Growing hops from seed

[DarkCoder]

DarkCoder, do you currently have any seeds that germinated or are growing from the seed lots you purchased?

Yes, but I am only on my first year of the experiment. I bought seeds from France (only 6 seeds - no sprouting at all, more than 1 month of cold stratification), UK (I received something like 160 seed, put around 50 for cold stratification during 1 month...got only 4 that sprouted...but seems like those plants are fighting to stay alive...slow grow) and seeds from the US (put 10 seeds for cold stratification during 1 month, got 3 that sprouted, those plants are growing ok and seems healthy). All those 3 sources of seeds are from unknown lineage of hops.

I recently bought some whole leaf Cascade, found a lot of seeds in it. I have put them in the fridge last week for cold stratification and I already have 3 seeds that sprouted.

 

[brewerelated]

You are right in that its not critical for one to know the lineage. You definitely can just breed hops without having a known male plant.

The reason I want to know is so that I can try my best to document the process as well possible and to have as much information as possible. I personally like to study the correlation between the inputs and the outputs. Knowing the lineage of the father gives you an idea of what could be possible.

Knowing the male could give you a better chance of selecting for a particular characteristic such as adaptability to a particular region. I understand that in genetics you can't control everything. I am just trying to stack the odds in my favor as much as possible.

My personal goal is to create a variety that is well suited to the Southwest part of the United States. I could start with a known female from the Southwest like Neo1 or Amalia and then crossbreed them with an unknown males, but It would be nice to know at least the geographic origin of the male.

I think I am gonna buy some whole leaf hops and try to grow seeds from there. Now its a matter of trying to find a vendor that has a higher tendency of selling whole hops with seeds.

Why bother about the lineage

 

[Greatlakeshops]

Did that little girl I sent up a few years ago ever become anything? We called her 'Lé Hood'. I know the male didn't make it but was curious about her. Hop On~

Yes sir shes still growing here. It didn't grow very well when compared to many other varieties right next to it.

The good news is that we have successfully crossed LeHood with some of the male plants we have on site and they have produced viable seeds. The seedlings actually just got up sized this week and are being grown out for further trials.

Give Lynn a call about it one of these days. I'm sure he'll give you a heads up with whats going on.

In addition we have successful crosses from CRV. I'm personally interested to see if the crosses send out rhizomes like the RedVine. That thing is a beast!

 

[DarkCoder]

... My personal goal is to create a variety that is well suited to the Southwest part of the United States. I could start with a known female from the Southwest like Neo1 or Amalia and then crossbreed them with an unknown males, but It would be nice to know at least the geographic origin of the male. ...

Amalia and Neo1 are a selection of Neomexicanus...don't look any further for your wild material. Just pray that the seeds I sent you will give you some male seedling.

 

[brewerelated]

Thanks for sending the seeds. I am definitely on the path now to creating a hybrid Neomexicana x HopUnion Cascade Open Pollinated which I greatly prefer over Neomexicana x Humulus eBayus.

Amalia and Neo1 are a selection of Neomexicanus...don't look any further for your wild material. Just pray that the seeds I sent you will give you some male seedling.

 

[PapaBearJay]

Yes, but I am only on my first year of the experiment. I bought seeds from France (only 6 seeds - no sprouting at all, more than 1 month of cold stratification), UK (I received something like 160 seed, put around 50 for cold stratification during 1 month...got only 4 that sprouted...but seems like those plants are fighting to stay alive...slow grow) and seeds from the US (put 10 seeds for cold stratification during 1 month, got 3 that sprouted, those plants are growing ok and seems healthy). All those 3 sources of seeds are from unknown lineage of hops.

I recently bought some whole leaf Cascade, found a lot of seeds in it. I have put them in the fridge last week for cold stratification and I already have 3 seeds that sprouted.

Pictures, past or present?

 

[DarkCoder]

Pictures, past or present?

If you are talking about the pictures on my blog, they have been taken on the same day as the posting.

 

[brewerelated]

That's unfortunate, I would have loved to have one of those plants. Peach syrup aroma would be interesting.

She came up in my compost pile while I was living in Lé Hood back in the mid-90's. At that point, my hops were grown at a different location from where I lived and I saw the plant come up in my compost pile and decided to keep it around. She never really was a big producer but in good years I'd get a half pound and make up an IPA. Cone structure was similar to the German varieties I'd grown Tett/Hers but the cones weren't as big. Alpha never looked to be more than maybe 5-6 in a good year. Kinda spicy aroma rub but I got a 'heavy/thick peach syrup' aroma in the beer. Others described it as 'grapefruit'.
When I found out that GLH was doing some breeding I sent some cuttings to Lynn and he told me that she was "a dirty little girl" and tried to clean her up. Never heard back as to what happened after the 'disinfection' and I ended up ripping them out last year. Just taking up space and creating the potential to spread the virus further so she's gone!

 

[PapaBearJay]

If you are talking about the pictures on my blog, they have been taken on the same day as the posting.

Where is your blog?

Edit: Nevermind, I found them.

 

[nagmay]

Quick update: The 2014 seedlings are doing very well.

The amazing thing - though not entirely unexpected - is how varied the plants are. Even in the same cross: Some are tall, others short. Some light green, others dark. Some have leaves with round teeth, others are sharp.

 

[PapaBearJay]

Well, I just checked on my cultures, and it seems as though not all were sterile. (B@stards!)

I'll get you next time! (Also, still no germination....)

 

[nagmay]

@Papabearjay,
Perhaps you already mentioned this, but did you stratify the seeds? The best germination rates that I have found came after a long (3-4month) cold stratification. Without it, I had to remove the seed coats to get any results.

 

[PapaBearJay]

@Papabearjay,
Perhaps you already mentioned this, but did you stratify the seeds? The best germination rates that I have found came after a long (3-4month) cold stratification. Without it, I had to remove the seed coats to get any results.

Nagmay,

The media I am using actually contains gibberellic acid in it, which is a plant hormone involved in germination and cell elongation. Most temperate species that require cold stratification can have that process circumvented or the amount of time reduced by such treatments (soaking seed, etc.). The media on which that seeds were plated actually contained gibberellic acid, and there are possible signs of life present...

That said, in a previous experiment with media containing cytokinins, I am stratifying seeds (~2 weeks currently).

I also placed a number of seeds in moist soil and placed them in a separate cooler for stratification. (This being the generally accepted procedured.)

I also soaked seeds for a number of weeks at different gibberellic acid (GA) concentrations and recently placed them in our misthouse for germination.

Just trying to monitor and develop a number of different methods because I feel there are improvements that can be made to decrease the time involved. (I'm impatient when it comes to some things.)

 

[nagmay]

Excellent - please keep us updated. Your findings on the best germination route would be really helpful in the coming years.

 

[alane1]

I'm currently trying various internet sources for seeds. I have some stratifying now, will post back about success rates and sources.

 

[PapaBearJay]

I'm currently trying various internet sources for seeds. I have some stratifying now, will post back about success rates and sources.

How many seeds have you collected and how many sources have you attempted to verify?


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[alane1]

How many seeds have you collected and how many sources have you attempted to verify?


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I have 100 seeds so far, waiting for 200 more. I ordered 100 each from 3 different websites.

 

[PapaBearJay]

Due to the difficulties I've been having in promoting germination I decided to excise some embryos and place directly onto media. Now, provided at each interval I maintained sterile technique (I do try!), I should be able to see growth (if the plant embryo is viable.....). Here's hoping!

 

[DarkCoder]

Due to the difficulties I've been having in promoting germination I decided to excise some embryos and place directly onto media. Now, provided at each interval I maintained sterile technique (I do try!), I should be able to see growth (if the plant embryo is viable.....). Here's hoping!

The least that we can say is that you REALLY WANT those little plants !

I still have some of those open pollination Cascade seeds and I can give you the name of the eBay US seller from which I bought viable seeds (unknown origin).

 

[PapaBearJay]

The least that we can say is that you REALLY WANT those little plants !

I still have some of those open pollination Cascade seeds and I can give you the name of the eBay US seller from which I bought viable seeds (unknown origin).

In fact I do. I only need one male, the rest I can come up with as I go along. Feel free to PM any information you're happy to pass along unless others require the same information. Actually, by the end of day, I'll begin working on a new thread. Stay tuned.

 

[brewerelated]

Due to the difficulties I've been having in promoting germination I decided to excise some embryos and place directly onto media. Now, provided at each interval I maintained sterile technique (I do try!), I should be able to see growth (if the plant embryo is viable.....). Here's hoping!

Do you have an pictures of the excised individuals? Hopefully your plants will grow.

 

[PapaBearJay]

I plan on taking some on Monday morning, as I don't hVe any currently. But if you can imagine a small curled-up hop embryo, nestled finely into a gelled media culture, much like the previous photos I posted, you'll have an idea.


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[DarkCoder]

I plan on taking some on Monday morning, as I don't hVe any currently. But if you can imagine a small curled-up hop embryo, nestled finely into a gelled media culture, much like the previous photos I posted, you'll have an idea.


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Is oxygen available to the seeds/seedling in your special gel ?

 

[PapaBearJay]

There is the oxygen that was present when I initiated the cultures, so yes there is. I'm not positive if the boxes have selectively permeable lids for oxygen exchange or not, but even so, once the seed has begun growing I can change to a new container or harden it off into a greenhouse.


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[DarkCoder]

PapaBearJay... I feel a little bit ashamed to say that I am starting to ask myself where to put the hop's seedling.


I have 12 newly sprout seedling and 5 older seedling.


Simple recipe: seeds 24h in a bowl of water, 2 days in a very wet (but not dripping) paper towel in the fridge inside a Ziplock bag (not closed), remove the excess water from the paper towel and keep seeds 2 more weeks in the fridge in the moist paper towel inside the Ziplock, remove from the fridge and slightly crack the seed shell if you can (don't press too hard or you might kill the embryo), put the open Ziplock with the paper towel on top of your fridge (temperature is around 24 d Celsius there).

I don't do any sterilization and once the seed is sprouted, I put the single root inside the peat moss of my Jiffy pot...but I keep the "head" of the seeds out of the peat moss...it prevents the rotting of the seed.

Over a 1 month period, I am getting at least 10% of germination, which is ok for me, as long as I can get a couple of seedlings for my experiment.

 

[nagmay]

The 2014 seedlings have really taken off. Several are over 2' tall and starting to touch the lights. They are probably ready to be re-potted and moved outside - however, it's still frosting at night here.

 

[nagmay]

I also took a moment to look at the bottom of the pots - sure enough, healthy roots have already reached the bottom.

 

[PapaBearJay]

Well done!!


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[DarkCoder]

The 2014 seedlings have really taken off. Several are over 2' tall and starting to touch the lights. They are probably ready to be re-potted and moved outside - however, it's still frosting at night here.

What soil mixture do you use ? Your plants seem to enjoy it...my peat moss is ok but seems like it is slowing down their initial growth. What size are your pots ?

 

[nagmay]

My preferred soil is actually a blocking mixture: http://gabriel.nagmay.com/2014/02/soil-blocks/

The coir in the mixture helps retain moisture and provides excellent drainage. It is also easy for young roots to move thorough and retains its shape well when transplanting.

The pots are 2 3/8x5 "deep tree bands" from Anderson. They are cheap and offer a lot of benefits over conventional round pots - especially when dealing with hundreds of seedlings each spring.

However ... I must admit that the real key is lighting. I have these babies under some super powerful metal halide lamps right now.

Cheers.