Large roots growing out of the pot

[RyanN]

I've read that this can happen and I actually prefer the hops spread. How do I encourage these roots to throw out bines? I planted my hops in huge pots because my yards is like a swamp in the spring. Pictured root is growing out of the bottom of a 2 foot tall pot and is as thick as my thumb.

 

[B-Hoppy]

Roots can't grow new plants because they have no vegetative buds. They're just roots, they take nutrition from the Earth and help feed the crown. Rhizomes can grow new plants because they have buds. That's their purpose. I'd suggest taking the plant out of the pot and sticking it in the ground. The rhizomes will spread like you want. They'll grow anywhere so don't worry about the swamp. Alternative would be to lay the pot on it's side and allow some of the rhizomes to creep out and take root. They'll do it, believe me. Hop on!

 

[RyanN]

Thanks for the reply. Laying the pot on it's side is a great idea....of course to do this I would have to sever the roots coming out of the bottom of the pot but that shouldn't do any permanent damage. By laying the pot on it's side I'll also have the rhizome above soil level to keep it a little dryer in the swamp I assumed the large root would eventually throw off some rhizomes....or does the starting rhizome only get bigger and pieces need to be cut off for new plants? I am picturing this to be similar to a potato or am I way off?

 

[RyanN]

Hmm, potato is a tuber, probably should have looked into it a bit more before my last post.

 

[B-Hoppy]

Essentially, after one growing season, the rhizome can be called a crown. The crown will have both true roots (which do what they do and pretty much grow downward), and also have a bunch of buds. The buds will be located above the true roots and as they grow outward and away from the crown, at a certain point will decide to seek sunlight. Once they break the soil they'll become the shoots that will climb and produce our crop. The portion that grew out from the crown but is still in the ground will turn into a rhizome which will contain the buds and may also have developed some roots. This what we harvest every Spring to make cuttings to start new plants with. Hope you can make some sense of this. Now that class is over we can enjoy another beer!