This years rhizomes... Nikobrew

[allentwnguy]

Did anyone else order rhizomes from Nikobrew this year? Mine came in several days ago (2 Cascade, 2 Centennial, 2 Chinook and 2 CTZ.) They weren't in the best of condition, especially the 2 CTZ rhizomes of which one rhizome seems to be just a rotted stick. The new shoots that were already forming were beginning to rot, on the CTZ they were rotted and smelled bad. Has anyone planted in this condition and had good results? I contacted Niko right away and haven't heard anything yet. Anyone I want to get hops in the ground this year?

 

[BerlinsvilleBrewing]

I received and planted mine the other day, they all appeared to be fine.

 

[allentwnguy]

I contacted Nikobrew immediately last week when the package arrived. I'm assuming that they are in full shipping mode and that is why they haven't gotten back to me. But I think they should have gotten back to me within a day or two. That is customer service. There is only one way to contact Nikobrew and that is through their contact link. There is no way to have a record of the contact, send pictures or to know if they received the correspondence or not. Right now I'm not happy with Nikobrew and it does make me hesitate to order anything else from them.

Pics are of the CTZ, the rhizomes as received, one of the dried root with cross section I cut off end and the brownish new growth beginning to rot, there was some of this brownish "wilting' on 2 of the other rhizomes but there was no dryness to them and I feel they will grow with no problem.

 

[B-Hoppy]

When I leave a comment on someone's website I usually save it for later reference. I guess just keep trying to get in touch.

It's hard to tell from the pictures but it looks like the buds in the middle of the rhizome in the middle picture look to be in pretty good shape. The 'rotten' part between the new shoots in the bottom picture is where the vine died back last fall. I normally lop off those end buds with the remnants of the old shoot because of situations like yours, folks don't like to see mold/decay on their cuttings.

I'd say plant them and see what happens.

 

[allentwnguy]

They all went into the ground a few days ago. I don't have much hope for the middle picture because the whole rhizome was dry like the piece I cut off. I didn't want to butcher it too much just in case I sent it back. But I said the hell with it I'll eat the money, plant it and hope for the best.

 

[allentwnguy]

Today Jenn from Nikobrew contacted me and I forwarded pics to her. She was very pleasant and apologetic. Everything will be worked out satisfactorily.

 

[DodgeeDoo]

I ordered 2 Centinnials and 2 Casades from Niko. The 2 Centinnials looked healthy and the 2 Cascades looked like gabage. Sure enough, I planted all 4 and the 2 Centinnials are growing and the 2 Cascade are no go. Bummer. I ordered 2 of each variety for safety but I guess I should have ordered 1 of each type from two different companies.

 

[allentwnguy]

Received an e-mail from Jenn and she sent out replacement rhizomes after looking at the pictures I sent. I'm keeping her posted on the CTZ that I planted just for reference. Personally I don't the one will grow. I'm glad Niko stood behind their products.

 

[sandyeggoxj]

Niko is usually pretty good about their products and customer service. You can email the same email address that their promo emails come in on or the order update email address. Maybe for the future sometimes.

 

[DodgeeDoo]

I think I spoke too soon, as I checked today and there were little tiny shoots coming from the buried rhizomes. Hopefully they take off. The Centennials are kicking ass though. I hope the cascades catch up.

 

[allentwnguy]

Don't expect too much the first year. I've grown them before and it's my understanding that they put most of the first year effort in growing a root system then take off the second year.

 

[HumulusHead]

I'm glad to hear that their customer service was able to help!


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[allentwnguy]

Final word...s Their customer service was excellent. I was unhappy. I'm now ecstatic. The replacement rhizomes arrived yesterday. There was still a bit of light so I put them straight into the ground so, sorry no pictures. The replacements looked as niceas the other varieties in the original shipment. They looked like they were just pulled from the ground. While the first ones were the diameter of a pencil the new ones are the size of a roll of quarters and look alive. Nice! Thanks to Jenn at Niko.

 

[FourSeasonAngler]

hmmm... I too ordered Niko rhizomes and planted immediately after they arrived. So far none of them have showed signs of life. Now I'm wishing I had taken pictures of them when they arrived.

They were very wet and spongy, and the few that did have nodes or beginnings of shoots that were slimy and fell of/smeared into goo upon handling from bag to dirt.

How long should I wait to see if they will come to life?

 

[allentwnguy]

They do sound similar to the CTZ that I got. But the other three pairs were fine and actually two started pushing leaves today after only one week in the ground. I believe the rhizomes are fairly resilient as long as the root is moist and pliable. My concern was the one dried up one I got. I felt it didn't have any life in it. If they had shoots they will probably push more.

 

[allentwnguy]

Well the hops from Nikobrew are just nuts. After reading don't expect much the first year these have gone bonkers. The Centennial is over 22' tall and there may be flowers the first year, I'm hoping. The Chinook while a slow starter is has almost caught up to the Centennial. The Cascade is the slow one it is barely 5' tall. The original problem was the Columbus (CTZ). The first shipment never produced anything but the replacement is up to the others in size and fighting with my trumpet vine. There wasn't a good spot to put the Columbus and have a decent area to climb. I will be stringing a cable next year for it. I hadn't expected much and had set up some tomato cages for them to climb on the first year with expectations for big growth next year. WOW, is all I can say.

Here is a picture of the Centennial (right) and the Chinook (left). In order to show height I needed to cut out the Cascade In the next spot to the left. The Centennial is over the height of the gutter.