2nd Year - Re-Planting - Question

[jmhbutler]

Last year I bought and planted four hop rhizomes.

I built a structure - a 12 foot 4x4 beam concreted into the ground with four strings hanging upwards. The rhizomes were planted in a square with a length/width of about 3 or 4 feet.

Two of the rhizomes took off and grew very large while the the other two did not break ground.

I want to get plants going up in all four locations. I also realize one year is too early to harvest rhizomes.

My question is, what is the most efficient way to achieve this? Should I buy and plant two new rhizomes or should I wait for my current plants to spread, choosing four shoots to to leave and encourage.

Is there any difference in having multiple growths of an individual plant vs two separate plants?

 

[neild5]

You can also take clippings and propagate them. I have started several just from trimmings that needs to be done anyway.

 

[B-Hoppy]

If the soil where they are growing is contiguous (not broken up or divided by anything), there's a very simple way to accomplish your plan. Once one of the new shoots has shot up and grown a few inches on one of your existing plants, just point it in the direction you want a new plant and throw some soil on top of it. In a few days, the growing tip will peek out from under the soil, throw some more on it. Continue to do this until it's grown to where you want the new plant and then just train it to grow upwards.

It's very easy with hops to take an aerial stem and train it to become a below ground stem (rhizome) by simply covering it with soil while it's still relatively young. You could do as was mentioned, take a cutting and wait for it to root, but by doing what I've described, the entire length of that shoot that has grown underground will turn into a nice fat rhizome by the end of the year. Not very hard actually.

The alternative is to buy a few new rhizomes or plants and plant them where the other ones didn't make it, your choice.