Questions from a newbie

[Mikekp]

New here, have some questions!
I have this 1 plant. Technically this is the 4th year. Someone gifted it to me and I planted it in a garden and didn't really know what I was doing. It barely grew at all. Then I sold the house and wanted to take it with me, so I dug it up and put it in a container, where it has been since. It did better the second year, but still didn't know what I was doing. Grew what I could up and down and around a small tomato trellis. The third year I did the same, still letting every vine that sprouted climb around the trellis. In these three years, it has not gotten a single hop cone. I'm really hoping that's due to my failure to grow it properly and not being a variety or gender that doesn't produce cones...
This year it seems to have sprouted stronger than ever. I just pruned probably 20 of the smallest vines (never pruned it before this year), and there are still around 15 left. From what I read, I think I should take it back even further to get more energy into fewer, stronger vines, but I don't want to overdo the pruning if I'm wrong. I've got a real adjustable rope trellis for it to climb this time, so hoping to grow a few long strong vines and actually produce some hops this time.
As I mentioned, this was gifted to me. Can anyone tell what variety and/or gender this is? If I understand correctly, I dont want a male plant, I assume because it doesn't produce cones. I really hope that's not what I have, or like an ornamental variety or something that doesn't produce cones (if such a thing exists).
So can anyone advise me how many vines I should keep?
Is anyone able to confirm based on the pictures weekday the variety and/or gender this plant is? (Don't know how easy that is...)

Thank you!

 

[bpgreen]

I've never grown hops in pots, so you may be facing challenges I don't know.

But you really only want 2-3 bines (technically, hops are bines, not vines) per plant.

 

[Northern_Brewer]

You don't say where you are - it's worth noting that hops are temperate zone plants that depend heavily on daylength to tell them what to do, if you're much closer to the equator than 35 latitude then they get confused by the lack of seasons. Also they really benefit from cold - even freezing - temperatures in winter. They are thirsty, hungry plants but don't like sitting in water, a deep clay soil is ideal.

It's pretty hard to identify hops just from young shoots - about all that can be said is that it's not a golden one, which is an ornamental variety. Unless you fancy counting chromosomes, your best bet is just to be nice to it and get cones or male flowers later in the year. Yes, you don't want male plants as they don't make cones.

Bines use their main stem to twine round other plants (and string), whereas vines have tendrils that cling on. So hops and honeysuckle are bines, whereas grapes and sweet peas are vines.

 

[kh54s10]

I've never grown hops in pots, so you may bee facing challenges I don't know.

But you really only want 2-3 bines (technically, hops are bines, not vines) per plant.

Not that I have any experience growing hops.....

They should be fine in pots as long as the pots are large enough. That would be pretty large. Like the size of a wine barrel.

And proper fertilization.

 

[Northern_Brewer]

Not that I have any experience growing hops.....

They should be fine in pots as long as the pots are large enough. That would be pretty large. Like the size of a wine barrel.

You don't need to go that far to get cones - I've had cones off a Pilgrim in its first year when bought as a rhizome and planted in about an 8" pot. It's not ideal for the long-term, but I did get some cones. Admittedly that was in the British climate with regular watering but not too much feeding.

 

[Mikekp]

Thank you all for the replies. I'm in northern Idaho. This thing has definitely experienced freezing temperatures.

 

[kh54s10]

You don't need to go that far to get cones - I've had cones off a Pilgrim in its first year when bought as a rhizome and planted in about an 8" pot. It's not ideal for the long-term, but I did get some cones. Admittedly that was in the British climate with regular watering but not too much feeding.

Well I was really thinking of permanently in pots. Many seasons down the road.

 

[GiavaBear]

Mike, I'm in my second year of growing hops and I've been researching quite a lot. Its early in the season since you're in Idaho, I'm in Colorado. What I've learned is the first several shoots (termed Bull Shoots) tend to be fast growing, purple in color, hollow on the inside, and have far spaced modes for collateral growth. Those need to be trimmed near the crown of the plant. All of them. The hollow nature makes the bines weak, they should be solid. The far spaced nodules lead to less collaterals and hop cone production. I agree with bpgreen, you want a maximum of 3 bines per crown to allow for adequate nutrition and cone development. The cutting of the bull shoots, sad as it seems, will allow the crown to shoot off proper bines to grow.

 

[Mikekp]

So are ALL of the first shoots these bull shoots? At this point I've trimmed back 20+ bines, though the ones I kept are the longest ones. Hoping I haven't kept the ones I should have been cutting. I'm not sure about this "asparagus" look people are mentioning. Also parts of some vines seen to TURN purple eventually, though not the whole thing. Can anyone tell if the one in my picture that started on the rope would be a bull shoot?

 

[GiavaBear]

So are ALL of the first shoots these bull shoots? At this point I've trimmed back 20+ bines, though the ones I kept are the longest ones. Hoping I haven't kept the ones I should have been cutting. I'm not sure about this "asparagus" look people are mentioning. Also parts of some vines seen to TURN purple eventually, though not the whole thing. Can anyone tell if the one in my picture that started on the rope would be a bull shoot?

If you still have the ones you've cut, I'd cut them in several places throughout their length. If they're hollow, they're bull shoots. Cutting them like you have will encourage growth of new, proper shoots. Hard to say from just pictures but I'd say yes the early ones are the bulls. When they start sprouting new ones, cut on of them and see if its solid or hollow. If solid, you're good to go. As far as the asparagus type shoots, I believe it's when the shoots are young, less than a foot and stiff. Can brine them and cook them, similarly to asparagus. A delicacy in some places.

 

[GiavaBear]

If you still have the ones you've cut, I'd cut them in several places throughout their length. If they're hollow, they're bull shoots. Cutting them like you have will encourage growth of new, proper shoots. Hard to say from just pictures but I'd say yes the early ones are the bulls. When they start sprouting new ones, cut on of them and see if its solid or hollow. If solid, you're good to go. As far as the asparagus type shoots, I believe it's when the shoots are young, less than a foot and stiff. Can brine them and cook them, similarly to asparagus. A delicacy in some places.

The one on the rope looks like a bull to me. However, I'm not 100%. If you're wanting to know for sure, cut the tip off, just about the last or second to last node to look for it being hollow. It'll regrow a new shoot at the node if you keep it growing

 

[Apimyces]

How tall do they grow? Tomato treillis doesn't sound like it allows them much growth. They need a certain number of nodes before they can flower.

 

[Mikekp]

Apimyces, I was just continuously wrapping the bines up, down, sideways, and looping back over the top of itself. The bines were getting to be maybe 6 feet plus each, but I had like 10 bines instead of the 2-3 it sounds like I should have done. This year looks like it's coming up much stronger than previous years and could get much longer