Disappointed in my rhizomes

[sleev-les]

Ok, so I bought 1 columbus and 3 cascade rhizomes from Northern Brewer back in April along with some of the fertilizer they offered. I planted them in 14" wide pots (1 each to be clear). I treated them all the same as far as watering, used a 3/4 fill of potting soil, 1/4 of a cactus soil mix so I had enough flow to not oversoak the rhizomes. About 3 weeks in, 2 started growing above the soil line. The other 2 never grew. I still had time so ordered 2 chinook beginning of June. Planted them the second I got them by replacing the 2 that never took. Now those 2 chinook never grew and the rhizomes are just dead. The 2 other cascade are over 6 feet tall and doing great. Is there somthing better to try next year to get new ones to take? I keep wondering if the rhizomes are just crap and should look at ordering somewhere else. Maybe use a different soil type? I don't know where to go as this is my first go at this. I am disappointed that 4 out of 6 never grew. Any ideas?

 

[Tobor_8thMan]

Need plenty of sun. Are they all getting?

 

[sleev-les]

Need plenty of sun. Are they all getting?

Oh yea. My house is direct sunlight of 90% of the day in the area I put them.

 

[Steve-Ooo]

I planted 3 rhizomes last year and 1 grew and came back this year, so I have about the same success rate.

 

[AJinJacksonville]

Not to take sides on retailers or to poo-poo any...but I bought three rhizomes this season directly from a hops company in WA...and (so far) am three for three. All three started breaking the surface within two weeks, and all three are now forming cones. My buddy, who lives a few miles south, bought from a big retailer and had the same luck as you.

I did the math, and it was cheaper to buy rhizomes directly from the grower versus third-party. Maybe NB and others get theirs sent direct as well and I just don't know it...but if they go from the grower, to the retailer, and then to the purchaser, there's obviously more room for problems. Just my two cents.

 

[B-Hoppy]

Skip the middleman and buy direct from someone who knows about hops and actually digs them. My friend Dave at Freshops has been digging them since the 80's, also Ralph at RNV Enterprise up in Yakima is a good dude.

 

[sleev-les]

Not to take sides on retailers or to poo-poo any...but I bought three rhizomes this season directly from a hops company in WA...and (so far) am three for three. All three started breaking the surface within two weeks, and all three are now forming cones. My buddy, who lives a few miles south, bought from a big retailer and had the same luck as you.

I did the math, and it was cheaper to buy rhizomes directly from the grower versus third-party. Maybe NB and others get theirs sent direct as well and I just don't know it...but if they go from the grower, to the retailer, and then to the purchaser, there's obviously more room for problems. Just my two cents.

NB does state they come directly from the grower. I saw another thread on here that sell them as the smaller plant and may try that route as well

 

[Tobor_8thMan]

Also the rhizomes are planted horizontal. I do know some have run into problems as they planted the rhizomes vertical.

Perhaps the following thread is of interest?
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/nugget-hops-are-basically-indestructible.676466/

 

[sleev-les]

Also the rhizomes are planted horizontal. I do know some have run into problems as they planted the rhizomes vertical.

Perhaps the following thread is of interest?
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/nugget-hops-are-basically-indestructible.676466/

I planted vertically. That's what the pamphlet said that came with them and didn't know any better.

 

[B-Hoppy]

Vertically is how they're traditionally planted but when the hop growing craze hit I noticed lots of folks were apparently having a hard time determining which way the buds were facing so the lowest common denominator was to plant them horizontally. Some rhizomes do have really small buds which might make it hard for some to determine which way they are facing so they may have gotten planted upside down? Given time, an upside down rhizome will end up breaking ground but it may be a while. Unfortunately, a newbie who planted a few the right way and one upside down will most likely continue to water the odd one and actually end up drowning it before it sprouts. The hardest part when growing things is waiting, and lots of people feel they "have to do something" to help speed things up so the easiest thing is to give it another drink.

 

[FullThrottle64]

I got 27 rhizomes of Crystal earlier this year, and planted late (end of May). 26 have made it with varying levels of growth, one had a couple of shoots break ground but never really took off; it finally died.

None are doing as well as the 21 hallertau cuttings I put in about a week earlier, but most have enough growth that the root structure is likely to make it through the winter.

 

[electricsailor]

I can recommend Great Lakes Hops. Mine are doing well. I did not have any success harvesting a few bits of roots and replanting them. I did have success with replanting the bines I trimmed off the main plants, However, only the ones I used rotenone (sp?) on.

 

[willjamr]

Could have been worse. Couple of years ago I bought 5 rhizomes, 4 were delivered and 3 started growing like gangbusters. I was reading about how tasty the young hop bines were and sure enough when I checked on them the next day there was just bare ground where they had been growing.


:-(

 

[sleev-les]

Could have been worse. Couple of years ago I bought 5 rhizomes, 4 were delivered and 3 started growing like gangbusters. I was reading about how tasty the young hop bines were and sure enough when I checked on them the next day there was just bare ground where they had been growing.


:-(

Oh wow. Fortunately I don't have any wild animals in my yard due to it being fenced in. My wife and I used pallets to elevate our pots so the dogs can't access. In the fall we are going to build a full raised garden that I'll build a simple netting around to still keep the dogs out. They don't even pay attention to the hops. They love the wifes strawberries though haha.

 

[Tobor_8thMan]

Whatever is eating probably is not rabbits. We have d*mn rabbits (wild hares) in our area. These things are very destructive. They left the hop plants alone.

 

[Beerisgud]

In my experience, It’s easier to over-water, over-fertilize, or let them roast in the sun in pots. The ground can be somewhat forgiving and protective. Also hops have massive root systems giving lesser growth potential in pots and requiring root pruning. I also believe that the rhizome health is important. B-hoppy had me worried, asking if I was provided information from the seller that my rhizomes were virus indexed. Of course I made a Covid joke but This made me think I need to order more back-ups from a more well-known company. Despite that, The plump, live, large budded/shoot rhizomes I received early March from a small organic grower in Cali selling thru amazon marketplace, showed great vigor this year. The later the time of Harvest/shipment also takes a toll on the rhizomes going from farm to storage to shipping then to storage then shipping to us. It’s a hit or miss. The skinny, slimy, sad looking sticks I received late May when temps were higher, from the middleman company, were not showing the same with 2 of 4 not making it. The plant starts might be a good route for potters imo because you can see what the plant needs easier.

 

[sleev-les]

In my experience, It’s easier to over-water, over-fertilize, or let them roast in the sun in pots. The ground can be somewhat forgiving and protective. Also hops have massive root systems giving lesser growth potential in pots and requiring root pruning. I also believe that the rhizome health is important. B-hoppy had me worried, asking if I was provided information from the seller that my rhizomes were virus indexed. Of course I made a Covid joke but This made me think I need to order more back-ups from a more well-known company. Despite that, The plump, live, large budded/shoot rhizomes I received early March from a small organic grower in Cali selling thru amazon marketplace, showed great vigor this year. The later the time of Harvest/shipment also takes a toll on the rhizomes going from farm to storage to shipping then to storage then shipping to us. It’s a hit or miss. The skinny, slimy, sad looking sticks I received late May when temps were higher, from the middleman company, were not showing the same with 2 of 4 not making it. The plant starts might be a good route for potters imo because you can see what the plant needs easier.

For mine, the pots are only getting me through this season until we actually had the time to build out the raised garden. I had to repair some of my fence so did that in the spring and next project is the garden. I'll have better growth area then.

 

[Kaz15]

Glad that you at least have 2 plants doing well. Cascade is awesome. They grow like weeds.

I would also suggest buying a rooted plant from Great Lakes Hops. At a minimum, at least you will have visible evidence if the plant dies. You won’t be left wondering for weeks. I’m 3 for 3 with last year’s plants from GLH. I bought a multihead this summer and planted it 3 weeks ago. It’s still alive, but TBD if it takes hold and survives.

This spring I gave a friend a few Cascade rhizomes from my plant. One of them took. Sadly a month later hail decimated it and it never recovered. I feel bad for my friend because losing a year’s growing season is a big deal.

In my experience, if you can get past year one and into year two, things get A LOT easier.

 

[tellyho]

+1 for buy direct. Bought mine 7 years ago from the hop supplier. Had no trouble.

 

[Abejazon]

I ordered 6 rhizomes (2 Cascade, 2 Comet, 2 Tahoma) from BuyHopRhizomes and 6 (2 Centennial, 2 Hallertauer, 2 Sorachi Ace) from FreshHops. Despite the FreshHops order getting hung up in the mail a few extra days and having a soggy feel, all 12 of my rhizomes sprouted and took off. I used a mix of 5/10/15 gallon fabric pots and potting soil with some mycorrhizal inoculant.

But unfortunately...only the 2 Comet and 2 Tahoma have survived my care.

As Beerisgud said above...I did the most damage by not setting them up on a regular watering, not fertilizing correctly, and overreacting to a few bugs. I’ve learned so much this season by making mistakes and then looking here at HomeBrewTalk to figure out what I was doing wrong.

Next year though, I’m going with fewer hops plants in larger fabric pots. I’m thinking 6-8 plants in 20-25 gallon, maybe 50. I’ll already have that drip system in place from the start, use a ph meter when fertilizing, and have beneficial/sacrificial plants established early. Next year, I hope to still have the 2 Comet and 2 Tahoma and will order hops plants from GreatLakeHops. I’m excited to try their Neomexicanus multi-head and Alpharoma and the reviews for GLH have been very positive.

I’m a DIPA (West Coast Style) type by birth, but can branch out to most IPA styles...any suggestions on hop varieties or hop combinations for tasty homegrown/home brewed IPA?

Even though I ended up killing most of my rhizomes, I feel confident that I could successfully grow from rhizome again...I just don’t have the space. If all 12 hops plants had actually made it and needed to be strung...my lady might not let me keep doing this!

 

[Kaz15]

That’s probably true! . Having 5 plants myself already seems crazy.

 

[Kaz15]

This is my 6th year Cascade. It might not look like much, but that’s probably over 2 lbs worth of hops after drying. Multiple that by 5 plants once they are mature... That’s a lot of IPA. Lol

 

[sleev-les]

Next year I will look at buying from some of the above spots like Fresh Hops. One of my cascades is struggling now. Leaves looking burnt and others turning yellow and thinning out. I use the fertilizer every 2 to 3 weeks and in this heat water every to every other day

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

Rhizomes are great for suppliers, but not always great for customers as you have learned. Some companies sell plants, check out Shop for Hops Plants Now

 

[Tobor_8thMan]

Photos of mine on taken on Saturday, August 15, 2020

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/nugget-hops-are-basically-indestructible.676466/post-8948760