Only one sprout after 2 weeks - normal or bad sign?

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Mquimby.jr

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Hi all,

I planted 8 rhizomes, 4 varieties x 2 rhizomes, each in individual planter pots. I set up a trellis that's only 10 feet, but that's just something I'm going to have to deal with given the setup of my house.

I planted about 2 weeks ago, and I have 1 sprout popped up in one of the pots. Is that normal for one to pop way before the others, or should I dig in and lift the rhizomes up a little bit? I thought I did a good job of keeping the plants at the "ground level" of the pots but I'm not sure with one of the sprouts popping.

This is my first year brewing and growing hops. The beer has been great but I'm outside of Boston MA so our spring was late this year and I'm hopping I can have some hops available for a wet hop brew this fall.

Thanks!
 
Honestly, I've never planted from rhizomes before. I've always had small potted plants. So I don't really know what normal is for starting from rhizomes. But it's probably normal. I few weeks ago I gave a friend 4 rhizomes from my mature cascade. There has only been one sprout, but it looks like a healthy sprout. I feel like planting rhizomes is just a numbers game.

As far as brewing with your own hops this year: I can say from experience that you should keep your expectations very low for this first year. If you're lucky, you may get 2-3 oz dried of one variety. I've never gotten more than that. And that's starting from a rooted plant. It's also very possible I'm a garbage hop grower. Others may have different experiences. If your plants really love their situation and are a robust variety, maybe they'll kick off a ton of cones. Either way, next year you have every right to expect to brew a nice wet hop brew.

Home growing hops is definitely a sport for the patient. That said, mature plants are a lot of fun to watch grow.

*I should add from experience, that watching new/young hop plants grow is very stressful. lol*
 
Thanks! Any idea how many sprouts I should/ could potentially expect from each rhizome?
 
What do you mean by soil temperature? I waited for the last freeze before I planted, not much else I can do for temp control. I only water in the mornings even though it’s been warm (60-75 F).
 
What do you mean by soil temperature? I waited for the last freeze before I planted, not much else I can do for temp control. I only water in the mornings even though it’s been warm (60-75 F).
The ground needs to warm up before the hops will start sprouting. What temp. is the soil you planted the hops in? It needs to be in the '60s. You can place a cut-off soda bottle over the planting to work as a mini greenhouse till they get going
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I planted 8 or 10 rhizomes a month ago. 4 or 5 cascade and 4 or 5 fuggles. The cascades came up first and now the fuggles have started. Both types have small shoots. The tallest is approx 8"
Between the two types I think I counted 5 or 6 growing. I haven't had a frost in 2+ weeks.
 
I planted 2 weeks ago and haven't got anything coming up yet. Maybe one small thing out of the 6 I planted. Not too worried though. Got plenty of the growing season left and once they get going, they should really take off.

As for how many sprouts, I planted new rhizomes last year too and I think each plant had at least 5 vines by the end of the summer.
 
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