10 year old hop vine.....dug it up!

[jgln]

So we started a hop vine from seed about 10 years ago and it grew into a huge complex of roots that grew 15+ feet each year. Problem was my wife bought the seed and didn't remember to make note of what kind because she didn't think it mattered. It was hard to pick due to the height, I made beer once from it, so much easier to buy hops.

Anyway, it was interesting but we had a tornado come by and knocked it over so we decided to cut it down and I dug up the roots. They were huge and filled a trash can to the top and there is still plenty in the ground I plan to spray and mow over until it is gone. The hole for the main part of the plant was about 3' round and a foot deep pretty much all root.

Can't believe how expensive a small piece of root it to buy when they grow like weeds. It became invasive and grows 10' or more away from where I tried to keep it contained.

I'd post pictures if I knew how.

 

[Apimyces]

Your wife bought seeds? Or a rhizome/plant?

Price is supply/demand. Rhizomes aren't typically harvested year-round, so there's a time constraint on making them. Cutting can be made any time, but demand for them outside of Spring (and, to a lesser extent, Fall) is pretty low.

Demand for plants at retail price is not very big, which in turn means not a lot of businesses bother, thus lack of competition dictates the price, to an extent. But over here, at most suppliers hops retail at about 10$CAD, which honestly isn't that bad. I can buy raspberries bulk at 1-2$CAD, but nurseries sell them more often at 20-30$CAD. Yet raspberries multiply profusely. So, in comparison, hops retail cheap. Besides, you are paying for the installations, the labor, the soil, the pots, the marketing, etc.

Growing something that grows like a weed is easy. Making profits from it is often less so.

As for adding pictures, in the bottom right corner there's a button called "upload a file".

 

[jgln]

She bought seeds and planted them so the rhizomes I have are pretty much worthless. I never grew any other vines before so I can't compare quality.

 

[bracconiere]

lol, i hope you're stuck with it forever! to have problems like those would make me happy! "my god, my hops vines are invasive!" "and 15' tall!"

 

[jgln]

lol, i hope you're stuck with it forever! to have problems like those would make me happy! "my god, my hops vines are invasive!" "and 15' tall!"

 

[jgln]

lol, i hope you're stuck with it forever! to have problems like those would make me happy! "my god, my hops vines are invasive!" "and 15' tall!"

If not for being knocked over and having to rebuild the trellis I would have kept but those roots keep expanding, that I don't like.

 

[WestMichBrewer]

lol, i hope you're stuck with it forever! to have problems like those would make me happy! "my god, my hops vines are invasive!" "and 15' tall!"

"So we started a hop vine from seed about 10 years ago and it grew into a huge complex of roots that grew 15+ feet each year."

I read this as the complex of roots grew 15+ feet each year!

 

[jgln]

"So we started a hop vine from seed about 10 years ago and it grew into a huge complex of roots that grew 15+ feet each year."

I read this as the complex of roots grew 15+ feet each year!

Right, after I wrote that and posted I noticed that too. Poor wording on my part. I am guessing you figured out that every year it grows 15+ feet tall.