Transplant rhizomes in August?

So last night at bowling, I was approached with an offer -- this guy's neighbor is moving, and he has a hops plant in the backyard that he'd like to transplant to someone who will take care of it (me!). I want to take it, but the problem is, he needs to move it in the next couple weeks, and it's mid-August, hot and dry.

What do all of you "esteemed experts" think I should do with it? Go ahead and plant it outside and water it like crazy? Plant it in a pot and keep it inside over the winter, then plant in the spring? Stick it in the fridge and hope it goes dormant? I just don't know!

You're not taking the rhizome, you're taking the plant/crown.

Take it now, water it well (not too crazy), and it'll get a great head-start on next year. FYI I planted a couple tiny plants from a retailer last October, and they all came up with a vengeance this summer. Going to have a ton of hops in my first year growing.

These plants are tough as nails. They'll do grrrrrreat!

Like paulster said but a few suggestions. You may or may not get some new growth before it goes dormant ~ I've never moved a crown at this time but it'll most likely work if it's a healthy plant. Most times, when plants are moved at stressful times of the year, you'll lose most all of your foliage so it might be a good idea to cut back the existing vines leaving a foot or two sticking out of the crown. If you don't get any rain I'd give it a drink once a week but not too much and make sure to topdress with an inch or so of compost or other type of mulch. Good luck and keep us posted!

I am in a similar situation right now. Sold my house and it closes Aug. 30th, moving to a temp place until I find one to buy. It might only be a few weeks, it might be all winter. #1 problem is my Willamette has flowers and just starting to form buds so will probably not be ready to harvest by the 30th. #2 problem is what to do with the plants while at the temp house, dig out the root ball and stick in a big planter bucket for the winter?
I was at least smart enough in the spring to transplant some cascades into 5 gal buckets and will be able to plant them at the new house in the spring.

B-Hoppy said:

Like paulster said but a few suggestions. You may or may not get some new growth before it goes dormant ~ I've never moved a crown at this time but it'll most likely work if it's a healthy plant. Most times, when plants are moved at stressful times of the year, you'll lose most all of your foliage so it might be a good idea to cut back the existing vines leaving a foot or two sticking out of the crown. If you don't get any rain I'd give it a drink once a week but not too much and make sure to topdress with an inch or so of compost or other type of mulch. Good luck and keep us posted!

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Once a week? I had always thought hops required more water than that.

Being in Kansas, there are definitely more 100-degree days ahead before the summer is done. You all think the hops will do fine in that heat, with the stress of transplant?

Thanks for the input so far everybody -- I really appreciate it!

TuttleCreekBrewing said:

Once a week? I had always thought hops required more water than that.

Being in Kansas, there are definitely more 100-degree days ahead before the summer is done. You all think the hops will do fine in that heat, with the stress of transplant?

Thanks for the input so far everybody -- I really appreciate it!

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It's been super hot and dry here all summer. I gave mine a once-a-week soak and they seem to be okay. I'm sure more wouldn't hurt, but whatever. I think hops are a lot tougher than people give them credit for. But of course, discretion would be advised. It's not like you have to wait 6 days between watering if there's a week of super-hot and dry weather.

TuttleCreekBrewing said:

Once a week? I had always thought hops required more water than that.

Being in Kansas, there are definitely more 100-degree days ahead before the summer is done. You all think the hops will do fine in that heat, with the stress of transplant?

Thanks for the input so far everybody -- I really appreciate it!

Click to expand...

Just saying to consider the situation. Being that the plant isn't 20 feet tall and utilizing a lot of water, all you really want to accomplish at this point is to keep the crown from drying completely out until the new roots begin to establish ~ just like starting rhizomes. I think folks hear that hops need lots of water, which is true once they're established and producing lots of vegetation in a very short timeframe, but when you're just establishing a rhizome or crown there's no way for that rhizome or crown to get rid of any excess water. Most of the failures I've seen on this forum end with something like "when I dug them up they were soggy/mushy and rotted". Again, just sayin'. Either way I feel you'll be successful as they're pretty hard to kill no matter how green your thumb is. Have at it!

I'm glad I ran across this post. I was just about to start a thread asking the same question. I'm about to move into a house probably the middle of next month and will be transplanting my two hop plants. They are both first year and I am getting a decent harvest from my Cascade. My Nugget has a lot of burs but not much happening other than that. I was going to wait until I got almost all I could out of the Cascade before transplanting and possibly transplanting the Nugget right when I got settled in at the new place. It sounds like I when I do decide to I should cut them down to about a foot or two above the ground and then transplant. Does that sound about right or does anyone have any timing/procedural suggestions? I hope I'm not hijacking, I just figured this would be better here in this thread. Cascade on the left and Nugget on the right.

mrkrausen,

You'll be better off if you can let them die back this Fall before moving them. They're winding down now and you can probably move them with success, but I know that moving them once they're dormant the success rate gets a little closer to 100%. After dormancy it doesn't matter if you leave anything sticking up or not, what does matter is all underground. Good luck.