Help with Hop Planters

CodeSection · May 29, 2020

FullThrottle64 said:
What did you get from buyhoprhizomes, and how did they turn out? I ordered (26) Crystal rhizomes from them, and am still waiting from the delivery......?

Hey, good luck on your 30 acre farm! How is exciting is that!

FullThrottle64 · May 29, 2020

CodeSection said:
Hey, good luck on your 30 acre farm! How is exciting is that!

Absolutely! If the first couple of rows go well, we'll start looking at converting to a much larger hops production.

There is plenty of beer production in our area, so the market isn't a problem nearly as much as my agronomic abilities and my wife's willingness to allow the investment in the infrastructure (trellising). We have several natural springs on the property, so irrigation is also easy and relatively inexpensive.

Kaz15 · May 31, 2020

Ruint said:
1 thing.....you might be underestimating the growth of the root system. I like those planters in the fact that it lets you utilize more of the water that you are using for that purpose. It is great for tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, and other garden vegetables. Hops are anything but garden vegetables. Their root system is not shallow like you might think. The tap root will grow deep, like 16 to 18 feet down. It does have other roots that spread out for absorption of water closer to the surface. These are where the rhizomes come from. It may make you think that these are the main roots, because after the plant establishes itself, they are numerous and get to be fairly significant. Whether you have hops in the ground, or in a planter, the tap root is going to grow. You could probably do alright in those planters for the 1st year, maybe even the second. Eventually though, you will suffer. Either by having issues of being root bound, or worse, having the roots soaking in the bottom....rotting. The hops plant doesn't know that you have it contained, nor does it care. It is just going to do it's own thing. Try to grow, survive, and propagate it's existence. Just my 2 cents worth...

I'm am very curious about the part with the tap root going 16-18 feet down. This seems incredible to me! I always thought it was more like 6-8 feet down. Where did you come by this knowledge? I'm taking it at face value and not exaggeration.

Anyway, I'm happy that I've been able to plant my hops in Terra firma vs pots. These plants are absolutely monsters.

CodeSection · May 31, 2020

Kaz15 said:
I'm am very curious about the part with the tap root going 16-18 feet down. This seems incredible to me! I always thought it was more like 6-8 feet down. Where did you come by this knowledge? I'm taking it at face value and not exaggeration.

Anyway, I'm happy that I've been able to plant my hops in Terra firma vs pots. These plants are absolutely monsters.

I've read the depth of the tap roots in various places. Here is a link that discusses it Growing Hops at Home. I've read it on MSU's Extension site and I believe Oregon's Extension site as well, but I did not save the links. It could have been from a reference they cited in one of their papers.

You may find this interesting..... https://catalog.extension.oregonstate.edu/sites/catalog/files/project/pdf/em9115.pdf

Northern_Brewer · May 31, 2020

Kaz15 said:
I'm am very curious about the part with the tap root going 16-18 feet down. This seems incredible to me!

If you prefer books, Ten Eyck & Gehring quote 15ft (4.6m) and the British Hop Association quote 3.75m (12.3ft), although that does seem a bit low. The big attraction of East Kent is that it has deep clay soils that gives room for the monster root system.

TrickyDick · May 31, 2020

Interesting. I really have no other place on my property where I can plant hops. I would get a letter from the HOA if I tried to grow one in my open yard. I also don't want to have them take over my garden beds where most home owners plant ornamental plants by planting them in the ground. My first round of containers I had a Chinook plant with a robust tap root which I attempted to pull up. It had grown through the drainage hole in the planter. When pulling it out to replant fresh plants in my new planters (because the old ones had rotted) this was the only plant that had survived the last couple years I had neglected the plants and stopped watering them. I didn't have time to tend to them and had taken an hiatus from brewing. The Chinook plant survived because the tap root. When removing it, the tap root broke. I fully expect to see some wild hops at some point coming up in those beds, something I had hoped to avoid. Time will tell. That Chinook had been there for at least 6 years, in the container.