The Rise and Fall of a Mount Hood Rhizome

I bought 4 rhizomes at the start of this season and 3 of them are doing just great. One of them, however, is not.

I'll start with my question - Should I dig the rhizome out and give it a proper burial now and get the "closure" I need to move on with my life, or should I wait til next year on the off chance that the rhizome itself is OK?

Anyway, here are the pics:

A nice, thick, healthy looking Mt. Hood rhizome... So far, so good.



The first of the sprouts (there were eventually something like 4 or 5 little ones)



The fun didn't last. The leaf tips were starting to brown, so I gently grabbed a small shoot to see what was up... and the thing had already detached itself from the rhizome and came right out. I repeated this process with all the other shoots, until only the tallest was left. It didn't totally detach, but it rapidly browned and looks well on it's way to death.



I think it was a combo of harsh wind and maybe overwatering. There's been a lot of rain and wind lately, and while the other hops seem to have weathered it just fine, this little summbitch didn't.

So... long story short, is there any hope this guy sprouts up next year like nothing happened? I'd really like that to be the case, cause I don't live in the States, and the shipping alone on rhizomes is like $30. If it is a lost cause, though, that's OK cause I'll just split another rhizome and put it in this planter next spring. :rockin:

There is always a chance it will re-sprout this season, if there is enough life left in it. If it doesn't shoot something up this year, there is little chance it will next year.

I got a Mt.Hood rhizome last year from fresh hops. Looked exactly like yours. Anyways mine didn't do so well either. From what i can see it looks like an over watering issue. Mine got to much water and didn't even sprout. i would suggest cutting off the water for this season. If you get some growth later on then give it some water, not to much though. Otherwise just leave it in the ground and you'll probably have growth next year. This year just assume it's establishing it's root system. I had two first year plants last year that got flooded and covered with a foot of sand over the winter and even after cut the rhizomes out(thinking they were ruined) I now have two huge plants with burrs already. Hops are amazing hardy plants just leave it in the ground and watch the watering and you should have something next year for sure.

Thanks for the advice, guys. There's certainly no harm in just letting the rhizome sit there and wait til next spring to see if it sprouts, so that's what I'll do. Nothing to lose, after all! Let's hope the little guy is alive under there.