Growing hops from seed

[B-Hoppy]

Sometimes it's slow, just like with rhizomes. It's amazing what type of growth can occur after July. Hang in there and take good notes!

 

[nagmay]

How things are gowing guys ?!?

Went by the field last week to shore up the poles a bit and check for bug problems.

Most of the first-years are doing great - many are 10' tall, or more. I looked for flowers and found early burrs on about 1/3 of the plants. So far, at least, there are no male flowers. This is good sign that the crosses were from feminized pollen after all. I'll go back in a few few weeks to confirm. I will also remember to bring a camera next time.

 

[DarkCoder]

I have 3 germinated seeds from the USDA Oregon seeds that I received. They are Neomexicanus from West Plum Creek, Colorado (accession PI635491). I don't expect to have other germinated seeds for the other 2 accessions that I have, seeds don't look "healthy". Also, I have ordered and received 3 wild hop plants from Manitoba, Canada. I took them at Prairie Originals. I don't think that they can ship plants to the US, but the lady told me that she would be able to sell me some seeds in the Fall. Check out if you can buy some seeds from her.

 

[nagmay]

Check out the difference in leaf shapes from the wild seed that I sprouted last year.

Left is the neomexicanus seed from Colorado. On the right is seed found in Wyoming. I am now starting to think that the Wyoming was feral/naturalized from a commercial variety.

 

[nagmay]

Here is a quick shot of some of the plants the yard. All of these were sprouted from seed this year.

 

[B-Hoppy]

Very nice! I guess there's a reason they grow lots of hops in Oregon. Mine are only about 4-5 feet at this point but they germinated naturally in the garlic patch in May. Same as last year and all but one showed their gender. Hoppy Trails~

 

[DarkCoder]

Wow !! Very nice and good work !

 

[B-Hoppy]

Baby Bumps!!!! Finally found some un-seeded cones to show the comparison. These are Cascades that show how the bracteole swells up once a seed starts forming. The Brewers Gold is pretty much ALL seeded but because of the cone structure of that variety, it's very hard to show the difference in a picture. I hope these help when you're out looking for the gold!

ps: the cones on the left in the tip picture are unseeded, forgot~

 

[PapaBearJay]

Baby Bumps!!!! Finally found some un-seeded cones to show the comparison. These are Cascades that show how the bracteole swells up once a seed starts forming. The Brewers Gold is pretty much ALL seeded but because of the cone structure of that variety, it's very hard to show the difference in a picture. I hope these help when you're out looking for the gold!

ps: the cones on the left in the tip picture are unseeded, forgot~

B-Hoppy, are you up for sharing seeds at all?


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[B-Hoppy]

I'd have no problems sharing if I had the time but I basically just let Ma Nature take over and corral the little ones when they pop up in the Spring. I thought I'd be coasting toward retirement at this point but it seems to be going the other way?

 

[nagmay]

B-Hoppy,
Thanks for sharing this. I didn't notice this last year, but wasn't looking for it either.

Just went outside and sure enough, all the seeded cones look quite different from their neighbors.

Here is a section of Galena that I pollinated. Not as clear as your pic, but the bracts are indeed swollen!

 

[nagmay]

Baby bumps!

 

[nagmay]

I've been posting updates in this other thread, over here. But, in case anyone is subscribed to this one:

18 of the new plants have produced significant amounts of cones in their first year. Wet weight ranged from 0.5 to over 39oz per plant.

• Hop Breeding, 2014 Results

 

[PapaBearJay]

I've been posting updates in this other thread, over here. But, in case anyone is subscribed to this one:

18 of the new plants have produced significant amounts of cones in their first year. Wet weight ranged from 0.5 to over 39oz per plant.

• Hop Breeding, 2014 Results

nagmay, any other results that you collected from your crop this year? Have you made selections yet? Have you begun sowing new seed yet?


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[nagmay]

"any other results that you collected from your crop this year? Have you made selections yet? Have you begun sowing new seed yet?"

I have been pretty busy lately, and haven't had the chance to brew - or - taste test the new cones yet. There is time, I don't really need to finalize selections until next spring.

However, I did collect seed from whole set of new crosses. The seed has been sorted and is currently stratifying. There are probably 500 seeds between the 30, second-generation crosses. Not quite sure where I am going to plant all these...

 

[PapaBearJay]

"any other results that you collected from your crop this year? Have you made selections yet? Have you begun sowing new seed yet?"

I have been pretty busy lately, and haven't had the chance to brew - or - taste test the new cones yet. There is time, I don't really need to finalize selections until next spring.

However, I did collect seed from whole set of new crosses. The seed has been sorted and is currently stratifying. There are probably 500 seeds between the 30, second-generation crosses. Not quite sure where I am going to plant all these...

How exactly are you crossing nagmay? Hand pollination? Were these open-pollinated seed?


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[nagmay]

Pollen was obtained from 4 plants: the Evanston neomexicanus, Magnum x Chinook, and 2 Magnum x Cascade.

By hand, I carefully pollinated sections from all the other varieties in my yard, including: Sterling, Hood, Willamette, Cascade, Nugget, Chinook, POR, and Galena.

 

[PapaBearJay]

Pollen was obtained from 4 plants: the Evanston neomexicanus, Magnum x Chinook, and 2 Magnum x Cascade.

By hand, I carefully pollinated sections from all the other varieties in my yard, including: Sterling, Hood, Willamette, Cascade, Nugget, Chinook, POR, and Galena.

Why those particular choices? What are your goals for those particular crosses?

 

[nagmay]

Why those particular choices? What are your goals for those particular crosses?

I feel like we've had this conversation before...

Right now, my only real goal is increasing genetic diversity. With that is mind, I decided to pollinate a section from each of the varieties available in my yard. In other words - I wasn't picky - everything was simply crossed with everything else!

Given the option, I would happily plant every single seed and start selections based on flavor/alpha/disease resistance next year. Unfortunatly, I don't have access to that much land right now.

 

[nagmay]

For those collecting seeds:

I picked cones in several stages this year. It may seem obvious, but for seed collection, wait as long as possible to pull the cones. Attached is a pic of what the Galena looked like when ready to harvest. They had the fullest, most mature seeds.

 

[PapaBearJay]

Pictures of your seeds? What was your average seed set? You said 60 crosses, so was that 60 flowers or was it 10 flowers per "cross", or etc.

I've got ideas for what I might do next year for crosses. I think...


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[nagmay]

What was your average seed set? You said 60 crosses, so was that 60 flowers or was it 10 flowers per "cross", or etc.

I believe that I said: "30, second-generation crosses" - that is - I collected multiple seeds from 30 different male/female combinations. The seeds for each cross numbered from a dozen to several hundred.

Actually, I went back to the yard last week and collected a few more, bringing the total number to 38.

Male/pollen source:

• NHB002 (wild male)
• NHB005 (magnum x cascade)
• NHB017 (magnum x cascade)
• NHB019 (magnum x chinook)

Females:

• Cascade
• Chinook
• Nugget
• Pride of Ringwood
• Sterling
• Willamette
• Mt Hood
• Galena
• NHB003 (neomexicanus)
• NHB006 (magnum x cascade)
• NHB025 (magnum x chinook)
• NHB027 (open pollinated cascade)

I'll post some pics when I get a chance.

 

[DarkCoder]

I believe that I said: "30, second-generation crosses" - that is - I collected multiple seeds from 30 different male/female combinations. The seeds for each cross numbered from a dozen to several hundred.

Actually, I went back to the yard last week and collected a few more, bringing the total number to 38.

Male/pollen source:

• NHB002 (wild male)
• NHB005 (magnum x cascade)
• NHB017 (magnum x cascade)
• NHB019 (magnum x chinook)

Females:

• Cascade
• Chinook
• Nugget
• Pride of Ringwood
• Sterling
• Willamette
• Mt Hood
• Galena
• NHB003 (neomexicanus)
• NHB006 (magnum x cascade)
• NHB025 (magnum x chinook)
• NHB027 (open pollinated cascade)

I'll post some pics when I get a chance.

Any luck getting seeds with your "seedless" triploids (Mt Hood / Willamette) ?

 

[nagmay]

Any luck getting seeds with your "seedless" triploids (Mt Hood / Willamette) ?

Yes, I was surprised to find that both put off a small number of mature looking seeds. However, I have no way to know yet if any of them will be viable.

 

[DarkCoder]

Yes, I was surprised to find that both put off a small number of mature looking seeds. However, I have no way to know yet if any of them will be viable.

You're a magician !! First, you get viable pollen out of a female plant, now you get seeds from "seedless" plants. What's next ?!?

Congrats on your experiment, I hope that you will get new seedling with those special seeds.

 

[PapaBearJay]

You're a magician !! First, you get viable pollen out of a female plant, now you get seeds from "seedless" plants. What's next ?!?



Congrats on your experiment, I hope that you will get new seedling with those special seeds.

Triploids can potentially produce fertile gametes, it's just a rare occurrence. I'd be interested in hearing about the success of those seeds in the future.


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[nagmay]

Pictures of your seeds?

Here is a close up of some of the seeds that I just picked. NHB017 x NHB025

 

[nagmay]

Processing the seeds was really messy business. My hands would turn yellow, and then black from all the oils. For the last few, I started using nitrile gloves and did the work over a sheet of wax paper.

Now, I just have to decide whether to de-hull the seeds or leave as-is.

 

[nagmay]

While I'm here, I'll post a few pics of the yard. All the plants look really good going into late fall.

Surprisingly, many of the bines had new buds forming around the base. This is most likely due to a week of warm weather. Hopefully they don't devote too much energy to this before the frost comes.

 

[alane1]

Has anyone started stratifying seeds yet, or still collecting? I still have bags of hops I have to go through. I'm glad everyone had some luck this year. Cheers