Got some vine roots, what now?

Ok to make the story short, Mom= real estate broker sold house to man who grows his own hops. I got 3 willamette vine roots and 2 nugget vine roots. His notes are as follow, Plant in mounds 6 feet between each plant. Cut back 1st growth & keep to 2-3 vines per plant for good yeild. I have never grown my own hops so my questions are this.

1. is it too late to plant outside or should I just put in planters in the house until it gets warmer? ( I live in NC so right now its like in the 60 -70's during the day then gets down to low-mid 40's at night)

2. Should I really put them 6 feet apart for each plant?

3. How much should I water these things?

4. When he says cut back 1st growth, does that mean but the vines all the way back down once they show signs of "sprouting"

Thanks for the help guys!

1. It's not too late, so I'd get them in the ground asap. You won't get a crop this year, but it'll get them used to the ground.

2. 5 feet would be fine, but I wouldn't go less than that with different varieties. You can plant rhizomes of the same type about 3' apart.

3. I wouldn't worry too much about watering them this year. They probably won't have enough time to sprout.

4. You want to wait until the bines coming up are about 8-12" long, then cut all but 2-3 of them back to the ground. You'll need to keep pruning them all year since sometimes they'll want to re-grow.

1. like previously mentioned, it's not too late to plant/transplant. the soil is still warm so you'll get plenty of root growth before next growing season.

2. being that you've never grown hops, it would be a good idea to keep them farther apart rather than closer. i've had rhizomes creep out 3 feet from the crown in one season.

3. give them a good drink when you plant them and then cover them with a couple inches of mulch.

4. it's common practice to remove the first growth for the first few weeks and then pick a few sturdy ones to climb and produce your crop. if you have 'crowns' that have grown for a year or so, things will go very well for you next season and you should have a good crop. if you just have some rhizomes, you'll have to treat them as first year plants and it might be a good idea to allow the majority of them to climb in order to produce a bunch of carbohydrates for the next year. it all depends on what the guy left you. no matter what you do, i feel you'll have 'something' growing next year.

thanks for the info guys, one more while im thinking about. With these roots that he game me. Do I plant the whole root or leave a little sticking up out of the ground? Sounds like a dumb question but you know what they say about assuming....

check this out: http://www.freshops.com/hop-growing/hop-gardening

like dave's site states, cover with an inch of loose soil. it's not a big deal especially if you have an actual crown because there's usually buds covering the entire length of the vegetation and something will end up coming up next spring. i've seen a site where someone is growing hops down your way and am sure if you do a search you can find it. they may be better able to help you with growing hops in your area. good luck!

Make sure to plan for the trellis system so that they can climb. You should plant the whole root without leaving anything showing.

if you are transplanting (they are considered 1st year plants) do not cut back the first growth if u do you will kill them.get them in the ground asap mix some chicken **** or composted cow **** and cover w a few inches dirt,also top w 4 to 6 inches of good n rich compost ,a teaspone of borax Cheers Glen