Quick Question, Possible Myth

[Tsuyako]

So is it true or not that if you plant hops in the ground you will never get rid of them? Like horseradish which once in the ground is impossible to kill?

I want to plant my rhizomes (which are in the fridge) but as I rent I don't want to be resposible for the next tenents to have have hops if I move and I would want to take them with me.

 

[pkeeler]

You should be able to dig up the rhizomes without much trouble.

 

[cuinrearview]

Go to your local box home improvement store and buy one 8ft. 1X12 or 1X10. Fashion yourself a 2'X2' box and bury it an inch or three in the soil. If you want to get fancy get a 12 footer and make a 3X3 box but IMO it's not necessary. Fill it with dirt/compost/whatever growing medium you like and plant the rhizome before you put the last 2" of soil in it. The roots will be able to dig down and get nutrients and water but any rhizomes produced from your soon to be crown will bang into the side of the box and travel around in a circle. They won't go deeper and run under the side so you will effectively contain the plant with a box. In my experience the shoot producing/propogating parts of the hop plant want to stay near the surface with the roots going deeper. A setup like this makes it very easy to transplant as well. Just lift of the box and go to work with your hands.

 

[david_42]

Hops can be killed with any broad-leaf spray. They are, however, difficult to get rid of by digging.

 

[Tsuyako]

Go to your local box home improvement store and buy one 8ft. 1X12 or 1X10. Fashion yourself a 2'X2' box and bury it an inch or three in the soil. If you want to get fancy get a 12 footer and make a 3X3 box but IMO it's not necessary. Fill it with dirt/compost/whatever growing medium you like and plant the rhizome before you put the last 2" of soil in it. The roots will be able to dig down and get nutrients and water but any rhizomes produced from your soon to be crown will bang into the side of the box and travel around in a circle. They won't go deeper and run under the side so you will effectively contain the plant with a box. In my experience the shoot producing/propogating parts of the hop plant want to stay near the surface with the roots going deeper. A setup like this makes it very easy to transplant as well. Just lift of the box and go to work with your hands.

That's a really good idea. Sounds cheap(er) to, I believe I will implement(sp) this idea.

 

[GVH_Dan]

Put them in a pot, larger the better, and take them with you when you move.

 

[tmurph]

Why would any future tenant NOT want hops in their yard?! I mean, hops were originally decorative and could quite possibly inspire someone to start brewing. Plus, they could always sell them to a local homebrewer for a reasonable profit.

 

[conpewter]

If I ever needed to kill off hops I'd just use a herbacide.

 

[JeffHops]

Crossbow. In the Fall.

 

[Randar]

Go to your local box home improvement store and buy one 8ft. 1X12 or 1X10. Fashion yourself a 2'X2' box and bury it an inch or three in the soil. If you want to get fancy get a 12 footer and make a 3X3 box but IMO it's not necessary. Fill it with dirt/compost/whatever growing medium you like and plant the rhizome before you put the last 2" of soil in it. The roots will be able to dig down and get nutrients and water but any rhizomes produced from your soon to be crown will bang into the side of the box and travel around in a circle. They won't go deeper and run under the side so you will effectively contain the plant with a box. In my experience the shoot producing/propogating parts of the hop plant want to stay near the surface with the roots going deeper. A setup like this makes it very easy to transplant as well. Just lift of the box and go to work with your hands.

FAIL.

Rhizomes will go as deep as 12-18 inches depending on soil type and this method will do nothing to prevent the spread or rhizomes once the crown becomes established.

 

[Tsuyako]

Yes I thought of the pot method but I really want to give my hops the benifit of the doubt and have enough room to grow. So I guess my new question is how difficult will it be to dig them up once they have rooted in?

 

[bosox]

From everything I read, once hops are in the ground it's fair game. The spread out as far as they are allowed, they grow very quickly, they're hardy...

i have a half whiskey barrel, but it's plastic so has no drainage, and I was advised to NOT drill holes in the bottom unless I check it constantly or have it on something like a piece of wood. Otherwise the hop roots can grow down and out of the 18inch bucket.

Just go with some big half whiskey barrels. Otherwise it will pretty much be impossible to kill the hops without some serious serious effort, and luck.

 

[cuinrearview]

I did a pictoral thread on digging up an established plant to split it. I can't find it right now but it was titled "split a crown today and took pics". It may help

 

[Randar]

Yes I thought of the pot method but I really want to give my hops the benifit of the doubt and have enough room to grow. So I guess my new question is how difficult will it be to dig them up once they have rooted in?

Not terribly difficult as long as you have a shovel/spade. Otherwise it is a huge PITA!

Seriously, though, I have read of people digging them up and trimming them as often as every year (for an established crown) to every 2-3 years. This will keep them more contained and is an alternative to attempting to implement a rhizome barrier.

Real issue can be if they mingle roots/rhizomes with nearby crowns of a different variety and this is more of a concern for people with multiple varieties in close proximity.

 

[Randar]

From everything I read, once hops are in the ground it's fair game. The spread out as far as they are allowed, they grow very quickly, they're hardy...

i have a half whiskey barrel, but it's plastic so has no drainage, and I was advised to NOT drill holes in the bottom unless I check it constantly or have it on something like a piece of wood. Otherwise the hop roots can grow down and out of the 18inch bucket.

Just go with some big half whiskey barrels. Otherwise it will pretty much be impossible to kill the hops without some serious serious effort, and luck.

Why are you concerned with the hop taproots growing out of the bottom of the barrel? They can't reproduce via rhizome in that manner, so what is the concern?

Without drainage holes you will be asking for rot and mold and it will likely eventually kill whatever you are trying to grow. You get a couple weeks of wet weather and you will be dealing with dead plants.

 

[QuixoticDevice]

I think as long as you keep the crowns root-pruned, once it comes time to leave the place, they should be fairly self-contained. Though, it'll seem a fairly a sisyphean task; as soon as you trim back the roots, more will spring up to take their place.

 

[Homercidal]

Why would you care about it when you leave? Just plant them, and dig up whatever rhizome you wants when you leave. Maybe the next tenants won't want them, but maybe they will.

 

[Tsuyako]

Why would you care about it when you leave? Just plant them, and dig up whatever rhizome you wants when you leave. Maybe the next tenants won't want them, but maybe they will.

It's more of a courtesy for the landlord and next tennents and I want to take them with me. Not to mention I'd be very sad leaving behind something I've grown.

 

[Ouroboros]

Why would someone ever want to spray herbicide on hops? That's like putting puppies in a blender!

 

[B-Hoppy]

in all honesty, i don't know what an enigma is, but i'd rather spray an herbicide on a puppy than a hop plant. that's just me though. maybe it's because i live next to indiana? i think i'll have another beer and listen to some more allman bros.. adios!

 

[Ouroboros]

i'd rather spray an herbicide on a puppy than a hop plant. that's just me though. maybe it's because i live next to indiana?

Hello there neighbor (in a state sort of way)... glad to see you appreciate the glorious hop as much as I do. And nice choice of music. One of my favorite allman bros tracks:

 

[cuinrearview]

FAIL.

Rhizomes will go as deep as 12-18 inches depending on soil type and this method will do nothing to prevent the spread or rhizomes once the crown becomes established.

SUCCESS.:rockin:

12 plants ranging from two to nine years old don't lie. Lots of good info out there but lots of meaningless babble also. Remember when we thought more than a month on yeast meant meaty beers?

To OP: Just make the boxes and you'll be fine. No worries to future tenants or your landlord, and the plant will thank you for it!

 

[Tsuyako]

SUCCESS.:rockin:

12 plants ranging from two to nine years old don't lie. Lots of good info out there but lots of meaningless babble also. Remember when we thought more than a month on yeast meant meaty beers?

To OP: Just make the boxes and you'll be fine. No worries to future tenants or your landlord, and the plant will thank you for it!

Well I guess it never hurts to try. I'll just dig up the little puppies if I move. Thanks all!

 

[cuinrearview]

BTW, here's the link to the pictoral.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f92/split-crown-today-took-pics-113775/

 

[Tsuyako]

BTW, here's the link to the pictoral.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f92/split-crown-today-took-pics-113775/

Thanks! (10)

 

[Randar]

SUCCESS.:rockin:

12 plants ranging from two to nine years old don't lie. Lots of good info out there but lots of meaningless babble also. Remember when we thought more

I looked at your pictures and that little itty bitty thing in your hand is the "crown" at 6 years of age?

If so, that is a sad looking 6 year old crown. My 2 year old crowns dwarf that and at 4 years they are 6-8 times that size.

I have found rhizomes 3 feet from a crown of a 3 year old plant that was 10 inches below grade.

 

[cuinrearview]

Yah, as evidenced by the pictures it stayed pretty wet there. Moving that plant above grade into boxes was the best thing I've done. The other plants I have on the lake and at other locations in the raised beds seem to do better. But I swear I've yet to find a sprout outside of the boxes and digging rhizomes is a breeze because they just lap the perimeter of the box. Maybe it's just my location but I'm not that far from you. There's a wild plant locally that puts up sprouts a good 25 ft.(!) from the crown and all of those rhizomes lie just beneath the surface. Would love to see THAT crown!

 

[Retrofit]

I looked at your pictures and that little itty bitty thing in your hand is the "crown" at 6 years of age?

If so, that is a sad looking 6 year old crown. My 2 year old crowns dwarf that and at 4 years they are 6-8 times that size.

I have found rhizomes 3 feet from a crown of a 3 year old plant that was 10 inches below grade.

Wow Randar, way to show your rhizome is bigger than his! LOL

 

[Randar]

Wow Randar, way to show your rhizome is bigger than his! LOL

Well, I have been told I must be compensating for something... can't remember what it was, though

 

[Randar]

Yah, as evidenced by the pictures it stayed pretty wet there. Moving that plant above grade into boxes was the best thing I've done. The other plants I have on the lake and at other locations in the raised beds seem to do better. But I swear I've yet to find a sprout outside of the boxes and digging rhizomes is a breeze because they just lap the perimeter of the box. Maybe it's just my location but I'm not that far from you. There's a wild plant locally that puts up sprouts a good 25 ft.(!) from the crown and all of those rhizomes lie just beneath the surface.

They take the path of least resistance, so they will generally be pretty shallow unless confined. Once they become root-confined they start getting "desperate" to break out. You see the same behavior in bamboo.

Although we are relatively close geographically, our conditions are very different. Your soil is pretty sandy and as you pointed out, you are very close to the water table. I have intensely fertile black dirt/clay about 24" above the hard clay base and our water table is not a real consideration to gardening.

Dowling, knew I recognized that name. My family is from the Gun Lake/Shelbyville/Hastings area. My grandfather was a dairy farmer on the west side of Gun Lake and my great-great-grandparents were the original owners and proprietors of Bay Pointe Inn. Still have family in the area and get back there a couple times a year, but not as often since my grandfather passed away 2 years ago.

I'll be trimming some 3 yr's this fall or next spring and will try to remember to take some picks for comparison.