Rhizome buds at this time of year??? My first rhizome harvesting experience.

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kilohertz

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I just found a large mass of hops on the edge of an new orchard, which I believe used to be an old hop yard, and decided to bring a few rhizomes home. They are growing on a steep slope up against a fence, and the ground was incredibly soft and lots of mulch from years of being left alone, so I grabbed a few bines and yanked 'em out of the ground and low and behold they came right out, root about 3/8" thick and FULL of fresh white buds/shoots, all about 1/4"-3/8" long. WoW! Healthy plants. So now I have 3 good root shoots with many buds and am going to plant them today in the hop yard. Of course no idea what they are, but I can see from the cone bracts, that they are big cones, almost 2" long, and were probably a commercially viable variety if they were part of a hop yard.

Anyway, I was surprised to see such active growth right now, as it is fast approaching winter (been hovering around -2C at nights and maybe 7C during the day). As this is my first experience in seeing rhizomes live in the ground, is this normal? I am going to plant them today, usual method about 3" deep with lots of mulch and horse poop on them. It's supposed to stay around these temps for the next week or more.

Your thoughts and experience in this regard would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers
 
That's exactly how I found my first rhizomes. I took them home and buried them in a shallow trench in a corn field across the street (was renting at that point). The following spring, I came back and dug them up and replanted in a different location.

What you're seeing are buds that form in the fall which will be the first to take off next spring. You should be fine by planting at this time as they will begin to root in their new location until the soil freezes. Once things warm up in the spring they'll resume root growth until the temps warm up to the point to initiate shoot growth. Happy Hopping~
 
Thanks Bob!

In my haste to get them out of the ground before tumbling back down the hill, I really just yanked them out, there are very few if any fine roots, just the main root with the buds. Should I go back with proper excavation equipment and be more careful to retain the fine little roots as well?

Cheers
 
You can if it'll make you feel better, but really not necessary as they should be fine as-is.
 
Thanks Bob!

In my haste to get them out of the ground before tumbling back down the hill, I really just yanked them out, there are very few if any fine roots, just the main root with the buds. Should I go back with proper excavation equipment and be more careful to retain the fine little roots as well?

Cheers


Don't worry I did the same thing last year, and they've grown perfectly this year. New rootlets will form in spring.
 
Well they are all kissed goodnight and tucked in for a long winter's nap, and not a moment too soon...-5C and snowing now. Put them about 3" down in a mix of very old horse manure and soil and then covered them with a few inches more of horse poop.

cheers

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And here she is in all her glory from a Google Street view photo I found...amazing what gets photographed and posted. This was taken in Sept. 2014, in full bloom. Looks good!!

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That picture inspires me not to prune my plants! Have fun come spring, KH--start thinking trellis and where in the yard the next ones will go. It can be slippery slope.
 
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