First Year Woes - No Cones, Short Plant

[ApothecaryBrewing]

Hey HBT! Need some advice on my dwarf Zeus.

I live in upstate New York (Rochester-Area) and planted a Zeus rhizome I received for free in a 5 or so gallon planter. The planter seems sufficient and I punched holes in it for proper drainage. After about 1.5 months the plant was maybe 3 feet tall with only 3 shoots or so. This is when I started feeding it fertilizer (general purpose Miracle-Gro).

Over the past 1.5 months, a bunch of other shoots have started spurting out of the base and from the other more advanced shoots. I can't give a good estimation on how many there are but the tallest shoots are probably a good 10 feet or so and have hit the max height for where I have them planted. I figured they would just start filling out and that seems to be the case a little.

My main concern is that I have yet to see any spurs form. There is not even the littlest inkling of a bud on it. I have also noticed what appear to be 2 different types of leaves. One appears to be a standard 3 or 5 pointed leaf. It looks like it should. The other kind of leaf I think I am seeing is only one point, like a pointy ellipsis. Sort of like the standard leaf minus the other 2 or 4 points.

I could be going blind but I swear this is the truth. Is it a hermaphrodite? Or is it just too young and hasn't fully matured to give me any cones. The Zeus planted on my parents property is well over 25 feet tall and has cones all over it. Thinking I just have a dud in my planter. Please help!

 

[FuzzeWuzze]

I didnt need to read past your first sentence.

5 Gallon pot. That is extremely tiny. A 20 gallon pot is still "small" for hops but can work.

You need to replant it into something much much larger.
I bet in the 5 gallon pot there is a giant mess of roots trying to grow and they cant...so your plant cant grow.

Its likely too late to bother this season, someone else will have to step in to mention when you should do it.

Im not sure if you should replant at the end of this season, or wait until the beginning of next.

 

[Jon73]

Ditto that. Extremely expansive root system. The roots in my raised bed are easily 3 feet long and very shallow.

 

[johngaltsmotor]

The 1st year is mostly spent building roots. Some people get a useable harvest from 1st year plants, others don't get a single cone. Be patient.

If you have the space you should transfer them to a permanent bed. I'm not sure when the best time would be. If it were me I would likely move them now so they have some growing season left to repair any damage in the move. Just be sure your hole is as big as your current bucket. Sacrifice the bucket and cut the bottom off so you can slide the entire ball of roots and soil out in one piece (so you minimize damage to the roots). Keep as much foliage as you can so they harvest sunlight to heal themselves before the winter.

 

[NickinWI]

For what it's worth I've got Zeus and Nuggets planted in great soil and they get plenty of sunlight. My Nuggets went completely crazy and are producing loads of cones, my Zeus is maybe only 5-6 feet tall now and isn't nearly as strong or as vigorous as the Nuggets. Might just take longer to establish, or is doesn't like my climate?

Best of luck! Put 'em in the dirt, and mix in some compost and coconut pith!

 

[stpug]

First year bines are very unpredictable. If you kept them alive and only 1-2 feet long then you did okay; if you got any cones then you did good; if those cones are even 'decent' quality then you got ridiculously lucky.

Root systems can get expansive, as mentioned.

Miracle-gro later in the season will just ensure that you get super full and green leaves, but will retard the hop cone production and quality. You want to use slow release, low potency fertilizers (i.e. compost, composted manure, fish emulsion, etc).

Don't worry about it this year. Let them do what they do and plan on getting a good amount next year.

 

[Gridlocked]

I would put money on the fact that the plant would respond much differently if it were in the ground rather than a pot. I have first-hand experience and the potted plants (relative to those in the ground) were EXTREMELY slow growing.

First season growth in a pot:

the same first-season's growth "in the ground" - right side of pic on the 14' trellis

 

[ApothecaryBrewing]

Thanks! If I can get it in the ground I will. Otherwise I will build some big ass planter for it.