Growing hops from seed

[nagmay]

Finally got around to the hops in the first-years yard.

Most were past prime for brewing, but our main goal was to pick the plants that will continue on for next year. A little less stringent than last year - we simply judged based on the cone size, compactness, scent, the amount of cones, and plant health. Unfortunatly, the crosses did so well that we had trouble culling 90% as hoped. Instead, we decided to continue with 26 for next year:

• Chinook ♀ x (Magnum x Cascade) ♂ - 7 plants
• Nugget ♀ x Neomexicanus (EV02) ♂ - 7 plants
• Galena ♀ x (Magnum x Cascade) ♂ - 4 plants
• POR ♀ x (Magnum x Cascade) ♂ - 3 plants
• Nugget ♀ x (Magnum x Cascade) ♂ - 2 plants
• (Magnum x Cascade) ♀ x (Magnum x Cascade) ♂ - 2 plants
• (Magnum x Chinook) ♀ x (Magnum x Chinook) ♂ - 1 plants

It was surprising to see how many Nugget x Neomexicanus crossed made the cut. These plants had consistently large cones with strong citrus/spice scent.

 

[Mojzis]

I love following this thread and the other. You guys are doing very cool things and like watching the progress!

I've been looking for feral hops for the past two years and finally stumbled on some. First was right down the road from my job climbing a telephone pole. No seeds. The second is more of a patch that I haven't gone through thoroughly but I checked a couple cones early in the season and no seeds. Hopefully I'll make it back to check again soon.

Anyway keep up the good work!

 

[HopStalker]

I just went and harvested some wild or feral hops that I’ve been monitoring so that I could get some seeds for next year. I cut a bunch of them in half to check their maturity and they are all half empty and full of green or black stuff, not nice solid white embryos.

Earlier in season I assumed that they were immature, but now I’m starting to think something is wrong.

Will they ever develop into viable seeds? Is it possible that they were pollinated by the Japanese hops in the area and are sterile?

Photo 1 is of some other seeds that I have and what I was expecting. Photo 2 is the wild or feral hop seeds. Photo 3 is the wild/ feral cones.

 

[alane1]

@HopStalker Something is definitely wrong with those seeds. I first thought they may be underdeveloped so I cut one of the seeds I harvested in early September. Underdeveloped but Still white on the inside.View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1443959380.438138.jpg

 

[nagmay]

Mid-winter here, so not much activity in the hop yards, but I did go and check on them this weekend - and found a surprise...

For the 1st and 2nd year plants, we have been harvesting by hand, rather than cutting down the strings. Throughout the yard the bines were dead (as you would expect)... except one. This cross has new, green shoots all the way up to the top. The pic is from about 5' up. It's been warm the last few days, but we just had several weeks of hard freeze...

I cut her down to the base, just as a precaution. I didn't want her wasting all her energy with so much time till spring.

 

[lump42]

I just went and harvested some wild or feral hops that I’ve been monitoring so that I could get some seeds for next year. I cut a bunch of them in half to check their maturity and they are all half empty and full of green or black stuff, not nice solid white embryos.

Earlier in season I assumed that they were immature, but now I’m starting to think something is wrong.

Will they ever develop into viable seeds? Is it possible that they were pollinated by the Japanese hops in the area and are sterile?

Photo 1 is of some other seeds that I have and what I was expecting. Photo 2 is the wild or feral hop seeds. Photo 3 is the wild/ feral cones.

Once the seeds are removed from the plant or the plant dies back, the seeds will not continue to fill. The only reliable way of knowing if they are viable is to take a small subset and run a germination test, essentially damp paper towel in a plastic bag kept warm (upper 70s) (think kindergarten lima bean sprouting experiment). They could have been pollinated with not compatible pollen. It could cause seeds to initiate and then abort.

 

[B-Hoppy]

This cross has new, green shoots all the way up to the top. The pic is from about 5' up. It's been warm the last few days, but we just had several weeks of hard freeze...

Was that plant a seedling last year? I've noticed that trait on most of my seedlings (maybe 2-4 feet up), but after the seedling year it doesn't seem to occur.

 

[nagmay]

Was that plant a seedling last year?

This one was a seedling two yeas ago. Seedling/young-ling vigor would make sense - I just have never seen this before.

 

[B-Hoppy]

I've seen some older literature citing the suggestion of starting new plants by laying the vines down after harvest and covering with some soil. Although I've rarely seen it since I began growing back in the 80's (other than in my seedlings), your experience seems to lend some truth to it!

 

[nagmay]

Time to start updates for 2016:

The three hop yards are full with 2nd, and 3rd year selections. With this in mind, I planned to focus germination on a limited set of seeds to fill in any open spots. This includes:

• NHB002 (EV02) x Cascade
• NHB002 (EV02) x Galena
• NHB005 (MxCas01) x Nugget
• NHB017 (MxCas13) x NHB032 (MxCas18)
• "Midwest" (open pollinated seed from a grower in - you guessed it - the Midwest US)

However, the germination rates this year were off the chart. There are now over 300 healthy sprouts! Many of these sprouted in the fridge in late February. They are now all greening up and developing true leaves.

The question now is: Where am I going to plant all of these for the season?

 

[DarkCoder]

I don't know if we are getting more experienced, but I have the same problem this year...

I took around 30 seeds of Canadien Redvine, I choose those that look not mature enough, thinking that only a few should germinate... they almost all germinate, I kept only the 10 most vigorous.

4 on 4 for my Neomex cross.

4 out of 9 on Mathon cross... those seeds were given to me. The 5 that did not germinate were in really bad condition.

I am afraid of the result of the other seeds that I harvest myself. I hate to throw away healthy plants.

 

[nagmay]

Over 370 hops have sprouted so far.

The first ones up are getting quite big and to the point where they will need a stick to climb. I have found that this point means that the growth will soon rapidly accelerate.

I am also continued to be impressed by how quickly the seedlings develop healthy roots.

 

[alane1]

Those look great Nagmay!!! 370 sprouts are a lot. Last year I had over 100 seedlings and basically just left them out in the elements in early spring. Frost , wind, and pests brought that number to about 7...much more manageable.
My seeds that sprouted and died in the fridge must have just been early risers, a lot more sprouted after I took them out of the fridge. I planted them and put them under lights last Monday.View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1457579738.444243.jpg

 

[B-Hoppy]

Great job folks! It looks like there's a much greater % of germination from all of you this year and was wondering if there was any one thing you attribute that too? Mine are still at the mercy of Mother Nature out in the garlic patch and also in a secluded spot out back but it shouldn't be long due to the lack of winter?

 

[ffaoe]

I don't know about everyone else, but I attribute my early sprouting to poor choice of stratification location. I had stuck mine in a compartment in the beer fridge door. This spot would have gotten temperature fluctuations and occasional exposure to light.

 

[DarkCoder]

Great job folks! It looks like there's a much greater % of germination from all of you this year and was wondering if there was any one thing you attribute that too?

So far, for the seeds that I harvested myself : approximate germination over 90%

...VS seeds that I bought : germination below 20%.

That tells a lot so far. Maybe the seeds that you can buy around are too old or were not harvest at their best maturity stage.

Also, this year I have skipped the soaking in water step that is mentionned in a lot of "how to". I only kept the seeds in a slightly humid paper towel (Bounty brand, their design is perfect for more air flow) inside an unzipped plastic bag.

By the way B-Hoppy, I am taking care of 10 of your grandchildren (Canadian Redvine babies). Where can I send you a grandchild payment support request ?!?

 

[B-Hoppy]

I don't know about everyone else, but I attribute my early sprouting to poor choice of stratification location. I had stuck mine in a compartment in the beer fridge door. This spot would have gotten temperature fluctuations and occasional exposure to light.

Could be a closer approximation of the natural flow of things?

So far, for the seeds that I harvested myself : approximate germination over 90%

...VS seeds that I bought : germination below 20%.

That tells a lot so far. Maybe the seeds that you can buy around are too old or were not harvest at their best maturity stage.

Also, this year I have skipped the soaking in water step that is mentionned in a lot of "how to". I only kept the seeds in a slightly humid paper towel (Bounty brand, their design is perfect for more air flow) inside an unzipped plastic bag.

By the way B-Hoppy, I am taking care of 10 of your grandchildren (Canadian Redvine babies). Where can I send you a grandchild payment support request ?!?

Haha, looks like a job for Maury Povich or Jerry Springer to make that call. I just brought her from New York out to Oregon to be identified. It would be great if the kids can retain mom's vigor and maybe pick up some unique aroma character from papa?

The seeds that come up from my compost are usually a week or two ahead of those that come up in the yard (those that just dropped from the plants). Maybe the fact that the ones that went into the compost were exposed to some really hot temps in the kettle for an hour or so while I was cooling? Either way, it looks like everyone's got more than enough to keep them busy here. Cheers!

 

[nagmay]

They're only a few weeks old, but the 2016 seedlings are about to be kicked outside (under a hoop house). Otherwise, I'll soon have a twisted mess on my hands.

Looking at my germination numbers, I think they're are 2 factors that made a big difference:

1) Most of the seed was collected in fall of 2014. It sat dry in a temp controlled basement for a year before stratification. The same seed germinated without that dormant period didn't do as well.

Yes, we all know that old seed has reduced germination. With hops, I suspect that young seed might also have issue. There may be a mid-ground dormant period.

2) I used sterilized, slightly damp vermiculite this year as a substrate (rather than sand or perlite).

 

[nagmay]

Finally got around to moving the nearly 300 baby hops outside. Judging by their roots, they were ready.

Due to limited room, this year the babies were planted nearly on top of each other. They are going to have fight to make it into the next round...

 

[alane1]

The weather here is still not cooperating, it's probably going to be another week before I can get them in the ground. I have a plant that started to initiate flowering indoors. I've never heard of photo-indeterminacy in hops before, I have them on a 16 hour light cycle. Any ideas?View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1461418048.375982.jpg

 

[PapaBearJay]

That there is a boy! Additionally, the light range for flowering varies and males have anecdotally been reported to be daylength-insensitive. Also, many of the South African hop varieties have been bred to be daylength-insensitive due to the limited fluctuation in daylength near the equator.

 

[Texconsinite]

You were talking about how hop leaves are in odd numbers. Look at this Neo1. I just noticed most of the bigger leaves are 4

 

[Texconsinite]

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1463957519.421334.jpg

 

[alane1]

While true, those are immature leaves. They will soon change to 5 lobes

 

[Texconsinite]

Any update on the hops this season, nagmay?

 

[nagmay]

Any update on the hops this season, nagmay?

Funny you should ask. I just went out to the experimental hop yard this weekend. Everything looks really good. Lots of burs - and - there were even a few full size cones on a neomexicanus/nugget cross. I try to post some pics later in the week.

 

[nagmay]

Okay... Lots of pics, so I split this up between a few posts.

In the spring, we dug out all the plants from the 2 hop yards and selected 42 contenders from the initial hundreds. We were not gentle with the crowns at the time, yet they are doing surprisingly well. Most have reached the top of the trellis and are starting to show burs. A few are lagging behind, but we won't count that against them ... yet.

Random: I got the chance to drink some Evil Cousin via Heretic brewing while out in the fields. What a great beer!

 

[nagmay]

Here are the cones on one of the neomexicanus/nugget crosses. Might just be a fluke, but we'll be keeping an eye on this one.

 

[nagmay]

And here is a close up of the little mutant with the strange, elongated leaves. I thought she might outgrow this, but it seem to be permanent! I'm excited to see where this goes.

 

[Texconsinite]

Love the mutant! You say little, is she lagging behind the others that much? The off-centered cut leaves remind me of my Neo1, very excited about your hybrids from EVO2's line, seems liek alot of keepers sofar

 

[nagmay]

Love the mutant! You say little, is she lagging behind the others that much?

She's not the tallest of the bunch, but is doing well. And we still have a lot of growing time left this season.

 

[nagmay]

Visited the other yard, where we planted the 2016 sprouts - all 300+ of them! It's already a jungle already, but that was to be expected. We're going with a "plant them all and let Darwin sort it out" mantra for these ones.

We went with bird netting as a trellis.

 

[B-Hoppy]

Have you named them all yet?

 

[B-Hoppy]

A seed sprouted in my driveway last year without me knowing until about July. By the looks of it, SHE will be a pretty big producer.

 

[cram]

[edit] plants not from seed--wrong thread--yikes.
centennial ahead of nugget in socal.

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1465968419.654202.jpg

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1465968621.386784.jpg

 

[Texconsinite]

Nagmay or other breeders, any updates on how this year's seedlings are doing? Any promising ones?

 

[nagmay]

Nothing to report yet. Lots of new plants to sort through.

 

[alane1]

I have a few interesting seedlings this year, I am reserving any judgment on them until next season though. Shortly after planting them out we had some nasty wind storms that broke a lot of the bines. I'll have no idea until next season how they'll grow or flower. The ones that broke kind of just became hop bushes. The ones that didn't are growing well and already reached the top of the trellis.View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1468885591.511169.jpgView attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1468885610.405080.jpgView attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1468885629.178559.jpg

 

[B-Hoppy]

If you take those 'bushes' and cut back all but one central leader you'll at least be able to determine what sex they'll be. Actually, it's still early enough that you'll probably have a decent amount of cones by fall.

Just wondering, when did you pot the seeds that produced these plants? I don't have time for that but have to rely on Ma Nature to get them rolling so my seedlings usually don't have any heft to them by the end of the year. The selections from last year are going nuts though and a few have broken their poles. Most will be at least in the 1 pound range with about 25% looking to be close to 2 pounds.

 

[B-Hoppy]

And here is a close up of the little mutant with the strange, elongated leaves. I thought she might outgrow this, but it seem to be permanent! I'm excited to see where this goes.

Speaking of mutants, I've got one that's a unilateral. The laterals on one side form normal and the ones on the opposite side act like they're the main vine and end up growing straight up. It's a real beast of a plant with the main vine much thicker than my thumb and really vigorous. I've decided to start a 'handicapped' yard, kind of like the island where they sent all the misfit toys to in Rudolph, gotta be pc now a days, ha~