Propagating from Hop Cuttings

Any insight to my question? Am I too late for this year?

I think it's probably too late for this year to plant outside. I also found that it's impossible to find rhizomes for sale. However if I could get cuttings from an established plant, it looks like I could start them in pots in the house and let them grow all winter, and then transfer them to the outdoors in the spring. Does anyone in the Dallas are have established hops that they would let me have/buy some cuttings?

E_mott09 said:

Any insight to my question? Am I too late for this year?

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Once again:

ThreeDogsNE said:

I suspect it's rather late to put them in the ground outside at this latitude, which is nearly the same as yours.

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Unfortunately, it's too late to just put them in the ground and expect much. I've not seen anyone advocate Fall plantings for hops. All of my current bines are from rhizomes planted in Springtime. Unfortunately, as noted, rhizome season is over for this year. Can you spare a window ledge, or better yet set up a grow light anywhere? You can grow some from the available cuttings, but they'll have to be indoors for a while before you move them out. My first plants grew well in 5 gallon buckets under grow lights in my basement during the winter (at least until I drowned some of them from overly enthusiastic watering). I did put them outside eventually to go dormant before Spring. Doing this will give you a head start on next year's growth, giving them more root mass with which to start out next Spring.

I'm growing from cuttings now to give some plants to my son and some local fellow brewers. I was burying laterals in 5 gallon buckets planning to accomplish this, but my puppy thought those buckets really had to be dug out!:cross: And she likes beer!

I did put them outside eventually to go dormant before Spring.

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Is this important? Could you just wait till the last frost (you hope) and then plant them outside in the spring?

This is what I'm wondering. I have a few cuttings I'm growing on a window ledge indoors. A couple are doing so well I've already had to give them support to grow up.

I know hops are supposed to go dormant during the winter to grow root mass and build energy to go in the spring but I don't know if that's the case for hops grown from cuttings that have very little root mass. I'm not sure whether I should move them outside in the winter to go dormant or keep them indoors growing through the spring and plant them around March or April.

It's maybe too late to plant if you live in Alaska . . . I am a professional grower of hop starts and crowns and we are in full shipping mode for starts and crowns til November for Northern tier states. We shipped ME, MA, OR, PA, NY yesterday. If planted and mulched properly; fall planted hops perform better than those done from rhizomes in the spring. Our spring contracts are almost full; as are our contracts for crowns next fall. We have growers putting in 2 to 15 acre yards in mid September. I don't think they would spend $45,000 on the plants if it didn't work.

When you say "starts" what does that mean? How would that compare to a cutting of a single piece of bine the length of two nodes?

Jagdad said:

It's maybe too late to plant if you live in Alaska . . . I am a professional grower of hop starts and crowns

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As I understood it, the question asked was: Can you just put a cutting in the ground now and have it make it? Most folks here buy rhizomes, and plant them in the Spring when they are available. They're not available now. I thought the remaining growing season was too short for a cutting to have favorable odds, so encouraged starting them under grow lights, as I am currently doing. However, I am an amateur at this. We are here to learn from each others experience, and certainly welcome your expertise. You mention putting in starts, which I presume are rooted plants. Should we plant our fresh cuttings now? I have mine in bottles under lights, as mentioned, but would be happy to take an easier route.

ThreeDogsNE said:

I've not seen anyone advocate Fall plantings for hops.

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Now I have.

My apologies 3dog- re-read the thread and realized I sounded a bit harsh (gotta work on that). There isn't much presence of professional growers (guys that make a living at it) on the net. I try to help where I can -
Starts are an 8 week old cutting started from a single node. I don't root in water because the roots formed are physiologically diff. from those formed in soil (no hair roots). But it is a "clean" method that does dependably produce roots.
Fall planting works well because soil temps are still warm, moisture levels more even, and pest levels are low. It isn't talked about much online because spring rhizomes pretty well dominant the internet. But the internet isn't necessarily the real world.

No sweat, Jagdad. I find electronic communication much more tricky than verbal or face to face, where tone and inflection are missing, or worse, inferred (and often incorrectly). Again, we are all here to learn, and I am glad to see someone with your experience posting here to be learned from.

I did cuttings with a few inches of bine and a single node, usually with only one small leaf attached. The bine segment is in the bottle, and the leaf hooked over the top. I planned to move my cuttings into potting soil in about a week. The water method appealed to me, in part because then I don't have to wonder if I am underwatering or overwatering them. Should I skip this step and just put them in potting soil? If so, can I set them in small pots in a tray of water to provide adequate watering without drowning them?

No, I would stick with the bottle method if it is working for you. I"ve got to do 15m starts over the next two weeks and I can't find that many empty bottles. I don't prop in soil because is isn't sterile - I use a special rooting plug system with peroxide/ peracetic acid. They resemble little sponges made of peat fiber. They don't fall apart in handling/ shipping so they transplant very well. My gallery has a couple pics. You can take cuttings pretty much any time as long as it is not floral initiated. I mess up the initation process by lighting them a couple hours at mid night so they think they are in short days.

Well, the bottle method is not working very well. After >10 days very few of the cutting show any roots, and several have died. I've topped up the bottles every 2-3 days. Only one got dry. They are under fluorescent grow lights, just a few inches away. I'm wondering if I should bake some soil or some peat to (more or less) sterilize it, and put these or fresh cuttings in cups of that. Perhaps with a fresh dip in rooting hormone? Opinions?

3D,
Try lowering the water level to about half full and only stick about 1" of the cutting into the water. Back off the lights to 12 " away. Lay a cheap thermostat on the shelf and do not exceed 85 deg. (Raise the lights more if you have to) Make the cutting 6-10 " long with two to 3 nodes max with no growing tip. Pick your cuttings from a part of the plant that is not bearing cones (a newer side shoot). The cutting should be greenwood stems with leaves that appear to be almost fully expanded. (Cuttings with brown stems typically take longer to root because the root primordia have a hard time penetrating the thicker stem walls). Also, you can precondition your cuttings by pinching off the growing tip about a week before you take the cutting - wait until you can see little buds forming where the leaves meet the stems. Propagation is an art, just like brewing a great beer; once you know the nuances it is a piece of cake!

Jagdad said:

....... I spray weekly with peroxide to control disease. 99% root within 2 weeks.

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Can you share what the dilution rate of the peroxide is ?
assuming you are diluting it with water ?
is this regular hydrogen peroxide like I get at the local drug store ?

many thanks !!

The peroxide / peracetic acid mix we use is a commercial product that is very strong and we dilute it down to 1:100 -500 or less. I would guess diluting household peroxide by 10X would be close. Try it on a couple of leaves first before you spray the whole plant.
A tip for rooting without growth hormone - put a little sugar cane molasses in the water source. It is high in plant sugars, nutrients, chelates , and has a low level of Giberellic acid (a plant hormone) that induces rooting. Cheap but effective!

Greatlakeshops said:

.... put a little sugar cane molasses in the water source. It is high in plant sugars, nutrients, chelates , and has a low level of Giberellic acid (a plant hormone) that induces rooting. Cheap but effective!

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The peroxide is intriguing, after searching a bit I ran onto a table of suggested peroxide/water ratios==> http://www.using-hydrogen-peroxide.com/gardening-with-hydrogen-peroxide.html. 4oz peroxide per gallon for 3% peroxide this article says. So a ratio of 1:32. If you are using 35% acid (just guessing), or about 12X stronger, then a 1:370 concentration of 35% peroxide would approximate a 1:32 concentration of 3% peroxide.

I have used molasses, it is definitely a wonder drug for most any plant. I suppose a single mix of water/peroxide/molasses could be used for watering my green cuttings or as a foliar spray.
Appreciate the advice..

Jagdad said:

.....Cut the bine into single node cuttings (cut stem 1" above and below leaf set) and stick into propagating media up to leaf node. This node is the beginnings of the new crown.......

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Do you strip the leaves from this remaining leaf set, or do you let them poke out of the propagating media ??

mdmiller1 said:

Do you strip the leaves from this remaining leaf set, or do you let them poke out of the propagating media ??

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Leave the hop leaves on - sticking the cutting into the media until the node touches the media surface. The more leaf area you have on the cutting; the better your humidity and mist control has to be.
You also can make multiple node/leaf cuttings - by sticking the second node into the media but usually the internode length is too far apart. The the buried node will send out "mini rhizome" shoots that will emerge; but this takes about a month longer than just top cuttings.

Greatlakeshops said:

Leave the hop leaves on - sticking the cutting into the media until the node touches the media surface. The more leaf area you have on the cutting; the better your humidity and mist control has to be.
You also can make multiple node/leaf cuttings - by sticking the second node into the media but usually the internode length is too far apart. The the buried node will send out "mini rhizome" shoots that will emerge; but this takes about a month longer than just top cuttings.

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Greatlakeshops said:

Leave the hop leaves on - sticking the cutting into the media until the node touches the media surface. The more leaf area you have on the cutting; the better your humidity and mist control has to be. ......

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Excellent technique, you are obviously a master of the art. I've tried several varieties of hops using your process, they all look like the picture below after a week; the little buds have emerged to start forming bines. I used a soil block mix with a lot of sand and peat which is holding together well. I don't have bench misting, so a bit of water is poured at the stem once a day; seems to work. Apparently these are tough little cowgirls that just want to ride on. THANKS AGAIN !!

Greatlakeshops said:

3D,
..... wait until you can see little buds forming where the leaves meet the stems.

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is there a "optimum length" the axillary bud/new-stem should reach before the cutting is taken ?? Should the cutting be taken immediately when the bud is apparent, or should you wait until the length of this new branch reaches a minimum or maximum length, for example are you looking for about 8-12mm of branch growth from this new bud before you take the cutting?

thanks for your guidance.

mdmiller1 said:

is there a "optimum length" the axillary bud/new-stem should reach before the cutting is taken ?? Should the cutting be taken immediately when the bud is apparent, or should you wait until the length of this new branch reaches a minimum or maximum length, for example are you looking for about 8-12mm of branch growth from this new bud before you take the cutting?

thanks for your guidance.

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I like to take the cutting just before the buds break into shoots, but they root fine if they are past that stage. (They are just a little easier to handle - the new shoots are really easy to break off or damage.)

bump. Got something to do on the weekend now.

Old post, but I think people will like. I haven't finished reading it.

I have cut ryzomes in the fall. I wrapped them in a damp paper towel or cloth and placed them in a zip-lock bag. Stored them in the frig and planted them in spring. They grew this year, did not produce anything; but I hope that next year they will.

Anyone have some cutttings the would be willing to part with?
I would love to get some plants started.

IFMracin said:

Anyone have some cutttings the would be willing to part with?
I would love to get some plants started.

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Where in Iowa are you? I'm in Omaha. You are welcome to cuttings from my plants, if getting here is cost-effective. It has to be a pretty cheap drive before the cost of getting here is cheaper than some live plants from Great Lakes Hops. But then, my perspective on that is skewed by driving an old Suburban.

I have a similar issue with my v8 car.
Unfortunately, I'm on the wrong side of the state.
Think they will last in an envelope? Probably not.

So far the best approach for me is to wrap the bottom of the cutting with a small piece of paper towel (1/4inch of the base or less ). Place it in a cup with a small amount of water. Cover 90% of the top with plastic wrap. A week to two week look at them and see which ones are developing roots. The one with roots, plant them in some potting soil with good drainage. Water once a week in doors.

Would it be safe trying to get these cutting to start over the winter in a pot in the house?

If you're talking about making a cutting from an actively growing stem, yeah.

IFMracin said:

I have a similar issue with my v8 car.
Unfortunately, I'm on the wrong side of the state.
Think they will last in an envelope? Probably not.

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You have an option to get hops from within Iowa.

I noticed the root structure grows fast in two weeks.

I also notice the half sand / half potting soil made the root structure ten times bigger. Seems with three weeks, the roots outgrew the size of the plastic cup.

Old thread I know, but I'm looking at doing this on some plants soon. Really just out of sheer curiosity and that fact that I've got 4 pots not doing anything right now.

I want to make sure I've got this correct. I will cut the shoot just below the node (notes on exactly how much below) and attempt to include 2 nodes on the cut. Remove all leave but 1 and put in a bottle with water about 1/2 way filled. Then place them on a window with indirection light.

Does this sound right? Thanks.

I don't know how well shoot cuttings work for hops. Generally people use root cuttings, usually a 3-4 inch piece.

pjj2ba said:

I don't know how well shoot cuttings work for hops. Generally people use root cuttings, usually a 3-4 inch piece.

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These would be rhizomes your referring to yes? This whole thread is about using cuttings (leaf and shoot) to clone plants. At least that's what I've gotten from the read.

If I'm wrong, please correct me someone.

What time of year would be best to take cuttings? Obviously some cuttings will root faster than others depending on where the cut is and how strong the plant is, but what I can't figure out is how big you want the plant to be before winter. Is it just "bigger the better"?

rgauthier20420 said:

These would be rhizomes your referring to yes? This whole thread is about using cuttings (leaf and shoot) to clone plants. At least that's what I've gotten from the read.

If I'm wrong, please correct me someone.

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Yes rhizomes and cuttings are two different things. I actually just started a thread about this a couple days ago because I'm attempting it as well.


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Here's the link I posted. Hope this is helpful. My shoot cutting looks good so far. Ill let you know how it turns out.
http://piedmonthops.com/how-to/root-your-own-cuttings


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NicoleBrewer said:

Here's the link I posted. Hope this is helpful. My shoot cutting looks good so far. Ill let you know how it turns out.
http://piedmonthops.com/how-to/root-your-own-cuttings


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Great thanks! Yes please keep this thread updated. I'm getting some trimmings from a friend in 9 days and want to attempt this on all of them. This could mean 10 cuttings or 50 cuttings, I have no idea as of now. But it is interesting and seems like it could be fun to try.

I cannot wait for my hops to grow big enough to do this ... I have no idea where I'm going to put them once they develop a root system. Think I'm just going to find random semi hidden locations around town, and plug em in and just let them go rampant. That way if I leave and come back or something, I can just come back and snag them if they survive.


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