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Finally got around to moving the nearly 300 baby hops outside. Judging by their roots, they were ready. Due to limited room, this year the babies were planted nearly on top of each other. They are going to have fight to make it into the next round...

Pic?

Hop yards can be built on steep hills. Last year, I set up 4 x 40' rows on the only land I had available - a steep 25-30 degree slope with good sun. The hops are thriving, but it is a lot of extra work. With the incline, it is nearly impossible to get equipment to the location. Hauling compost...

They're only a few weeks old, but the 2016 seedlings are about to be kicked outside (under a hoop house). Otherwise, I'll soon have a twisted mess on my hands. Looking at my germination numbers, I think they're are 2 factors that made a big difference: 1) Most of the seed was collected in...

Over 370 hops have sprouted so far. The first ones up are getting quite big and to the point where they will need a stick to climb. I have found that this point means that the growth will soon rapidly accelerate. I am also continued to be impressed by how quickly the seedlings develop...

The first thing you need to determine if these are still the same farmed variety - or - if they have been naturalized and are now propagating by seed. Later in the season you can look for for males, or seeded cones. The point being: if they are growing form seed, you no longer have the same...

I'm sure they do fine, but that is actually the opposite of what you want to do. The first, large bines that sprout are the bulls. In the wild (where there is nobody trimming) these would shoot up and create a natural trellis for the smaller bines to climb. There are two problem with bulls...

Time to start updates for 2016: The three hop yards are full with 2nd, and 3rd year selections. With this in mind, I planned to focus germination on a limited set of seeds to fill in any open spots. This includes: NHB002 (EV02) x Cascade NHB002 (EV02) x Galena NHB005 (MxCas01) x Nugget NHB017...

Good plan. I prefer vermiculite/perlite for its ability to retain a good moisture level without clumping, but soiless "soil" should work too. Wow, you like you beer cold! I keep mine at 42F (5.5C). Keep us updated.

I'm curious to know why they didn't make it. How did they compare to the sprouted pics I posted?

It's crazy that everybody's seeds are popping at the same time - and in the fridge no less! In previous years, it took weeks to coax a 10-20% germination rate. This year, I'm already approaching 80%. The only problem is, with nearly 300 healthy seedlings, I am running out of room!

To clarify, by "unique" I don't mean "completely random". There do tend to be some trends that are based on the parentage. This is one of the reasons why I continue to be excited about crossing using known genetics. Most of the Chinook offspring, for instance, do seem to have the signature...

Yes. I tried for several years and had success inducing pollen in female plants using stress and colloidal silver. However, no viable seeds were produced from the pollen. The one that finally worked was a naturally stressed Magnum - though, I have no doubt that colloidal silver could produce...

Very cool. Thanks for the link.

When I've used it in the past - on orchids - it was always a seed treatment prior to germination. The thought being that you are starting with a single cell. If the treatment works (and it survives), all the following cells in the plant will have a consistent number of chromosomes. I suspect...

There are patents on the induction of sex expression in hops? I better watch my back ;) http://gabriel.nagmay.com/2014/02/hop-breeding/ My plan for this year was actually to work on developing some polyploid breeding stock - but everything sprouted before I could get the chance to do a...

Here in Oregon, spring has arrived. Normally, I hack back the shoots until April. Not sure what the best course of action is for this year.

There are 5 various, non-related crosses. Some are 2nd generation from my plants and others are open pollinated samples nice people have sent to me. Some of the seed was 2-3 years old. Some was just harvested. Wish I could pinpoint the exact cause. These are the best germination rates...

They were placed in damp vermiculite, bagged, and thrown in a darkened crisper drawer at the bottom of the fridge last October. This is the same process I have used for the past few years - with 2 exceptions: 1) I previously used perlite rather than vermiculite. I thought the white roots might...

Remember how I said I was going to wait until March? Turns out the hop seeds had other ideas. Over 100 seeds decided to sprout inside the fridge.