Need help with my homegrown hops

[marcopolo]

Hello,
I have a half dozen hop plants that I planted a few years ago, but 2/3rds of them barely grow. I suspect that I need to amend my soil, and that time is fast approaching.

I have a black thumb when it comes to gardening, but I am determined to make this work. My plan is to dig up the rhizomes that haven't been performing well, amend the soil and then replant.

I know that I screwed up initially because I only dug a shallow hole and then transplanted the rhizome without any consideration to the soil. What I want to do this spring is dig a 2 or 3 ft hole and use nutrient-rich, loamy soil that drains well. My current soil is nutrient poor and very heavy with clay. Also, I understand that the soil pH should be nearly neutral, so I will monitor that & make adjustments as needed.

2 of my 6 plants grow fairly well, and I suspect that is because I planted them in what was formerly a flower bed & that the flower bed soil is more plant friendly.

Does anyone have experience with this, and should I be aware of any caveats ? My main concern is to not kill the rhizomes during this process. Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[B-Hoppy]

If they've been in the ground and growing for a few years, you most likely won't kill them by uprooting and replanting. Seeing that some do better than others may be related to the soil they're growing in, but another big factor is that certain varieties just plain and simple perform better than others.

If you have the resources at hand and the time to prepare new planting sites this spring, go for it. I find that when amending the soil with a good deal of organic matter, especially with something living (like compost), you may be better to work on the site throughout the growing season and allow the mix of soil microbes find their proper place in the pecking order. By late fall after the plants die back and once everyone (the microbes) knows their jobs, I'll move the plants and they take off quite well the following spring. I just think that if you change too many variables in the soil at one time (pH, soil texture, om content, etc.) it takes time for that soil to stabilize (come into balance) before anything that's planted in it will perform normally ~ if that makes any sense?