Anything we should do to prepare established hops for the coming season.

[Calder]

I have third year hops coming up. If they multiply the shoots and growth area similar to that of the second year vs. the first year, they are going to be monsters. I limited them to 4 to 5 shoots last year and got about a pound of hops (dry) per plant.

...... well ..... I got ~ lb from each of the Cascade, Chinook, and Centennial, and about an ounce from the Willamette. For some reason the Willamette does't want to grow here - One more season and it comes out if it doesn't deliver.

Anything I need to do to them early in the season?

At the end of last year, I cut them down to the ground, and covered them with a couple of inches of compost. We have had a mild Winter here, and a couple of weeks ago I saw a number of new shoots breaking the ground. This last week it's been below freezing, so hopefully that should stop that.

 

[Greatlakeshops]

Have you cut the rhizomes from around the plant? Usually by third year if you have not performed any root management underground you'll have rhizomes running off in every direction which is only hampering upward bine growth. While doing this it's also a great time to be applying a granular fertilizer into the soil around the plant where this seasons newly formed root mat will have depleted the nutrients in the soil over the last 2 seasons.

 

[barrooze]

Have you cut the rhizomes from around the plant? Usually by third year if you have not performed any root management underground you'll have rhizomes running off in every direction which is only hampering upward bine growth. While doing this it's also a great time to be applying a granular fertilizer into the soil around the plant where this seasons newly formed root mat will have depleted the nutrients in the soil over the last 2 seasons.

Do you have a resource on how to perform root management? Sounds like something that lots of us need to do!

 

[B-Hoppy]

Do you have a resource on how to perform root management? Sounds like something that lots of us need to do!

Basically, you just dig a moat/trench all the way around the crown and cut back the rhizomes as close to the crown as possible. They're generally located within the top 6 inches of soil and radiate outward like the spokes do on a bicycle wheel as you can see from the pictures.

Don't worry about hurting the plant as the rhizomes are structures that store excess energy. As long as you manage the crown properly by supplying enough water and nutrition to it, it should be happy for you for a long time. This particular plant is a Canadian Redvine that I obtained from a fellow in Upstate NY back in the late 80's.

 

[Greatlakeshops]

Do you have a resource on how to perform root management? Sounds like something that lots of us need to do!

The Images B-Hoppy has supplied are great. It's a really easy technique if you only have a few plants. As long as you're getting them out of the soil and cut away from the plant without damaging the crown the method you use is completely up to you. We have more in depth tillage techniques on our webpage under "hop docs" that mostly applies to commercial hop yard techniques.

A good thing to remember is that excessive rhizome production can be an indicator of nutrients lacking in the soil. The plant spurs excessive rhizome production as a means to move itself to more adequate soil as it would in the wild. I would be cutting the rhizomes off in a 24" radius gove or take around the crown. While your getting the rhizomes out of the soil in the spring this is also a fantastic time to replenish any lost nutrients back into the soil around the crown. Never apply your fertilizers on top of the crown.

By managing the rhizome production, replenishing the nutrients, and even hilling the dirt up a bit over the crown during the season, you're keeping the soil aerated and loose so the plants root mat can form easily each year around the plant to draw up nutrients (typically 12-24" in diameter at 3-6" under the soil). Most varieties fail the thrive due to not being planted in a loose sandy soil and suffer from compaction issues.

Proper root management techniques kind of address all these issues at once and should be done each season.

 

[HausBrauerei_Harvey]

hmm my bines are going into the 4th year now, I haven't done any of this yet. Can I do this now or should I have done it in the fall?

Thanks!

 

[barrooze]

Thanks for the great responses! My plants were just planted last season so I'm going to wait until next year to do this but it's definitely good info! Thank you!!

 

[B-Hoppy]

A good point that GLH makes is the one about replentishing the nutrients that the hops remove. Normally, the rhizome digging is done in the spring while they're still dormant (fall also works), and then once everything is removed, I normally backfill the trench with some compost before mounding the soil back up. Over time this will create a really nice environment for the new roots that are produced every year to grow out into. Finally did a soil test last year and found that the yearly compost additions have bumped me into the 'EXCESS' category for many of the nutrients tested for. Time to give the compost a rest, ha!

 

[Greatlakeshops]

A good point that GLH makes is the one about replentishing the nutrients that the hops remove. Normally, the rhizome digging is done in the spring while they're still dormant (fall also works), and then once everything is removed, I normally backfill the trench with some compost before mounding the soil back up. Over time this will create a really nice environment for the new roots that are produced every year to grow out into. Finally did a soil test last year and found that the yearly compost additions have bumped me into the 'EXCESS' category for many of the nutrients tested for. Time to give the compost a rest, ha!

Yes absolutely! Hop plants can grow several inches a day. People often underestimate their need for nutrients. Also, the root mat (aka "hoover" root mat) that is formed each year around the plant is what uptakes all the nutrients. There is such a thing as too much fertilizer, this would be apparent if you have a stunted plant and upon digging up the roots there seems to be no small fibrous roots present in that root mat. They are most likely being burnt off by soil that is too "hot" with fertilizer. Also, lay off the fertilizer on fresh transplants. Let them get established before adding significant amounts of fertilizer.

Soil testing is definitely the way to go to know what your lacking so you can know what to add. Granular fertilizer or a good compost mix incorporated around the plant is a great practice. We use a granular 20-10-20 in a 12" spread around the plant. We strongly recommend never applying fertilizer directly over the crown as it can burn it severely.

 

[Calder]

Thanks for the great advice. We have an unusually warm weekend here (mid 60s), so think I will give this a go Sunday. Saturday is reserved for brewing.

I've also heard of cutting the crown down too. Is this something that is recommended?

 

[Sbe2]

Wow B-Hoppy. Those look amazing. I dug up one of my 3 yo Centennial and the deep roots were only the size of a 12 gauge wire.