Pot Quality

I'm planning on attempting to grow a couple plants in pots, but am wondering if I can get away with the cheap plastic pots. The roots of hop plants look pretty thick...

Anyone had experience here?

Thanks!

Size is the most important consideration. Anything less than a 15 gallon pot will be too small for the first year and the plants will need a lot more space the second.

Thanks for the input. I anticipate that by the third year I can transplant to the ground, should I therefor make any special considerations?

Why not just put them in the ground now? There is nothing to be gained by growing hops in pots if you have soil available.

I live in a condo right now with a very small patio. I don't plan on that being the case in a few years though.

I like grow bags. Haven't grown hops in them yet but nurseries use them extensively so they should be fine (I'll let you know in the fall).

Ten gallon black ones are about a buck each. I use 15 gallon white Easi-lift bags a lot as they look nice and are easy to move around (I sell larger plants and overwinter others in the basement). They run about $4 each and last for years. Believe the top size is 30 gallon. Filling a grow bag with composted manure, potting mix and/or dirt is a fast, simple way to get up and running.

Interesting. Has anyone else tried grow bags? They sure are a lot cheaper than $15 or more for a pot! You're trying some this season, Essex?

Go by your local nursery, most of them will give you used 15 gal + pots for trees for a couple of bucks,if not free. Maybe a bit ugly, but cheap.

Grow bags are awesome. They are supposedly better too because they prevent the root system from tying itself in knots

Dammit, this thread title is misleading.

SixFoFalcon said:

Dammit, this thread title is misleading.

Click to expand...

I was looking for talks about red hairs and crystals...BTW, dont try smoking hops...

SOB said:

I was looking for talks about red hairs and crystals...BTW, dont try smoking hops...

Click to expand...

Its not that bad - at least not the first hit. I am going to try to vaporize them when I brew my IPA though, I hear its great - you just get all that aroma flavor out of them.

SixFoFalcon said:

Dammit, this thread title is misleading.

Click to expand...

Damn that's funny

I remember burning some hop bines in the fireplace, and it smelled like Boulder on April 20th in the house. I wonder what my neighbors thought about that....

I grew some hops in 5 gallon buckets for their first year. They did OK, but they really outgrew them at the end of that year.

I made cedar boxes(14 cu. in.) with removable bottoms. Cedar breaths well and never molds.
After the first year, remove the bottom and plant the "cube" in the ground.
If you go plastic, be carefull that the soil can still breath.
have fun with 'em.

Good article about growing hops in containers in the March-April issue of BYO

just make sure you use a potting medium instead of soil. the soil will actually suffocate the roots.

These bags go in the ground I assume right?