Mutant hops?

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Macgyver71

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This is my 3rd year growing, and while I've enjoyed some huge harvests, I'm still learning a LOT (like yellow-leaf etc).

Some of my early sprouters are ready for picking, and as I get on ladder to check it out, I find the one Centennial Bine is putting out some seriously big comes (a hair over 2.5" big). They are still full of Lupes, so I'm not upset (quite the opposite), but what would cause it (so I can try to do more of the same next year)? The "parent" bine I took the rhizomes from doesnt have any nearly as big (the giant producer is actually a 2nd year)

I know it's worthless without pics, so I'll include some...sorry I didn't think to put a ruler or quarter in there for scale, But I can tomorrow if needed.

Thanks in advance!

First one is next to "regular" cone, 2nd shot is same 2 cut open
IMG_6283.JPG

IMG_6293.JPG


average cones from "mother" root
2013-06-26%2015.49.15.jpg
 
Are you sure you didn't get them mixed up? No matter the size of the cone, each variety will normally have the same (similar) number of bracts coming off of the strig. Also, it seems to be that the cones near the top of the vine are generally bigger than the rest for one reason or another.
 
Positive...I'll try and grab a pic of the bine tomorrow (Hoppy, since you're on my friends list on Fb, I think you can actually see the pics of them in my "Hops '13" album
(Bill). The large ones are closer to the top (I always attributed that to better light and airflow), But only the one bine has the bigg'ns (It's definitely from one of the 3 original Centennials I started in 2011, as all the ones I put in the ground in '12 were from my existing rootballs (original group consisted of 3 centennial, 3 cascade, 3 nugget[only one nugget survived, other 2 didnt take]). But none are (or have ever) put ones out that big, except this one.
It's nothing upsetting or detrimental in the least, but it has me curious as heck.
 
Probably good/better soil. You didn't bury a fish there did you? Hows 'bout Jimmy Hoffa? You are in that neck of the woods eh! Mystery solved . . .
 
Fish? Nah....Hoffa? Ummmm, I'll plead the 5th ;)
I do use bone meal when the cones start appearing, prior to that 13-2-13 fertilizer. (soil has compost mixed in at the start of the season too....One of the local brewery guys swears there's nuclear waste or voodoo in the soil too due to the crazy harvests amounts LOL). I'll just keep my fingers crossed it's a yearly occurrence, and stick with what I do as far as food & water for them (and maybe transplant a rhizome or two next spring).
 
I pity anyone on DSL...

A lot of those ought to have been harvested by now I reckon.
And that middle picture doesn't look like Centennial hop cones...

Cheers!
 
I'm with day tripper. I've never seen Centennials with sidearms as long as that. Also, the cone structure is quite a bit different than Cent as they generally produce a more open cone, not nearly as compact as the ones shown. Could be, as you said, a mutant sport of Centennial. The only way to know is to fire up the kettle. Have fun, take good notes and the report will be due no later than Aug. 4th, before 5pm, ha!
 
If you go by post #6, the pictures under the 1st one are neighboring bines...I'd have to go look at the placard I put down to know for sure, but they are cascades.

Most of you guys are far more experienced in cone structure, etc than I...Maybe it is a mislabeled cascade? I did harvest a decent chunk of them (probably 1/4 of what's growing) today, but made sire to use a separate bag for each bine just in case something like that happened. I'll probably harvest some more tomorrow, but the heat was getting to be killer. I'm just glad it wasn't something I screwed up. Everything is a learning experience, no? I'll keep that batch seperate until I figure out if it's mislabeled or not (It's one of the two, cascade or centennial, as I didn't take any rhizomes from the Nuggets)
A few more...not quite as big, but decent. (and sorry for DSL users...never occurred to be that it would be a bandwidth-hog)
Photo%20Jul%2019%2C%2017%2041%2013.jpg


Here is one bag worth (4 more to go...)
Photo%20Jul%2019%2C%2017%2047%2053.jpg
 
I had that before with some of my centennial. and as that is all I had, no doubts that it was centennial :) random frwaky big cones, and no rhime or reason to side arm length. I had sidearms from 6" to pushing 3'. I alwasy attributed it to light, and soil. no real clue if that is true or not. God I miss my hops, and beer garten
 

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