Divideing Hops

My hops plants are one year old and are starting to show signs of life.
I have a few buddies in the area that want hop starts.
I currently have them in 10gal buckets so they are contained from spreading into a garden....Yes i plan to upgrade the the 10gal bucket to like a 50gal.

So, I guess need some good suggestions how to get some starts without killing my plants.

Thanks

It is not really recommended till they are 3.

You could roll the bucket around to loosen the soil and gently remove the crown to see what you have. If it has produced any rhizomes over the course of last year, go ahead and lop one off for your friends. If not, just put it back in the bucket and wait 'till next year. I lifted some yesterday that were planted last june and separated the 1 year old crowns (there were about 4 rhizomes per hill) to give to the neighbor. They developed into beautiful little crowns but hadn't produced any rhizomes as of yet. Still, it's great to see what can happen over the span of one growing season.

They are hard to hurt I just split a year old chinook yesterday it has a tap root big around as your thumb I just cut the whole thing right down the center with a shovel. You could also wait until your first bines get a little green and pull them out of the ground and replant them I've done that quit a bit through the growing season with good results.

Pat