First time hop growing with cuttings.

[Temp81]

Last year about mid summer a friend of mine gave me 3 cuttings from his cascade plant. When he gave them to me they were already rooted. I put them in 5 gallon Lowe's buckets for the rest of the year. This year 2 of the three survived and one appears to be doing quite well. The bines are still pretty thin though. So, my question is do I leave them in the bucket one more year or get them in the ground and get my trellis built? My concern is that an actual rhizome has not yet developed.

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[abellote]

I also got mine from cuttings and when they were about the size of yours I got them to the groud. One of them is doing great and has grown to a considerable size. The other one had some problems with it leaves (almost all of the fell off) but it started gorwing again and it's doing OK now. I don't know what will be of them once winter starts (I live in Brazil), guess I'll have to wait and see.

Speaking of cuttings, does anyone know what is the best way to get a new plant out of a cutting?

Thanks,

 

[TeeJo]

You can plant them into the ground right away, or you can leave them in the bucket.

Either way, you are dealing with a first year plant that does not have a strong root system developed yeyt, so do not expect a bunch of hops. You will likely get some though.

I think you are confused too, as to what is going on.

What you want right now is a root system. Rhizomes are the reproductive offshoots that the Hop uses to spread, and they are more like to show after the root system is up and running.
Think in terms of strawberry plants, or cooch grass, if you ever had to dig it out of anywhere. The horizontal runners of a strawberry and the rhizomes of the cooch grass are pretty much the same purpose as the rhizomes of the hops.

Since most guys start with rhizomes that someone else took off their plants, the term gets used a lot. But the root system is what you need right now.

As to getting a new plant out of cutting, easy. Cut a cutting, root it (water works), plant it. Bingo! Some rooting powder can help, but it does not need to be used.

TeeJo

 

[TeeJo]

http://piedmonthops.com/how-to/root-your-own-cuttings

 

[rekoob]

I did the same thing with a bunch of clippings last year but I filled a case of beer bottles and just put the clippings in one per bottle. A few weeks later they all had nice roots growing so I planted them in pots.

20 more hop plants growing strong today.

I haven't had much luck with them in the ground (I have planted another one each year for the past five or six years, the oldest ones in large pots). Every year I put some in the ground and for some reason they take off great but end up dying off later in the year.

I just got back into town and will be transplanting some into the ground soon, this time I will be making the hole a foot or two and mixing in some potting soil to try and give them a better chance to make it.

Good luck, let us know what you end up doing and how it's working out.

 

[Temp81]

Thanks for the replies. Specifically teejo, thanks for clarifying some things. I wasn't expecting much if any harvest. I think I am leaning toward just leaving them in buckets. Maybe bring them indoors for an extra couple weeks when it starts getting to freezing temps, Just to extend development time a little. Then get them planted after they die off. Virginia doesn't get too cold for too long so I think they should survive winter okay, they did in the buckets anyway. For rekoob, you sound pretty experienced at nursing these cuttings up to healthy plants. I wonder if maybe you have some drainage issues after you plant them in the ground. I've read hops don't like too wet of soil.