Should I Bury My Hop Vines After Harvesting?

[dershbrew]

Greetings from Canton, OH!

This is my first year of hop growing. I bought 2 Cascade rhizomes and my buddy and I built this 14ft tall structure with pulleys to let the vines down for harvesting. His neighbors have been concerned that we built some kind of crazy cross in his backyard

My question is this: I read in a hop growing and cultivating book I got from the library that the vines after harvesting can then be buried and stay that way over the course of the winter season in order to be used as starts for planting the subsequent Spring. The author did not really mention any more than this and I have been unsuccessfully looking for more information on this method all over. Has anyone tried this or know anything about it?

 

[stpug]

Burying them will cause them to throw roots and shoots the following year for propagation. You'd then unbury them, cut them to 6-10" lengths, and transplant them where you want to. I certainly would NOT bury them and leave them that way for the next growing season - you'd be asking for trouble.

Additionally, you'd generally want to propagate rhizomes from thicker bines (pencil or thicker) to create good rhizomes. The reason, as I understand it, is that the rhizome segment contains the energy needed to get going and start rooting. In other words, the large diameter cutting will have more energy stored for better "set" the following year.

Another option for propagating is to lay down a piece of plastic; put a layer of dirt on it; lay your bines on the dirt with the ends of the bines sticking out the other end of the plastic; and cover the majority of the bines with more dirt leaving the ends exposed. The next year you simply pull up the bines and trim the buried parts into rhizome sections - but again, first year bines are generally not thick enough for good rhizome propagation.

You will not want to plant any more cascade where you have your current plantings. Cascade will have no problem setting in and taking off. In 1-2 years you'll wonder why you planted two spots with cascade . I harvested 3 pounds of dried cascade last year on a single planting (3rd year bines); in comparison, I only got 7 oz dried Centennial (2nd year bines); and <1 oz dried Golding (2nd year bines). This year looks to produce about the same cascade, twice the centennial, and maybe 8-12 oz goldings.

 

[dershbrew]

After posting this I found this thread under the similar threads section: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f92/i-come-bury-bines-not-raze-them-136068/

-Would it be a waste to bury them this year since its my first year of growth?
-If I remember correctly I have heard people express concerns about the buried vines getting harmed by over saturation. Is this a valid concern?

 

[dershbrew]

Burying them will cause them to throw roots and shoots the following year for propagation. You'd then unbury them, cut them to 6-10" lengths, and transplant them where you want to. I certainly would NOT bury them and leave them that way for the next growing season - you'd be asking for trouble.

Additionally, you'd generally want to propagate rhizomes from thicker bines (pencil or thicker) to create good rhizomes. The reason, as I understand it, is that the rhizome segment contains the energy needed to get going and start rooting. In other words, the large diameter cutting will have more energy stored for better "set" the following year.

You will not want to plant any more cascade where you have your current plantings. Cascade will have no problem setting in and taking off. In 1-2 years you'll wonder why you planted two spots with cascade . I harvested 3 pounds of dried cascade last year on a single planting (3rd year bines); in comparison, I only got 7 oz dried Centennial (2nd year bines); and <1 oz dried Golding (2nd year bines). This year looks to produce about the same cascade, twice the centennial, and maybe 8-12 oz goldings.

Very interesting. Thanks for the input! I think Ill just cut them off after harvest, then.

 

[stpug]

I added another paragraph above about using plastic for propagating rhizomes. Sorry, I was editing my post when you posted.

Yeah, if you want more rhizomes for planting just wait until next year to do it. Plus it gives you plenty of time to prepare for it.