Rhizome failure

[Cromwell]

Between a buddy and myself, we have ordered and planted 15 hop Rhizomes of 4 different varieties, all from Rebel Brewer. Of those 15 Rhizomes, only one has grown. Is this a reasonable rate of failure for rhizomes? It seems excessive. We planted the rhizomes within 2 days of receipt in the mail, and we're in California where it's reasonably warm but not hot yet.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

How long have they been in teh ground?

They aren't Jack and the beanstalk instant.

 

[dbhokie]

They take a while to come up sometimes. The soil needs to be moist, and they can't have dried out, and your soil can have obviously a lot to do with it. They have a decent desire for Nitrogen and Potassium, not nearly as much desire for phosphors. The salinity of your soil also has a decent effect, and it helps if the PH is slightly acidic.

If they dry out though, not good.

You may just need to wait a bit, some varieties will not grow as well where you are as others. My Cascades take off way before my Magnum's for instance.

 

[Cromwell]

They've been watered, and the soil is new - 50-50 mulch and topsoil, so it should be pretty good. It's possible they're just slow, except one of the plants is growing pretty well. I have all Cascades and I thought they'd grow pretty well in CA.
Was just curious if anyone else had such a bad showing on rhizomes in general, or from Rebel Brewer in particular?

 

[cram]

I have established and first-year plants in Socal, too, and they are way later to get going this year than in years past. Things are about a month behind what they've been. So be patient. We've had relatively cool conditions, especially night-time temperatures, so things should work out. Don't go digging down to look for them, though, as tempting as it may be...and don't drown them but give them water most days. If nothing has happened by June, you've got a problem.

 

[JRems]

That's not a reasonable rate for failure. I had 100% sucsess with over 10 plants. I got all My rhizomes from members here. I never bought one from a store. Maybe they were sitting around too long? Were they dried out looking when you got them?
You said you have 50-50 mulch topsoil, did you mix the mulch into the top soil? If so that shouldn't be done. If you need to loosen up your soil, till it with some peat moss or leaf mold or compost.

 

[Crito]

my brewers gold and nugget are doing awesome. My cascade one of the two finnaly poped out yesterday. My whil is not poping out yet.

If they are thin ones, it will take some time. If they are in a raised bed. Water them lightly each day when the sun is going to be out.

Your plants will have a tough time because your soil is new. Esp. since its mostly compost/mulch.

took me two years to get a kick arse veggie garden due to the soil being new.

 

[idahobrew]

How deep did you plant?

 

[cinderbike]

So how long does it take to see positive signs?

Not to threadjack but I planted 3 rhizomes mid-April and none of them have sprouted yet. How do I know they're alive?

 

[ArrowheadHops]

Not knowing how long they have been planted, I'd give them some time. Also they only need planted maybe an inch or two deep. Don’t over water them, just once or twice a week if it’s dry. If they don’t come up in let’s say 2-3 weeks the odds are slim.

 

[firebirdude]

This is my first year growing hops. I have two different varieties (cascade and willamette) and have found them EXTREMELY easy to grow here in central FL. They were kept in the fridge at my LFS. I bought them, brought them home, dumped top soil in a large pot, and planted the rhizomes about an inch deep. You're suppose to plant them with the white sprouts/tips facing up, but I couldn't really see any/find them. I watered lightly every day at first (now it's every other day). Within a week, the cascade had green sprouts above the soil. Two weeks, it has several full leaves. The willamette however didn't seem to be growing, so I decided to dig into it and find out what's up. lol Now there were visible growth tips. I shoved it back into the soil with the tips just below the surface. Few days later, it had green sprouts too.

It's been a couple months now and they've taken off. Couple feet high and really bushed out already. They're hauling booty.

 

[Maweni]

I live in Socal and have about 8 varieties. All first year rhizomes. My cascades are doing the best out of all the varieties. I have only had to failures out of 15 plants and the cause was due to them drying out while I was away for a week. The soil mix I had was mulch and compost and the media was too well draining and dried too fast. The best soil mix that I have found is 2/5 compost, 2/5 potting mix and 1/5 steer manure. My cascades are both in this mix as well as one Galena. These three plants are out performing the rest of my other plants that are in other soil mixes. This mix also holds water well without being waterlogged.

 

[wolverinebrewer]

You should have 100% success if you started with a live rhizome, gave it adequate care and didn't plant it too deep. I have never lost any after planting and I usually cut them smaller after I get them to make more plants. These are really easy to grow.

What I would do is just dig one up carefully and take a look at it instead of waiting there wondering whats going on in your soil.

 

[badbrew]

All of mine are plants now except the extra thin root pieces that were added with the order. I would look at depth of the planting as well as drying out of the roots before establishment. I suspect that the roots dried out or were subject to something toxic.