Any advice on overwintering rhizomes?

[Joe Camel]

Hey all,

I've recently moved and before I did I dug up my hop rootstock, some big, nasty looking cascade rhizome and tap roots. I put these in a rubbermaid with plenty of dirt and made the trip East. So now it's winter and they're still in the rubbermaid, so do I...

1 dig a hole in the frozen ground and plant them
2 leave them outside in the container and let them overwinter close to what would happen in the ground, ie freeze thaw
3 move them into my heated garage and overwinter at around 15-20C
4 move them into a fridge for the winter

or any combination of the above?

I know these guys are pretty tough to kill, but is one method guaranteed to do it and another one not?

Thanks in advance,

Joe

 

[wilserbrewer]

Tough to say? I think you want to avoid as much temp swing as possible. As in freeze thaw...freeze thaw. If you leave em in the containers, perhaps cover them in mulch or some blankets.

 

[david_42]

I'd say leave the tub outside in a shady spot to minimize temperature swings.

 

[Joe Camel]

Thanks guys, I think I'll move them into a shady spot and will try to keep them frozen for now