cones and seeds on 1 plant

So I just noticed today that my first year Columbus plant has both cones and seed clusters growing on it. Down low its almost all cones, which I think is why I didn't notice sooner, but higher up there are tons of seeds. Is this a male plant? Or I've heard they can sometimes be hermaphrodites so maybe that is it??

I'm assuming I probably don't want to keep this plant in my hop garden, is that correct? My concern I suppose is more whether having the male Columbus plant will cause any cross-breeding or whatever with my existing Willamette or Cascade plant (both of which are producing all cones at this point)? I'd appreciate any advice or suggestions. Thanks

Here's a picture:

I don't think those are seeds, I think they're male parts. The plant in the picture has gone a bit hermaphroditic...

Cheers!

day_trippr said:

i don't think those are seeds, i think they're male parts. The plant in the picture has gone a bit hermaphroditic...

Cheers!

Click to expand...

+1

You may want to remove the male flowers, otherwise you will get seeds in your cones.

My nugget has this happen. I pull the males off!

FYI. For cross-breeding to happen you need to have different hop plants. If the males fertilize the females of the same plant it self-pollinate and there would be no cross-breeding.

Also read (on here i believe) that plants do ocasionally go hermaphroditic do to heat or water stress they are sterile. So if this is true no fear of seeds.

My columbus first years did the same thing. From what I understand they are sterile and rarely produce seeds. Also, I guess columbus do this at the drop of a hat when stressed.

Before I got my Zeus rhizomes a few years ago, I would occasionally see some male bloom on my Cascade and Bullion and a tiny bit on a few other varieties and was told by a hop researcher not to worry about it. For the first two years I thought my Zeus was mostly male as it was about half cones and half male parts. This year, which was extremely hot and dry - much more so than the previous two, it's mostly (about 95%) cones. So that tells me that the optimum growing conditions for Zeus would be extremely hot and dry and a more mild growing season would be the stress conditions that everyone seems to mention. I won't know until we go through some more mild Summers.

As for the seeds, if any are produced you may want to try to germinate them to see if they are viable. I know I was told that 'they' were sterile but not sure if he meant the male parts or the seeds. I wouldn't worry about it too much.

lol, sounds like I need to go neuter the plant tomorrow...

The stress factor sounds like a definite possibility, in the PNW we've had a very cool / wet year. Except for the last week when all of a sudden we finally got our warm weather and hit the 90s last weekend.

Is this permanent or is it possible this would grow "normally" next year?

My CTZ has done this for the past 2 years, I don't worry about it.

One of the factors that the breeders select for is the amount of male bloom that the selection produce, less is best. I would figure that the climate where most of them are grown (most likely the Yakima Valley) is conducive to allowing them to grow and produce a very limited amount of boy parts. It's all a tradeoff. If the particular variety is earning the growers a decent return, they'll overlook a slight fault to a certain extent.

I just found out tonight that my hops can also **** themselves.

I recently got some leaf hops from MoreBeer that had seeds in them. I was a little bit confused.

LVBen said:

I recently got some leaf hops from MoreBeer that had seeds in them. I was a little bit confused.

Click to expand...

It happens. Seeds develop within the cones and occasionally I'll find some vestigial seeds in whole hops I've bought. But they've never appeared to be "full term" seeds - the ones I've found were very small, and didn't amount to enough mass to affect flavor, imo...

Cheers!

Sorry to resurrect this thread. But out of curiosity- if you have a hermaphrodite hop plant and it produces seeds, can you then plant the seeds to make a new hop plant? If so, since it is self fertilized (I guess), wouldn't it be an exact (or at least pretty much exact) copy of the parent plant? My reasoning here is this-- sometimes amarillo whole hops come with seeds in them. Could I just plant the seeds and get an Amarillo vine? I have had some packets of Amarillo with a TON of seeds.

Klaus

I'll be interested in reading a definitive answer from one who knows for sure, but from everything I've read on the topic over the years it seems seeds produced as a result of proximate hermie "male" plants are not viable...

Cheers!

Klaus,
"if you have a hermaphrodite hop plant and it produces seeds, can you then plant the seeds to make a new hop plant?"

Yes.

"If so, since it is self fertilized (I guess), wouldn't it be an exact (or at least pretty much exact) copy of the parent plant?"

Surprisingly, the answer is no. The genetics of hops have not been stabilized. They do not grow true from seed. The offspring (even crossing with the same plant) will be a genetic lottery. In fact, every seed from the plant may be different. It sounds strange, but Apples are the same way.

" My reasoning here is this-- sometimes amarillo whole hops come with seeds in them."

These probably were pollinated by a wild male near the farm. Hermaphrodite hop plants rarely produce seeds ... though it can happen.

"Could I just plant the seeds and get an Amarillo vine? I have had some packets of Amarillo with a TON of seeds."

You can plant them, but the offspring would not be Amarillo.

Here's a better idea:
Can I persuade you to send me the seeds? I am conducting a hobby breeding program: http://gabriel.nagmay.com/2013/03/hops-from-seed/

In return, I would be happy to share any 1st generation plants, once they are established.

Thanks,
Nagmay

nagmay said:

Klaus,
"if you have a hermaphrodite hop plant and it produces seeds, can you then plant the seeds to make a new hop plant?"

Yes.

Click to expand...

You can plant the seeds, that doesn't mean they will germinate. There are several reasons for this. Depending on whether the plant is truly hermaphroditic, i.e. can produce both male AND female flowers in the natural course of its life, or it's triploid culitvar with a weird ratio of sex chromosomes and produces male and female flowers, albeit generally one or the other is generally sterile, the seed may or may not be viable.

The latter of those situations is a frequent occurence, and generally the expression of both traits in a triploid variety is a result of stress. Stress can be a result of drought, malnutrition, disease/virus, etc.

nagmay said:

"If so, since it is self fertilized (I guess), wouldn't it be an exact (or at least pretty much exact) copy of the parent plant?"

Surprisingly, the answer is no. The genetics of hops have not been stabilized. They do not grow true from seed. The offspring (even crossing with the same plant) will be a genetic lottery. In fact, every seed from the plant may be different. It sounds strange, but Apples are the same way.

" My reasoning here is this-- sometimes amarillo whole hops come with seeds in them."

These probably were pollinated by a wild male near the farm. Hermaphrodite hop plants rarely produce seeds ... though it can happen.

Click to expand...

The genetics are stabilized (if they weren't, we wouldn't have hops), quite thoroughly. If by stabilized you mean inbred, then yes, you're correct. Humulus sp. are highly heterozygous, and there are reasons for that, the wide range of diversity contributes to wide ranges of resistance for many problems associated with monocultures. Though of course, when you've planted 200 acres of Fuggle, and verticillium wilt wipes out your plants, you were asking for it.

You're right, it will be a genetic lottery. (Even assuming the possibility of self-fertilization, which is highly-unlikely.) Due to the highly heterozygous nature of the plant, there is no telling what kind of plant you'll receive. If you were to make one cross, assuming everything works out and people want your new variety, you're looking at approximately 10-12 years before commercialization (and that's if you get it right!).

Everyone loves Cascade right? No, not initially. Cascade was the runt of the litter, and was quite literally almost entirely removed from breeding efforts because there was a lack of interest. Then, Sierra Nevada came in during the late 70's (this was after 6-8 years of effort on the breeder's part for trials, etc.), and made it the all-star it is today. Had it not been for them, Cascade would have likely been wiped off the pages of history.

nagmay said:

"Could I just plant the seeds and get an Amarillo vine? I have had some packets of Amarillo with a TON of seeds."

You can plant them, but the offspring would not be Amarillo.

Here's a better idea:
Can I persuade you to send me the seeds? I am conducting a hobby breeding program: http://gabriel.nagmay.com/2013/03/hops-from-seed/

In return, I would be happy to share any 1st generation plants, once they are established.

Thanks,
Nagmay

Click to expand...

If you send him seeds, I'd like some as well.

Gridlocked said:

I just found out tonight that my hops can also **** themselves.

Click to expand...

What variety do you think you planted?

Nice! I'm starting some rhizomes down here in Tampa after I watched you guys on "chop n brew"


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew