Is it possible to keep cut hop plants in a "vase" of water for a week?

[ThirstyQuaker]

I'm getting married at the end of the summer and was thinking it would be cool to use my hop vines to decorate the bar area. In order to do this, I'd need to cut them down, pick the hops, and then keep the vines fresh for a few days. Would it be possible to keep them in a bucket of water for like, 5 days and have them still looking fresh? Has anyone ever tried something like this?

 

[B-Hoppy]

Don't know about the vase idea, but I ran into this guy at the CBC in Boston in '93-'94, he was still playing with this idea of preserving the entire vine, really cool. http://www.google.com/patents/US5985063

 

[TeeJo]

Sounds to me like you need to experiment.

My guess is that the handling from picking is going to do enough damage to make the vines as a remnant, a non-starter.

I would try growing out some bines and try them in water to see how much, and for how long, will work.

Other than that, another option would be to start some cuttings late in the season, and let them grow out and use them live in their pots. Or cut them and use them fresh.

A week in advance seems really optimistic, to me.

TeeJo

 

[day_trippr]

I agree with the experimentation thing, and being the end of September, there's plenty of time for experimentation. Otoh, being the end of September, depending on the strain the hops may have passed their best appearance and have started browning.

Just going to have to go with whatever happens...

Cheers!

 

[ThirstyQuaker]

Sounds to me like you need to experiment.

My guess is that the handling from picking is going to do enough damage to make the vines as a remnant, a non-starter.

I would try growing out some bines and try them in water to see how much, and for how long, will work.

Other than that, another option would be to start some cuttings late in the season, and let them grow out and use them live in their pots. Or cut them and use them fresh.

A week in advance seems really optimistic, to me.

TeeJo

An experiment make sense. I'll take a couple of the bines growing now and train them out a yard or so and then see how they hold up in full sun and partial sun with a jug of water.

I'll post the results once done.

 

[ThirstyQuaker]

Don't know about the vase idea, but I ran into this guy at the CBC in Boston in '93-'94, he was still playing with this idea of preserving the entire vine, really cool. http://www.google.com/patents/US5985063

That's pretty bananas. I guess it would work the same way as preserving any other plant, except that hops are a bit bigger and more cumbersome. Judging from the fact that his patent lapsed I'm guessing it didn't work out though.

 

[tjpfeister]

Why not just harvest day of? Did that at mine, two years ago. Gave a few trusted family members some tree pruners, blue tarp, and instructions. They brought them to the girls setting up who clipped the portions that they wanted.

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[tjpfeister]

I reread your original post and realized that you intend to harvest the cones ahead of time, for the purpose of brewing. This throws a wrench into the "harvest day of" plan.

 

[ThirstyQuaker]

Hey I figured I'd update this thread with the experiment results. I took a couple sections of about 5 feet of hop vine and put one in a pitcher of water in direct sun outdoors, another in the shade outdoors, and a third indoors with some partial sun.

All three of them, were crispy and dead within a day and a half.

So unfortunately, I think I'll say that there's no way to keep hop vines fresh in water for any reasonable period of time. I did talk to a hop farmer that says he will put vines in a 30% glycerine, 70% water mixture to dry them out. They dry out but aren't as shattery.

I'm either going to just dry mine out on the vine and use them as decorations and harvest the hops off the next day, or ask a friend to cut them down and drive them to the wedding, or ask a local hop farm if they are planning to harvest right around then.