitely be a temporary home.

Cheers!.

Thank you feinbera. I will try to find the rooting hormone.

igloo said:

Ok, bigger pots if considering to pot. We have a cellar in the basement at constant 5*C, however no light at all. For the root setts i guess it should be ok. Would it be too risky to also pot the little plants and put them to sleep in the cellar as well?. Leaves would fall i guess, but would the whole plant die?. or should go with different treatment with them. Maybe leave them grow a bit stronger, wait for more foliage and then pruning back the leaders?.

Click to expand...

the plants will probably die if you put them in the cold & dark basement. they don't have the reserves that the roots have. they need to keep growing. pruning them back is a better idea, but don't prune more than you have too.

Thank you sweetcell. Will be that way then.