Mysteree Hops

Hello, my wonderful woman picked me up what she was told is a hop plant. As I have a few 2nd and third year plants going already, I was excited. but this plant looks different, has a whole lot more of the little climbing spikes on it than my others do, plus there were about a million stalks coming off it. I transplanted into new soil (potted) and cut away the obviously dead and over saturated parts. It lives in the front yard now. I have two questions that I'd like any help that could be given in answering.



1- what type of hops am I dealing with?

2- about how old is this thing?

thanks for reading

pics would be helpful

It will be nearly impossible to tell from visual inspection. Best bet is to try to track it back to the source.

There are some varieties that I've heard people grow as ornamental.

It could be a male, so watch out. If you don't want seeded hop cones, you may not want to let it grow and flower.

Or, you could see what happens this year and if it does pollinate the ladies you have growing, pull it out and give it to someone else. I think you'll need to keep it a few hundred yards away to keep from pollinating (assuming it's a male).

I have it in the front yard, 2 other hops on this property but they are growing in the back, i think we'll be ok about and acre between them. Are there any other ways to tell if its a male? And I am having trouble getting my pics up but will when I figure it out

is this the picture?

and this one?

Where did your woman pick it up from? Was it purchased or was it wild? If it was purchased I'd go back to the seller and ask. There are wild ones growing in your area. Back in the mid '80's I found some growing in Spencerport or Hamlin (can't remember) but the one I grew seemed to be just a regular old typical native north american variety. Really dank, onion/garlic with a hint of B.O..

If it is a male you'll be able to tell as soon as 'his' parts begin to show as they look nothing like the burrs that the gracious ladies put out. Male bloom looks kinda like clusters of tiny grapes forming. At that point all it takes is one cut if you want to make sure the ladies don't get pollinated due to the fact that the pollen doesn't seem to form for a week or two after his units begin to show.

Brings many, many vendors to the area and she bought it on the way in (and had to carry it around the park) from one of them that claimed the 15$ was going to charity.

For the couple years I lived up there it seemed the lilacs ended up being in full bloom a week before or a week after the festival. I never made it to the event but it seemed like it would have been entertaining. Check out Humulus Japonicus on the web. It looks very similar but the climbing hooks are a lot more pronounced than on H. Lupulus (regular hops). Also, the males look just like the females until they bloom, if that helps.

Too Many pixels in your pics - crop them down and try again Hoppy.
You may have another species altogather - Japanese hops?? (in some states this is an invasive species and is banned)

Gave the plant to my brother for a housewarming gift and he managed to kill it. Well maybe not kill it but it has seen better days will have to wait til next year to see if it comes back but at least it is in the ground now (no pun intended).