Anyone above the 40th parallel... You are all killing your hop plants!

Do you want to know why your hop plants aren't growing because it is to cold. Hop rhizomes like most plants won't start sprouting until the ground is warm enough for a long enough time. Before you plant them look up the last frost date for your region, anyone in New York, New England, Michigan, etc the last frost date is not for another 3 weeks. If you start plants inside before planting them outside you need to acclimatize them to the outside weather or they will die. Unfortunately for all of us we have hop rhizomes that are not going to start growing for another 3 weeks, so stop freaking out our climate is not the same as the people in texas or south carolina etc. Stop freaking out stop with the my hops are not growing etc.

Good info but, who pissed in yor wheaties this morning?

So much for Global Warming eh?

Well, I"m above the 45th parallel, and I'm not freaking. I'm waiting for the snow to melt before I even think about the hops. I imagine they'll come up after the snow is gone- and our last frost is usually around Father's Day.

My hops are growing great.





But what do I know? I'm from Southern California. The weather here is great 100% of the time...

Mine haven't even been shipped so I'm pretty confident that I'm not killing them... yet.

Have you been seeing lots of posts of people who pickaxed a hole in the frozen ground to drive their rhizomes into? I suppose we could all swarm them and post the video on Youtube, but I don't know if we could get enough of us sober at any given time to be able to do it with any real competance. It would be a ***** finding a DD amongst us.

Virtuous said:

Good info but, who pissed in yor wheaties this morning?

Click to expand...

No body pissed in my wheaties, I just see so many people killing their hop plants because they don't know anything about growing plants. I personally purchased 20 hop rhizomes, they are all in a bag in my refridgerator. I am going to plant them in about 3 weeks when the weather up here is appropriate, do you know how many of them I expect to live through to the end of the season, approximately 10.

Buying a rhizome is not buying a plant it is a plant cutting, it is a step above buying a seed. When you plant seeds, you never expect to get one plant per seed you put in the ground. There are probably 50 tomato seeds in a seed package, and out of those 50 seeds, you can expect to get 5 to 10 strong plants. I just want to introduce some realism here to all the people who say I bought 4 rhizomes and one isn't growing, well guess what that is normal.

I understand man. You dont see people jumpin all over our new brewers about drinking green beer. Its a new concept to alot of people and there is a learning curve for most of us.


Edit... EAC! j/k

I am from Michigan(lower), I received my rhizomes today. How long can they be left in the refigerator before it starts hurting the root?

newbrewnut said:

I am from Michigan(lower), I received my rhizomes today. How long can they be left in the refigerator before it starts hurting the root?

Click to expand...

You can leave them there as long as you need to. What's worse for them is to wait until it's hot out to plant them. Better to plant them as soon as the soil can be worked so that they can start putting roots down before the bines really take off.

I, for one, already knew that, but I appreciate the fact that you were willing to share that info with the other members who may be wondering why their hops haven't sprouted yet.

I wonder where the hell I'm at. I can't tell if I'm a hop killer or not.

Not sure where you've seen "so many people"..."freaking out" about "killing their hop plants". We're not planting tomatoes here. Taking info from people that grow hops for a living, my understanding is that hop rhizomes are pretty hardy and can handle a bit of a frost. There's also a risk in planting too late. Three weeks? Heck, my rhizomes are starting to grow in my fridge as it is! Everything in my yard is growing like mad now. How much better off are they in the fridge than in the ground? I was going to start indoors, but I feel I've waited too long as it is. My hops go in the ground this weekend.

Personally, I think this response should have been in the "Bewaaaaare of Hop Direct" thread. From what I have heard, most all of the rhisomes have either come originally from freshops or puterburgh farms and a large majority have had excellent luck with both.

This is kind of funny - in the "I'm laughing at myself for my paranoia" sort of way. Even still, I have to ask. Right now all of my rhizomes are getting a root system head start by growing indoors in pots. Just started last week Thursday. What I'm thinking is whether or not I should till the soil and plant this weekend. For all of my reading, I haven't encountered anything saying that planting them when it's warm/hot out will harm them...but to avoid days with a chance of frost. I'm in Central-Western North Dakota and I think the danger is well over, even though it's supposed to cool off a bit next week, down to the 40s and 50s.

FWIW, All four of my hops. (cascade, brewers gold, Mt. hood & cenntenial) from last year are sprouting already. Madison Wi area.

Put 6 more in the ground last sunday in a canopy arrangement. Yes, I do believe these are hardy plants.

Yeah, I live in Connecticut and it's been pretty mild here. Last week it was probably in the high 40's - high 50's. Today it was probably in the 70's. I had 4 rhizomes and 3 had sprouted without a problem, unfortunately one was dug up & eaten. The one that's been in the ground has been there for about 8 days and it doing pretty well, considering it gets fairly cool here at night. The only one that actually Hasn't shown anything is the one being cared for most carefully inside in a pot.

I'm more worried about animals than the cold weather & ground. But thanks for the alarmism.

It's funny you mention this...because I live in De Pere, WI at 44.4 degrees north and I *just* came inside after planting three rhizomes. It was pretty nice today and we got a break from the rain, so I figured now was my chance. I'm starting to see life in my oregano, the buds on the raspberry canes are starting to swell, and the forecast doesn't look too cold for the next week. I figure the odds of a really hard freeze are getting low, and with enough mulch they'll be fine.

I got the rhizomes at the end of March and was sort of hesitant to let them sit in the fridge any longer, so I figured what the heck. I was going to put them in last Saturday, but I woke up to this:



So, I decided to hold off. At least the snow highlighted the high spots in the yard.

Tonight, I got some dirt and compost and mulch and went to town under the worklights, and came out with this:



I have four more to put in elsewhere, and with any luck I'll get one in this weekend and the rest on Monday. The other ones are going in next to a fence and a house, both with a south facing, so the soil will be plenty warm.

35.48N, -97.54W

And it's still too cool here for Cascade.

Donasay said:

No body pissed in my wheaties, I just see so many people killing their hop plants because they don't know anything about growing plants. I personally purchased 20 hop rhizomes, they are all in a bag in my refridgerator. I am going to plant them in about 3 weeks when the weather up here is appropriate, do you know how many of them I expect to live through to the end of the season, approximately 10.

Buying a rhizome is not buying a plant it is a plant cutting, it is a step above buying a seed. When you plant seeds, you never expect to get one plant per seed you put in the ground. There are probably 50 tomato seeds in a seed package, and out of those 50 seeds, you can expect to get 5 to 10 strong plants. I just want to introduce some realism here to all the people who say I bought 4 rhizomes and one isn't growing, well guess what that is normal.

Click to expand...

You are only getting a 10 to 20 percent success rate with seeds? What are you doing wrong? I don't care what it is, carrots, tomatoes, cukes, broccolli, lettuces, herbs, peppers, you name it, I get about a 95+ % success rate with my seeds. If anything, my seeds are too successful, and the wife complains that I plant way too much every year. I container grow everything, and I end up with containers all over the deck, up and down the driveway, you name it, just so I can find a place to put everything. Drives the wife nuts. She does LOVE all the tomatoes though.

Rhizomes are dug up from the cold ground in Eastern Washington, Idaho, and Oregon. I'm betting that they have seen some frost in the cold axx winter we had out here this year. So putting them in the ground even with the threat of frost is probably not going to kill the things. If you are stressing about your hops, RDWHAHB.

I'm above the 40th and all of my 27 plants are growing, some of them booming. I'd like you to show me the ones that I'm killing

Boston, MA
Latitude 42.37

Yakima, WA
Latitude 46.61

Yakima's already starting on their growing season weeks ago. Higher latitude doesn't necessarily mean it's too cold. So knock it with the latitude attitude. :fro:

EvilTOJ said:

Higher latitude doesn't necessarily mean it's too cold. So knock it with the latitude attitude. :fro:

Click to expand...

Well put.

EvilTOJ said:

So knock it with the latitude attitude. :fro:

Click to expand...

That's such a banal, commonplace remark to make. In fact... I'd say it's a latitude attitude platitude.

I'm here all week, folks.

Danek said:

That's such a banal, commonplace remark to make. In fact... I'd say it's a latitude attitude platitude.

Click to expand...

For which you have my gratitude, dude!

Donasay said:

No body pissed in my wheaties, I just see so many people killing their hop plants because they don't know anything about growing plants. I personally purchased 20 hop rhizomes, they are all in a bag in my refridgerator. I am going to plant them in about 3 weeks when the weather up here is appropriate, do you know how many of them I expect to live through to the end of the season, approximately 10.

Buying a rhizome is not buying a plant it is a plant cutting, it is a step above buying a seed. When you plant seeds, you never expect to get one plant per seed you put in the ground. There are probably 50 tomato seeds in a seed package, and out of those 50 seeds, you can expect to get 5 to 10 strong plants. I just want to introduce some realism here to all the people who say I bought 4 rhizomes and one isn't growing, well guess what that is normal.

Click to expand...

Hops are much easier to grow and much hardier than you expect.
My hops in NE Ohio are already sprouting. If you are in Boston then you can plant them any time and the earlier the better. The hops will tolerate a frost with no problem. You are more likely to lose hops by storing the rhizomes too long than you will lose them in the ground this time of year.
Second you are much too pessimistic about the survival rate of the hops. I had 100% success rate on my 4 rhizomes planted last year. If you do even a decent job of preparing the soil and planting, I would expect a 95% success rate. If only 50% of my rhizomes came up I would be contacting the person I bought them from for a refund.
Growing hops and most other hardy perennials is much easier than you suspect. Hops are a vigorous and hardy plant.

Craig

Oh well, I guess here in Michigan all the new growth on my Cennt. and Sterlings are signs of death. Maybe I should dig them up to save there lives......Not!

All the rhizomes I planted TWO WEEKS ago are sprouting and about 4-6" out of the soil.

Life is good down here at the 30th parallel. Hops are lovin it.

Bobby_M said:

All the rhizomes I planted TWO WEEKS ago are sprouting and about 4-6" out of the soil.

Click to expand...

Well, to be fair all the chemicals in the Jersey soil won't let the ground freeze.

I've got 3 Cascade rhizomes in pots in Madison, WI on my deck. I planted them about 2 weeks ago. One had the first shoot 3 days ago and as of yesterday all 3 pots have a few shoots poking up. I'll probably plant them next weekend.

Anchorage- Latitude: 61° 13'

Yet they grow like mad. Its weird!

rabidgerbil said:

You are only getting a 10 to 20 percent success rate with seeds? What are you doing wrong? I don't care what it is, carrots, tomatoes, cukes, broccolli, lettuces, herbs, peppers, you name it, I get about a 95+ % success rate with my seeds. If anything, my seeds are too successful, and the wife complains that I plant way too much every year. I container grow everything, and I end up with containers all over the deck, up and down the driveway, you name it, just so I can find a place to put everything. Drives the wife nuts. She does LOVE all the tomatoes though.

Click to expand...

I actually get about 90% to sprout, but I have to think the mounds so that I can get some strong plants you only want the strong plants to reproduce or you wind up with crowded plants that don't produce as much. A lot can be said for not planting things to close together.

EvilTOJ said:

Boston, MA
Latitude 42.37

Yakima, WA
Latitude 46.61

Yakima's already starting on their growing season weeks ago. Higher latitude doesn't necessarily mean it's too cold. So knock it with the latitude attitude. :fro:

Click to expand...

I really should have said the northeast in the title, because oregon california etc are the exception.

Donasay said:

I really should have said the northeast in the title, because oregon california etc are the exception.

Click to expand...

Your still wrong about too early to plant hops.
Now I won't be putting any annuals in the ground any time soon but for perennials adapted to this environment, now is a perfect time to plant.
Those of you in the frozen north ofcourse have a few more weeks before before the ground thaws sufficiently.

Craig

I personally would wait until the soil had warmed up enough for growth before planting. Sure you can plant them and the cold probably won't be a problem. However, the rhizome has a wound at least at each end from being dug up. Placed in cold soil and not actively growing, the wounds are an open invitation for pathogen attack. Once it starts growing, it is better able to fight off any potential pathogens. With potatoes, one does not plant them immediately after cutting them up, they are allowed to heal over first. Even if healed over, you want to wait until the conditions are favorable for growth to plant them.

I'm in Michigan. Planted six rhizomes in pots two weeks ago. All of them are budding and beautiful. It helps that greenhouses were on sale at Menards for $40.

All 5 of my '07 plants (2 Cascade, Nugget, Magnum & Mystery Hop) have sprouted, but are only buds. I started my 4 new rhizomes (2 Fuggles, K. Golding & Mt. Hood) in large pots under the lights with my annuals & veggies. All are sprouted and three of the four have leaves.

My plan is to wait until the outdoor plants have leafed out and then harden off the potted ones & transplant.

BTW, although it has been unseasonably warm for the last week, we still have patches of snow on the ground.

Northeastern MA here and I just transplanted my EKG from pot to outdoors this past weekend. Its thriving. It only sprouted one bine but its about 18" long now and going like crazy in my sun filled back yard.

Mid to Late April is plenty fine around these neck of the woods for planting stuff. I grew up planting and maintaining vegetable, herb, and strawberry gardens and this was always about the time to get things rolling. Most plants are hardy and can withstand frost.