When to transplant hops

Hey all. I have 2nd year cascades and centennials that have done horrible this year. Last year (the first year),they did great and I actually got a pretty good harvest for first year,despite a very veggie flavor.

I dont have pics, but I have them in huge plastic planters and think that the roots are restrained so much that the vines were small and so thin that I actually cut all the centennials back to the dirt and left 2 of the bigger cascades grow and they have quite a few cones growing which are just about ready to pick.

I realize that they would do much better in the ground.My soil here in southeastern Indiana is nasty clay and doesnt have nutrients and doesnt drain well at all.My question is,what is the best time of year to put these babies in the ground,and what is the best way to ammend the soil to drain well and give the hops nutrients? Thanks for any info

Wait until next spring, while they're still dormant. In the meantime get your soil ready with some composted manure and sand for drainage. Remember that after 5 years the root ball will be 3-4 feet across. This is a picture of a 5 year old Cascade crown in an adult lawn chair.

An this wasn't all of it, there was still a bunch of outliers in the ground.

Heavy clay soils are a real problem because even if you dig a big hole and backfill with great soil that drains well, where is the water gonna drain to? This is what they call the 'tea cup affect'. If you get too much water it just basically fills the hole up. I've had decent luck with digging a BIG hole and then creating somewhat of a raised bed above - trying to give the plants a fighting chance. They're real fighters and 'some' varieties do half way decent at my place. Give it a try, even if your soil is poor I think they'll like it better in the ground.

B-Hoppy said:

Heavy clay soils are a real problem because even if you dig a big hole and backfill with great soil that drains well, where is the water gonna drain to? This is what they call the 'tea cup affect'. If you get too much water it just basically fills the hole up. I've had decent luck with digging a BIG hole and then creating somewhat of a raised bed above - trying to give the plants a fighting chance. They're real fighters and 'some' varieties do half way decent at my place. Give it a try, even if your soil is poor I think they'll like it better in the ground.

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I guess I'm not really an expert-I've been growing hops for about 8 years but out here we only get about 8 inches of rain in a really wet year so my very high clay content is a plus. On the bright side mildew isn't a problem.
This year my hops almost died-since last September 18 we've had exactly 4 tenths of an inch of rain, all in the last 3 weeks. They were about 6 feet high until I went on vacation and my daughter didn't water them, but they're coming back. Our growing season doesn't end before late Oktober or November so there's still a chance I'll get some cones.