New Rhizomes / Plants -- What to do?

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NewPA_Brewer

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So, the other day I meant up with a local homebrewer to get some rhizomes from him that he was giving away. Instead of just chopping up the rhizomes, we ended up digging up the whole plants (he didn't want them anymore), their 3 year old cascades.

So I have two rather large rootballs (minus the dirt around them) of chinook hop plants. Should I cut the rhizomes off and just use the rhizomes or should I plant the entire rootballs? Which would be better for growth? For this year's harvest? Etc.

Thanks!
 
What you have are two crowns and you have a few options. Trim the rhizomes off and store in a cool place (refrigerator) or plant in the ground now. For the crown, I would just dig a hole and bury it. You can probably just leave it on the shaded side of the house and plant when you have time if you can't get out to dig for whatever reason.
 
I'm in PA. It was cold Monday, Tuesday when I got it, it was warm, same with Wednesday, and thursday.... and we had snow today.

He told me to keep them in water, I currently have them completely submerged in a giant tub in my bathroom right now (nice warm place). Even with the frost/snow out, should I plant it, or let it wait?

Whats better, planting the crown, or planting the rhizomes? Can I keep the crown and trim off a few rhizomes? Or should I leave it as a whole?
 
I'm in PA. It was cold Monday, Tuesday when I got it, it was warm, same with Wednesday, and thursday.... and we had snow today.

He told me to keep them in water, I currently have them completely submerged in a giant tub in my bathroom right now (nice warm place). Even with the frost/snow out, should I plant it, or let it wait?

Whats better, planting the crown, or planting the rhizomes? Can I keep the crown and trim off a few rhizomes? Or should I leave it as a whole?

First, don't drown your crowns! You can take them and wet a paper towl, wrap in around the root ball, and put it in a ziplock bag in the fridge. I stored 3 crowns in the fridge like this for a month for a buddy last year. They grew fine. When youre ready, plant the crowns. The root ball is already a nearly established first year plant, likely. When you finally plant them, put them in a spot that gets direct sun all day. They need lots of sun. Southern facing exposures are the ideal.

Hope this helps.
 
How big were those crowns? These are pretty huge, about 2.5-3 feet around (in total). The roots shooting out from it are very long.
 
How big were those crowns? These are pretty huge, about 2.5-3 feet around (in total). The roots shooting out from it are very long.

Oh dang, you have a full on established plant. Mine were starter plants from rhizomes, only about 12 inches across. Maybe a garbage bag? Or even planting them in a 5 gallon bucket with some starter soil temporarily until you can plant outside.

Do you have pictures, you know, for science?
 
I'm in PA. It was cold Monday, Tuesday when I got it, it was warm, same with Wednesday, and thursday.... and we had snow today. . . .

Soil Temperature vs. Air Temperature, there is a difference

Please understand that we (humans) live above ground. When the air temperature suddenly takes a dive or skyrockets, we respond accordingly by turning the heat up or seeking air conditioning, the crowns of hop plants live below ground, very different. The soil acts as a huge buffer against temperature swings so the hops (along with whatever else resides in the soil) are protected from experiencing those extremes. As the soil gradually warms, the plant is triggered to begin to come out of dormancy and start growing. If the warming of the soil is sudden, growth commences quickly. If that plant (established crown or freshly planted rhizome) experiences temperatures that warm very slowly, growth will reflect that and be somewhat retarded. This is the exact reason that when growers dig rhizomes to sell, they clean and grade them as quickly as they can and then they store them refrigerated immediately. They're trying to keep those cuttings as close to dormant as they can because if they were allowed to warm up slightly in storage, their buds will begin to elongate. When a rhizome is shipped with buds that are an inch or more long, those buds are almost certainly going to break off during shipping thus causing a disappointed customer.

"He told me to keep them in water, I currently have them completely submerged in a giant tub in my bathroom right now (nice warm place). Even with the frost/snow out, should I plant it, or let it wait? . . .

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: http://journal.frontiersin.org/rese...-plants-physiological-biochemical-and-molecul


Ask yourself this, "Are those crowns experiencing anything different right now than what they were experiencing a few days ago, when they were happily just minding their own business?"

1) They've gone from a temperature of maybe 40F-50F to a temperature of (nice and warm). This means they've experienced a sudden temperature change which they wouldn't have if they'd have been left in the ground - or if they would have been uprooted, had their rhizomes cut back, and then stuck back into the ground at their new location. This can be seen as somewhat of a shock to any plant. Fortunately for you, hops are very forgiving and kind of like to be tortured . . . to an extent.

2) They're "submerged in water". This, again, is quite different than what they were experiencing a few days ago. Different soils have different densities, how can this be? https://image.slidesharecdn.com/021...tion-to-soil-science-30-728.jpg?cb=1391501752 Even though it may seem that while they're in the soil they're surrounded by moisture, they're not because the soil has some pore spaces that can be too small for water to occupy and allow for air (gases) to be exchanged (there are exceptions to this rule though). Being submerged or surrounded by water in a bath tub is kind of a pretty big change from what they were experiencing a few days ago, again, shock.


Whats better, planting the crown, or planting the rhizomes? Can I keep the crown and trim off a few rhizomes? Or should I leave it as a whole?

Planting the crown would be a better option if you want to do less work because you'll only have to dig one big hole. If you chop the rhizomes off and plant them, you'll have to dig multiple holes and then maybe one big one to plant the remainder of the crown. Lots of questions with lots of potential answers, hope some of this helps. ps: saw your friend from Sunny Brae at a hop related event the other day, good dude!
 
get a bag of peat ...NOT the stuff that is made of shredded coconut husks.. Inspect the root ball and trim out any old shoots or anything that looks out of the normal, mold, rot,etc. If there is a terminal shoot , take care not to break that off . Might even want to separate the root ball out to a few large hardy rhizomes .Pack them in a bucket of the peat and put away in a cool dry spot (garage , basement) until the weather improves. Got any you can spare to send me?
 
Heres the pictures of the hops I got. (The day I got them).

Hops2017_Nugget_1.jpg


Hops2017_Nugget_2.jpg
 
Heres the pictures of the hops I got. (The day I got them).

The rhizomes which are normally white and not to be confused with actual crown root growth should be trimmed off before replanting. Rhizome production takes energy away from the plant that could instead be used to push upward growth.

Also, as silly as it sounds, make sure your planting them right side up and that the crown buds are at ground height. Do not bury the crown buds excessively deep. Planted at field height with a couple inches of mulch over top will get it done.

And as already covered above do not keep them submerged in water, they will drowned and die. Overly wet conditions is the biggest reason crowns rot and die. They can be thrown in a bag of loose dirt and kept moist/lightly damp in a cool dry place until you are ready to plant outdoors.

A third year crown should be a great producer so long as you take care of the crown in the mean time and do a good job of replanting in healthy soil. Full Sun.

:tank:
 
Uh oh.... hopefully mine will be ok then. I've had them floating in a big bin (fully submerged) since the night I brought them home (exactly a week today).

Is there a chance they will survive this?
 
that would be equal to being in a flood .
Let me explain - Soil is only a medium or armature, if you will ,for plant growth . Its an anchor point for which the roots can hold to stand the plant upright . Plants do not grow in dirt or soil, they grow in the spaces between the soil particles. They do require water but not submersion . There still lies the requirement of air for the plant to undergo its growth ,maintain turgor (cell wall pressure) and uptake of nutrients. Even in a hydroponic system the plants aren't submerged , they are started by seed or cuttings in a substrate medium such as wet floral foam(Oasis) cubes or peat pots and then graduated to highly mechanized bed where they are misted or even dunked,periodically with water that has been super loaded with nutrients because the soil is not present to hold it in place.
In my horticultural education / experience if you've held those rhizomes submerged for a solid week , I would doubt anything will survive. but miracles do happen.
 
They still had the white 'buds' on the rhizomes/crowns, and the whites also had pink, which I had been told before meant new growth.

I potted them yesterday, and they are now inside, in dirt, potted. So I guess we'll see.

I had a Cascade rhizome I got last year, that I kept inside a tiny jar with just the leaves up out of the water, and the rhizome down in the water, and it ended up living.

So fingers crossed.
 
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