Hop cutting propogation experiment

So I'm attempting to grow some cuttings from my second-year cascade and EKG plants. Here's a pic of them, they are already way bigger than they were at the end of last summer and it's not even June yet:



I made this misting system from a small, $20 fountain pump, an outlet timer, a piece of 3/8 vinyl tubing, and a wand for a plant sprayer.



The timer unfortunately has only 7 possible settings, so I programmed it to go on once every 3 hours for two minutes. I know that for the first week of misting you want it to be closer to five seconds every 15 minutes, but I really can't do anything about that. I will also spray the cuttings with a bottle sprayer whenever I'm around.

I took 6 cuttings of cascade. Some were lateral shoots, some were coming out of the ground. I cut them right after the first set of leaves with a razor blade at a 45 degree angle. I immediately put them in a glass of water after cutting. I took them inside and dipped each one in a bottle of rooting hormone/sealant, and placed them in oasis cubes. After two weeks I will put them in soil and take them to the greenhouse where I work, so they can grow in a protected environment for a bit.

In case this doesn't work, my friend who owns a greenhouse said I could put some cuttings in his misting system when he starts some clones in two weeks.

I'll post the results when I have them.

The best way to grow cuttings at home is to enclose the plant in a clear plastic tent. Use a milk jug, 2 liter bottle, plastic bag or whatever you can find. Place the tent over the plant loosely with enough room so that the plant isn't touching it and allow some airflow so that it's not sealed tight. A 2 liter bottle with the top cut out and inverted over a pot works great. The humidity from that is all you need. Vermiculite and perlite are great to root in. So is rockwool. Water daily.

badbrew said:

The best way to grow cuttings at home is to enclose the plant in a clear plastic tent.

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This is my first time doing this, but from what I've read that might work but it's not the best way. From what I understand, algae, mildew and other things can grow if there isn't air circulation. That's the point of a misting system. I know that it's a lot for just a few plants, but this is really just a test. If this works I'll attach the wand to an oscillating fan and use this on 20+ cuttings. I have an entire yard I'd like to fill with hops before the summer is over.

I had to do some more pruning today as another bunch of rogue runners had appeared in my hop beds. They had tunneled under the mulch to escape the fencing around the raised beds, and some runners were over 3 feet long. When I pulled them up through the mulch to cut them close to the crowns, I found they were loaded with rootlets. I felt a little guilty about tossing them they clearly were all ready to turn into actual plants.

Anyway, it seems to me the easiest way to propagate hops - if you don't have a bunch of rogues like these - would be to just bury some low side-arms or late emergers in some mulch for a couple of weeks. I bet they'd sprout rootlets in short order...

Cheers!

day_trippr said:

I had to do some more pruning today as another bunch of rogue runners had appeared in my hop beds. They had tunneled under the mulch to escape the fencing around the raised beds, and some runners were over 3 feet long. When I pulled them up through the mulch to cut them close to the crowns, I found they were loaded with rootlets. I felt a little guilty about tossing them they clearly were all ready to turn into actual plants.

Anyway, it seems to me the easiest way to propagate hops - if you don't have a bunch of rogues like these - would be to just bury some low side-arms or late emergers in some mulch for a couple of weeks. I bet they'd sprout rootlets in short order...

Cheers!

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I pulled some of those runners on my Mt Hoods, and tossed them in a nearby bucket of soil. Covered them with about an inch of soil. They survived, 3 out of 3, and are thriving, seeking something to climb. From the looks of my hops yard I could repeat this many times over. I don't have room for them, so I suspect my family and friends will be on the lookout for mysterious new plants!

Well, less than a week later and they are growing small roots. I went ahead and started thirteen more, including four EKG. I found that using a little bit of a plastic bottle as a collar helped keep in some of the humidity but still allowed for air circulation. I took the collar off the first batch since they don't seem to need as much water now, and are actually growing:




I'm pretty excited because now I can fill my entire yard with hops and not spend any more money/wait a year for rhizomes.

I'm pretty excited because now I can fill my entire yard with hops and not spend any more money/wait a year for rhizomes.

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Most of us have trouble confining the plants after a couple years. I had Cascade shoots 6-7 feet from the main plant the third year.

david_42 said:

Most of us have trouble confining the plants after a couple years. I had Cascade shoots 6-7 feet from the main plant the third year.

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I can't wait that long. I'm opening a nano in six months.

Just an update, I've been using this method to successfully clone plants and have gotten it down to about a 1 in 3 success rate. My system mists for 2 hours, and turns off for two hours. If I had a real cloning machine I think it would be a nearly 100 percent success rate, but those are over a hundred bucks. If you keep the cuttings moist for long enough, they will root eventually. I also keep them under a grow light.

I talked to the folks at Great Lakes Hops and they said this is the preferred method of propagation used in the industry.