Propagating from Hop Cuttings

has anyone successfully tried to re-root cuttings from hop plants? general consensus is to trim back all but the most vigorous bines for the season.

i am going to try to use a rooting powder/chemical to keep these cuttings alive and create "new" hop plants. i will be sure to keep you guys updated on success/failure of my venture.

i would like to hear from anyone who has had success with this venture in the past. thanks!

Yes,it works. Bury about a foot of the cutting.

should i try to root a bine, or a leaf stem, or any other part? which will give the best chance of success?

I read that the best way (whatever "best" means ) is to bury a bine from the main plant while it's still attached. Apparently the bine will start to put down new roots, and once they're established, you can sever the original bine. I tried this a few days ago with an offshoot from my Challenger plant, and I'll post back on how it gets on.

Danek said:

I read that the best way (whatever "best" means ) is to bury a bine from the main plant while it's still attached. Apparently the bine will start to put down new roots, and once they're established, you can sever the original bine. I tried this a few days ago with an offshoot from my Challenger plant, and I'll post back on how it gets on.

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I was going to say, that "layering" the technique you are using, would probably be a good route to go. It makes the most sense I think.

What about if I wanted to take a cutting from a plant that is not on my property and bring it home? There are hops growing at my Grandmother's place that were planted by my Great-great grandfather as a cash crop. I would like to take cuttings and grow them here to use in a sort of "heritage" brew. Would it be best to take cuttings from the bine?

mr_goodwrench said:

What about if I wanted to take a cutting from a plant that is not on my property and bring it home? There are hops growing at my Grandmother's place that were planted by my Great-great grandfather as a cash crop. I would like to take cuttings and grow them here to use in a sort of "heritage" brew. Would it be best to take cuttings from the bine?

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You'd probably have better success taking a cutting from the dormant Rhizome come fall when the bines die back.

Layering absolutely works, and Zoebisch is correct that fall would be the best time. If you want to try a green cutting I'd take just a 12" growing shoot tip and then remove most of the leaves, leaving maybe one fully expanded leaf - if that. One big reason green cutting fail is they have too many leaves and with no roots, the leaves just can't get enough water. So removing most of the leaves makes a big difference. I'd even be tempted to leave maybe just one small leaf and the tip. A little rooting homrone would be good, and put it in a humid place with lots of indirect sun.

Thanks for the info guys. I will definitely give it a try this fall. I will be going over there on a scouting expedition in the next couple of weeks. I plan on harvesting what I can this year. I will definitely give a rhizome cutting a shot this fall.

A 12" cutting is a bit big IMHO. Just use a cutting that has one full set of leaves (but a small set) and the end node. Preferably with the end node close to the leaf set. Use a peat pellet or a 50/50 mix of vermiculite/perlite soaked in sterile water, and maybe some vitamin b1 if it's readily available. A great pot to use is Dairy Queen type clear plastic with the snap on hood. 23-25 degrees c is a good temperature, with a 16 to 18 hour light cycle if using artificial light.

Easy and efficent way to insure a living clone from a rhizome is
to set a small bucket alongside the growing plant-----take one of the
young "runners", and lay it in the bucket with about 4-6" sticking out(tip end).
Cover the curved bine with good soil. Water heavily for about a month.
Only then do you cut the new "clone" from the original hops. It's likely best to
do this after the flowering cycle, but I see no reason not to try this now.
If done this many times with tomatoes, and other water based stalks. We
call it jumping a runner, or propagating.

karbinator said:

Easy and efficent way to insure a living clone from a rhizome is
to set a small bucket alongside the growing plant-----take one of the
young "runners", and lay it in the bucket with about 4-6" sticking out(tip end).
Cover the curved bine with good soil. Water heavily for about a month.
Only then do you cut the new "clone" from the original hops. It's likely best to
do this after the flowering cycle, but I see no reason not to try this now.
If done this many times with tomatoes, and other water based stalks. We
call it jumping a runner, or propagating.

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Oh ok, I thought you meant molesting a marathoner

I had to prune my Challenger plant as some of the sidearms were getting crazy. Out of interest I thought I'd plant the trimmings (three of them, between 6 and 12 inches) to see if they'd take. I did that yesterday, and it looks like two of them are already dead. The third one seems to be showing a bit more interest. I'll see how it goes, but I suspect that burying bines that are still attached to the main plant is an easier way to go.

I've done this for three years running. When I find a hops plant on the side of the road, or in a back yard, or whatever, I take a cutting. For easy cuttings, pull a little vine from the ground close to the ground hopefully removing a node, or you can take a sterilized razor and cut at a 45 degree angle and immediately place the cutting in a brown beer bottle filled to the brim.. Leave for about a week, topping off the water. Roots will form. Then you may plant. Or, you could read about this REALLY cool technique on the net, after you find one of those seedy friends of yours, and splice the hop onto a close relative when they're both relatively young. Needless to say, this should make for an interesting plant.

razyrsharpe said:

has anyone successfully tried to re-root cuttings from hop plants? general consensus is to trim back all but the most vigorous bines for the season.

i am going to try to use a rooting powder/chemical to keep these cuttings alive and create "new" hop plants. i will be sure to keep you guys updated on success/failure of my venture.

i would like to hear from anyone who has had success with this venture in the past. thanks!

Click to expand...

All you have to do is dig down in the soil where the shoot is coming up, grab a handful of dirt under the shoot, lift it up and cut the shoot, you should see some roots in the dirt that you pulled up, plant it in some seedling soil dirt ( the dirt with vermiculite ) and water in in good, it will grow, I am 7 for 7 using this method this year, good luck.

I hope y'all keep this thread going as I find it very interesting!
Dick
*****

It does work for the first year.
The root system is weak and usually the next winter might wipe it out.
It's fun to try.
I simply take root cuttings and plant them, they grow well and always grow back the next season"s"

For shizzles and grins I thought I'd take a cutting from the hop plant and stick it in the ground. I did this about 2 weeks ago. I was watering the plants and found this. Here's the babies first picture.

pjj2ba said:

If you want to try a green cutting I'd take just a 12" growing shoot tip and then remove most of the leaves, leaving maybe one fully expanded leaf - if that. One big reason green cutting fail is they have too many leaves and with no roots, the leaves just can't get enough water. So removing most of the leaves makes a big difference. I'd even be tempted to leave maybe just one small leaf and the tip. A little rooting homrone would be good, and put it in a humid place with lots of indirect sun.

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I can testify that I had two cuttings from shoots that I put into the ground (guy took cuttings and put in soil from the spot, into two little beer cups), with the existing soil. The first cutting got totalllly sun-fried the first day. The second one is hanging in there but yeah, it was about 3" down into the ground, if that. Many leaves on the cutting. I might go try another from his plants and strip all leaves except for the very tip.

-J

Zombie thread:
We grow hops at our brewery in large containers (20gal). This year I started taking cuttings. 3 weeks ago I took 10 or so cuttings, dipped in rooting hormone, and planted them in peat moss cubes. 2 are VERY strong, 1 is hanging in there, the rest never took root. I took another round of cuttings a few days ago and they seem to be doing solid. I will post more pics as they go. They are mostly Cascade with a few Willamette.

I'll be interested in up dates. I told someone this will work and he said I was wrong and neither of us could convince the other that one of us right. Help me proove I'm right!

There's a lot easier ways to propagate hops rather than cuttings. The problem with cuttings, especially if you don't have a bench mister-like setup, is keeping enough moisture on the plants until they begin to throw roots. The only way a cutting can obtain moisture is that which you apply. Until it has roots it has to take in moisture through it's leaf surface.

If you have some established plants, I assume you do, all you have to do is to take an excess shoot that you were going to remove anyway and instead of letting it grow upwards, keep throwing soil on top of it. A few days later it will poke it's head up and again you nail it with more soil (or compost or whatever you have handy). After a week or so gently lift it and you'll see a whole bunch of little roots starting to form along the shoot. At this point, cut it back toward the crown and stick it in some soil. Waa-laa, you have a new plant.

I stick my shoots in a glass of water and leave them in the window. About 75 percent of them grow roots. I stick them in a small pot till shoots get larger and then in the ground.

konrad said:

I stick my shoots in a glass of water and leave them in the window. About 75 percent of them grow roots. I stick them in a small pot till shoots get larger and then in the ground.

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This is about what I'm doing.

I've been taking about a 50/50 mixture of garden soil and peat moss in a cup, then saturating it with water then putting the clones in the soil then just leave it by the window sill. Out of the 10 I've tried, only 2 have died thus far.

Hops are one of the easiest plants to root from cuttintgs if you use the right techniques. Select a bine with fully expanded leaves about 1/8" dia. stem size with buds showing in the leaf axials. throw away the soft tip with small leaves. 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. I bench mist every 10 minutes day/15 min. night with bottom heat @ 85 deg. F. for 1 week and then start cutting back the mist. No rooting chemical is required. I spray weekly with peroxide to control disease. 99% root within 2 weeks.

It would be helpful to post some photos of the method, Jagdad.

Retrofit said:

I'll be interested in up dates. I told someone this will work and he said I was wrong and neither of us could convince the other that one of us right. Help me proove I'm right!

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Cuttings are the weakest way to propagate but it does work. Last year the wind tore my young Hallertau out. I stripped two nodes of it's leaves and with a stick, made a hole in the ground, jabbed the Hallertau in there and it's back this year - about as strong as if starting from a rhizome. In fact I did three cuttings - only one took.

It will look droopy for a while, keep it moist ..if it is working, the plant will perk up but will not grow much.

This thread started with a question of if it were possible to prop hops by cuttings. Yup.
Is it easy? Yup. Us pros use it to maintain clean stock, eliminate virus/ disease, and to produce certified stock for establishing commercial hop yards June through November. (Try to find a rhizome then) We propagate 22 varieties currently by contract (yes , some are easier than others). We currently have over 5000 in production; with a capcity for 20m per month peak. So to say it isn't possible or weak is incorrect. This business is Hopping!

Jagdad said:

... to produce certified stock for establishing commercial hop yards June through November. (Try to find a rhizome in June)

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Thanks for this; makes want to keep taking more cuttings. I am planning a big grow next year; possibly planting 100+ rhizomes next spring, and am trying to produce clipable root stock for that and not worried about any real hop harvest this year - other than from our established crowns.
We are working on opening up a nanobrewery with a 3bbl system. Our 10 gal pilot system is knocking out batches while we file paperwork. I would love to be able to grow as many hops as possible for our small batch artisan beer. One of our workers/welders/assistant brewers/shareholders/(our chiropractor) has farm land he might give us to grow on.

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150195443111691&set=a.10150190568781691.307597.89531181690&type=1&ref=nf

Here is a cutting that I took about 2 weeks ago that I transplanted into a 18 gallon pot today. It had a great root mass in the peat moss pot I use and looks like it will grow strong. (This is 1 of 2 plants moved outside to buckets).

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150195443126691&set=a.10150190568781691.307597.89531181690&type=1

This is a few more clippings I transplanted today to larger peat moss pots; these are super easy to move to larger containers without disrupting the roots. I slice the pots open at the bottom to allow easier breakdown of the moss in the larger planter.

I only grow in containers currently, and the ones at the brewery (2nd years, also 18 gal containers). Along in the outer edge, where the soil meets the plastic wall, shoots grow up, and it is a super easy spot to take cuttings from. I can pull back the soil, cut all the way back to the white root, and transplant. I plan on keeping up with planting these cuttings for the rest of the grow season. I will do as many as I can cut and propagate.

JMaslar, I don't quite follow. Are you burying bines over to the edge of the bucket, then cutting them off near the crown? Or are you seeing come up on their own that far from the crown? If the latter, how old are the plants giving off the shoots? I have only second year plants, and have not seen remote shoots arising, but my plants are in a mulched garden, not pots.

ThreeDogsNE said:

... Or are you seeing come up on their own that far from the crown?

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Yes, they are not terribly deep, but we had quite a few.

ThreeDogsNE said:

If the latter, how old are the plants giving off the shoots?

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They are all second years - all 3. We have also had an immense amount of heat and rain - 70s to high 80s for a week with huge rain and thunder storms. Some hops it would cause root rot, but our buckets drain well so the plants LOVED it; they are vigorously growing.

JMaslar said:

Along in the outer edge, where the soil meets the plastic wall, shoots grow up, and it is a super easy spot to take cuttings from. I can pull back the soil, cut all the way back to the white root, and transplant.

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Never mind. I was under the impression you were taking 'tip' cuttings which is what Jagdad is talking about. Essentially you are taking cuttings from shoots which are emerging from the main crown - that's what I was trying to (unsuccessfully) explain in an earlier post. It's a very rudimentary but a very simple way to propagate. You just don't get the benefit of the clones being assured to be virus-free. Now I'll go have a beer. Clip On!

Interesting thread - I clipped a few of the bine tips (back to a cluster of leaves) and planed them in a spot that receives good sun. At least to this point they are not wilting so I take this as a good sign.

B

Cut a trimming at an angle any angle just not 90 degrees from the bine. Length must be atleast 4 inches. Take a coffee cup and fill it one inch above the cut with regular tap water. Set trimmings in the coffee cup and place in window. Check back in about a week. Congrats you've got roots! Now here's the important part. Ensure that the roots are atleast 1 inch long and plant the new plants in a mixture 1/2 potting soil (Miracle Grow or other it doesn't matter) and 1/2 playground sand. It should be a very lose soil. Plant them in used Jello cups or fruit cups with 10-15 holes drilled in the bottom. Water daily and feed with nitro once at the beginning of the second week. Again it has given me a 90% success rate with my Goldings. Expect dead leaves and a little bit of wither starting at the top and working it's way down. All is well it's be fine. Good luck. Attached are pictures of the trimmings after about three weeks and two days of hard rain. Still alive and giving new growth.

I tried a few differnt ways. I took a few cuttings, dipped in rooting enzime, then planted in small pots and I took a cutting and put in water on the window sill. All but one are doing very well.

Layering works great I did a bunch that way. And Rooting horomone works great to if you use it exactly how the directions suggest. The very first cutting i did i didnt use anything it was a very vigorous shoot. just cut it at a 45 degree angle and stuck it into some potting soil about 4-5 inches, it took.

So I think I've got the process down, but my question is, is it too late to do this? Some friends I have who live in MI are driving through south of Chicago where I live and they offered to bring me clippings and rhizomes. Can I shove the roots in the ground and expect to see something next year? Can I start to tend to the clippings now and get them to root and put them in the ground? Of course I know I won't see much, if any growth if I put them out side now, but will they be ok until the spring?

I hope it's not too late! Yesterday I took a bunch of cuttings Carolina Kid style, but I dipped them in rooting hormone, then put them in well rinsed beer bottles filled with tap water. I put them under fluorescent grow lights on a timer to give 18 hours of light per day. All but one look good today, so I just cut a replacement for it. I suspect it's rather late to put them in the ground outside at this latitude, which is nearly the same as yours. I plan to grow these under lights for a week or more until I see decent roots, then pot them in soil under the lights for a while. When they look like they are big enough to go dormant and survive, I'll put them outside for the rest of the winter.

Carolina Kid
I agree how easy it is to propagate cuttings. In fact I've gone overboard with mine! I had to trim back a few laterals that weren't actively growing and lightly shaved the stalk about 2 inches up, dunked them in powdered root hormone and out of 10 or 12 only 1 died. Anyone who wants to try this I recommend starting them in your house by a window! I believe the constant temperature and indirect sunlight made a huge difference. I've done this in water and soil.

Unfortunately 2 of my first shoots/bines (begining of season) were having some more serious trouble with the heat and weren't going anywhere so I cut them at the base. I did however take about 18 inches(the thickest part at the base) and I sunk them in some mounds to see if I can make rhizomes out of them!

Carolina Kid, would you be in the Charlotte area sometime soon? I would be interested in trading a few shoots if you are interested. I have Northern Brewer and Cascade.