Root Pruning...what to cut

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shortyjacobs

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So I was poking around my one surviving hop plant from last year (centennial). I found a ton of roots about 1" below the surface extending out in all directions, around 1 cm thick. Imagine my surprise when I pulled at one, and over 5 ft of root pulled up out of the ground, extending WAY out from the plant. It's pale white, kinda fleshy looking, with tons of roots branching off it. Looks like some weird kind of medieval whip.

So, is that a rhizome? (doesn't look like the brown rhizomes I get from the store). Can I cut it off near the plant? Don't wanna harm the plant, but also don't want hundreds of centennial shoots popping up everywhere...should I just cut around the root ball with a spade and yank out anything I hit?
 
The roots basically grow 'downward' and rhizomes out and away from the crown, usually within the top 6 or so inches of the surface. The 'roots' that you see branching off of it, if they are white and fleshy and spaced between 4 and 6 inch intervals, are buds that have pushed out and will turn into shoots/vines. You may also see very fine threadlike roots coming off of the rhizome - if that's what it is. If this is the case, follow it back to the crown and you can lop it off, cut it between each set of buds and plant each section. These should grow if it is a rhizome. Most of the rhizomes you buy commercially don't have buds sprouting because they can get out to dig them before they break dormancy.
 
Sweet, so I can hack at anything growing "out and away" with impunity then? While I'd love to plant hundreds of these things, I don't have the room...
 
Yeah, just trim to the point where it looks like they are in line - and then trim a little more. Having the room to plant them is one thing, having the TIME to tend to them is another. Spring is usually a crush and the next few weeks leading into the summer you're busy trying to keep up with the onslaught of extra shoots that seem to endlessly continue to pop up. This is why I like to beat them back into submission every 3 yrs or so. Have fun.
 
The roots basically grow 'downward' and rhizomes out and away from the crown, usually within the top 6 or so inches of the surface. The 'roots' that you see branching off of it, if they are white and fleshy and spaced between 4 and 6 inch intervals, are buds that have pushed out and will turn into shoots/vines. You may also see very fine threadlike roots coming off of the rhizome - if that's what it is. If this is the case, follow it back to the crown and you can lop it off, cut it between each set of buds and plant each section. These should grow if it is a rhizome. Most of the rhizomes you buy commercially don't have buds sprouting because they can get out to dig them before they break dormancy.


This is not what I have observed. In general, I have not seen deep root formation. The entire plant is contained within the top 6-10 inches of soil. Roots will run out in every direction and the spider-web-like roots do not propagate the plant. These are just the nutrient and water gathering entities. Rhizomes, will not generally be a part of these longer structure. They typically form their own dedicated off-shoot that extends some short distance, surfaces, buds, and tries to grow from there. I suppose after years of no root pruning, you may get rhizomes forming a decent distance from the crown, but I have not seen it with pruning on a 2-3 year basis...
 
Sweet, so I can hack at anything growing "out and away" with impunity then? While I'd love to plant hundreds of these things, I don't have the room...

Unless you are seeing buds/rhizomes, you are just setting back the plant in terms of nutrient and water gathering capabilities. You might also wait for a few weeks and see if they are coming up anywhere else and only dig those up and trim them back.
 
This is not what I have observed. In general, I have not seen deep root formation. The entire plant is contained within the top 6-10 inches of soil. Roots will run out in every direction and the spider-web-like roots do not propagate the plant. These are just the nutrient and water gathering entities. Rhizomes, will not generally be a part of these longer structure. They typically form their own dedicated off-shoot that extends some short distance, surfaces, buds, and tries to grow from there. I suppose after years of no root pruning, you may get rhizomes forming a decent distance from the crown, but I have not seen it with pruning on a 2-3 year basis...

See, this is what I was worried about, as the big assed thing I pulled out does not look like a rhizome that I buy....I'll have to look at it closer tonight.
 
This picture is hard to see, wish I had taken some better hi res versions:

All of these off-shoots are normal roots. rhizomes also tend to be less woody and a bit softer/spongy (they will not snap apart like the root shoots, they will sort of shred instead), so you may be able to tell by trying to cut into them if you are still not sure.

5596002334_0f6c209903_b.jpg
 
Yeah, what I pulled up definitely didn't look like that. It was soft, flexible, spongy white looking. Really reminded me the dreadlock tentacle things the aliens had in Independence Day (dorky, eh?) It's 1 cm thick, but extremely flexible, (bends over in half just from it's own weight). It basically feels as flexible as the bines are, if not more....
 
Yeah, what I pulled up definitely didn't look like that. It was soft, flexible, spongy white looking. Really reminded me the dreadlock tentacle things the aliens had in Independence Day (dorky, eh?) It's 1 cm thick, but extremely flexible, (bends over in half just from it's own weight). It basically feels as flexible as the bines are, if not more....

That sounds like a rhizome, even if you don't find bud sites on the section you examined, there could me more downstream.
 
This is not what I have observed. In general, I have not seen deep root formation. The entire plant is contained within the top 6-10 inches of soil. Roots will run out in every direction and the spider-web-like roots do not propagate the plant. These are just the nutrient and water gathering entities. Rhizomes, will not generally be a part of these longer structure. They typically form their own dedicated off-shoot that extends some short distance, surfaces, buds, and tries to grow from there. I suppose after years of no root pruning, you may get rhizomes forming a decent distance from the crown, but I have not seen it with pruning on a 2-3 year basis...

Randy,

Your observations are correct. The root system will develop to the depth of soil it has the ability to. When I first started growing I knew they needed 'deep - well drained' soils, the kind that grapes like. If given those types of soils they most likely will travel toward china.

Knowing this fact, I did some serious excavation. Dug up and saved the 6-10 inches of "topsoil" - then kept digging to a depth of about 4 feet. Backfilled with a blend of native soil, compost etc.. About 6 yrs later I had to dig the crowns up to move them and guess what, the roots that the chinamen were holding onto were about as thick around as my wrist and I needed more beer and a spud bar to finish the job. Yes, the majority of the roots grew in the good soil until they hit the clay, but after seeing and dealing with the few monsters that were determined to grow through the clay I just figured I'd dig them up after about every 3 years and sever the big ones to keep this from happening again.

I guess what I'm saying is that the roots will travel the path of least resistance and if given the chance, they will go down as far as they can. Also, when grown in deeper soils, the differentiation between where and how the true roots and rhizomes orient themselves can be seen much easier.

As for the spider-web-like roots developing along the rhizomes, you are again correct that they are not capable of propagation but rather continue to develop into the true root system once the rhizome has been dug and replanted. But believe me, they'll go as deep as they can - or as deep as you'll let them and after that experience at the farm back in the 90's, I'm not gonna let them go that far again. Boy, getting thirsty just thinking about that ordeal! Grow on.
 
I guess what I'm saying is that the roots will travel the path of least resistance and if given the chance, they will go down as far as they can. Also, when grown in deeper soils, the differentiation between where and how the true roots and rhizomes orient themselves can be seen much easier.

Interesting. In our heavy black clay everything stays shallow, but I can definitely see why that might be due to soil structure and not necessarily the natural habit of growth in other soil types/depths.
 
Just because I promised pics, I took some. After looking again at the root I pulled up and your descriptions, I think you're right. Rhizomes. Fleshy, flexible, and all the "offshoots" from the main root are on one side of the root.

Roll of blue tape provided for scale:
9MTHK.jpg


CHgCm.jpg
 
OK, to me that looks like a standard root, not a rhizome. Because of all the offshoots of branch roots, tapered shape, and general horse-whip structure.
 
OK, to me that looks like a standard root, not a rhizome. Because of all the offshoots of branch roots, tapered shape, and general horse-whip structure.

.......

Balls.

Screw it, i'm just gonna cut in a big assed circle with a sawzall to get anything 6" deep or less, and hope to hell the mutant plants don't start pushing my house off it's foundation...:ban:

(it's really flexible though...it really IS like a horse whip!)
 
Shorty,

Looks like those are roots, sorry. And I have to apologize that I missed in your original post that it was only a first year plant. Here is the best picture I could find: http://probrewer.com/vbulletin/attachment.php?attachmentid=3238&d=1236358719 . You can barely make out, but at the center of the crown, the original rhizomes are full of little white buds. In the second and successive years, some of those lower buds may grow outward - slightly under the soil for a short way before they emerge and grow into new vines. That portion between the new shoot and where it came off of the crown will be termed the rhizome. You don't have to worry about the foundation being disrupted for at least another year. Here's another picture: http://probrewer.com/vbulletin/attachment.php?attachmentid=3239&d=1236358731 . The roots are on the left (dark) and the original rhizome (lighter) to the right. These are Humulus Lupulus Neomexicanus so that might explain the much darker roots. This guy has been trying to breed them for the past few years. Local hops for local brews. Keep at it and take notes.
 
Thanks for the tips the both of you. No harm done by taking out this root....this thing seems to have at least 10 of them the same size extending outwards, and ones 1" thick or more going deeper, (from my gentle finger probing of soil). I'm pretty sure I didn't kill the plant off :D. Here's hoping that tons of roots = tons of hops come late summer!!!
 
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