mrkstel

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Here you go.

http://www.brewerssupplygroup.com/FileCabinet/TheBreeding_Varieties%5B1%5D.pdf

DrJerryrigger

Recipes 

mrkstel, thanks for finding that. I saved it for reading an another time.

So the biggest hang up I can see with trying this is getting males of known genetics. The fathers of known hops are not available, and most have been killed. I've seen seeds for sale (and a quick google search will yield some more), but they are sold as just "hop seeds" not "fuggle X cascadin's daddy", even giving just the name of the female would be helpful. It would take many years to asses a cross, so I would want to have some information about the father, or spend 5 years cubing them (recrossing offspring with their mother to stabilize genetics). Unless I can force flower them 5 times a year inside...

anyway, this is very interesting stuff, and I would love to get my hands on some seeds of known origin, and to a lesser extent, some mystery seed.

funkswing

Recipes 

That's because most of the hop breeding is done with proprietary plants. You have a long path ahead of you if you want to create your own (and useful) cultivars.

But if you do create that Sativa Goldings or Cascade Kush, send me a sample (p.s. - this is impossible, don't waste your time!)

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Brent_in_Aurora

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You can also obtain seeds from the wild or from the US Dept of Agriculture. All of the seeds that I have collected from the wild have not germinated, but I will be collecting more soon.

Does anyone have any success with germinating hops seeds? Methods?

DrJerryrigger

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From a little internet searching I found claims of people getting seeds from a hop cannabis cross on some dope growing forums, this is likely BS, and even if not; no one claimed they germinated.

Brent_in_Aurora,
From what I've read the best way is to soak them for a day or three, then put them in the frig for a few months. After which they should germinate in a warm growth medium. The few months of chilling makes it quite the project, but may not be necessary. What have you tried? If you have some seeds to play with I would suggest soaking a few of them for 24 hours, then putting them in a damp paper towel in a zip lock bag some where warm (like on top of your computer, or water heater).

profallout

Recipes 

I planted around 100 seeds just for an experiment in late April. I had read about the fridge method to however my results were completely opposite of what should have happened.

I did 5 different stages with 20 seeds each. All of them had a 24 hour soak in water in the fridge. I planted 20 with no more time in the fridge, 20 with 1 week, 20 with 2 weeks and so on. The seeds with only the soak and 1 week had 75% germination while the others had a obviously declining germination rate. If I remember correctly the 4 week soaked seeds only had 2 that were good.

I would suggest doing something like this with a lot of seeds. They're far from expensive. Just make sure you kill the male plants so they don't knock up any of the females that someone around you might have And, of course, post your results here.

DrJerryrigger

Recipes 

That's great, thanks! I may try starting some inside this winter, all I need is to get the best looking male to flower. If properly stored; the pollen should last until my outdoor plants (of known genetics) start to flower.

Does anyone know of a good place to order seeds? or better yet; have a big bag of seed they would trade for a Sterling rhizome in the spring?

profallout

Recipes 

Ebay. Just search for hops seed. However, good luck finding anything other than the generic humulus lupulus. I know you will not truly know what the plant will be like for brewing until it's grown, but it would be nice to know what type of hops its parents were.

You can get 240 seeds for $10.75 shipped.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Hops-Perennial-Vine-Humulus-lupulus-20-240-Seeds-/270522771620?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&var=&hash=item8 4b6bd9222

GVH_Dan

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So this thread reminded me of this one: http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f92/hop-seeds-sale-136017/

I had always been intrigued because they had "seeds" for sale of every variety widely used today including many of the trademarked ones. I figured they did a tissue culture or some other magic voodoo science.

Turns out they were full of hot air. The website no longer exists and when you search for them, you find websites full of people complaining that they sent money and never received their orders. To good to be true.

Just order whole hops or better yet, go to your homebrew shop and look for whole hops in a clear bag and given them a shake. The seeds are roundish and half the size of a pea, maybe even smaller than that.

DrJerryrigger

Recipes 

It's clear you can't have seeds of a known type; as all known hops are clones of one original plant. You could, theoretically, have seeds that were from the same mother and father of the original plant, but that's not really the same. Apple seeds, for example, are 99% trash (unless your making hooch, like Johnny Apple Seed was). It's that 1% that are really good for something, and worth taking cuttings from. I think hops are more predictable with breeding, but still, unless you have the original father... As far as tissue culture goes; This is a hobby I'm toying with, but don't really have the space. It's basically like taking a rhizome, but done on a smaller scale, in a dish of agar. No sex changes, or other magic... unless your into making GMO's, but I don't have the equipment for that... yet.