So...You Want to Breed Your Own Hops.

[HALIFAXHOPS]

I wonder if the plant is a leftover from when the east coast was growing most of the hops? I believe it crashed due to disease in the 30's or so.

 

[B-Hoppy]

It seems like there is undocumemted breeding all the time. I order Freshops whole hops and they are full of seeds. I guess that in Idaho and Washington the hop yards are adjacent to breeding yards where there are male plants. Each seed has to be a random hybrid between the cascade or us fuggles you know you bought, and some unknown male. Sheer statistics would produce a winning new variety or two every year if you were willing to germinate every one and see what they become.

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Freshops has been sourcing their hops from the Yakima & Willamette valleys since the late 80's and I've been using them since the early 90's. Some lots have had quite a few seeds from harvest to harvest and have been the source of the majority of my seedlings over the years. Keeping males out of all those thousands of acres is an ongoing process and you're bound to have some seeds from time to time. Variety is the spice of life!

 

[alane1]

I was reading some info on the lineage of hops http://yakimachief.com/index.php/varieties/ and found most of the newer strains I.E. Citra and Simcoe, were crosses from older European varieties. My question is do they use the older varieties because of more stable genetics?

 

[PapaBearJay]

I would like to create some rhizomes from cutting as well. Do you have any tips on how to go about that?

Can you take cuttings from side arms or do they have to come from bines that grow out of the soil?

How long of a cutting should you take? Is there anything special that you do to encourage root formation?

I would recommend initially that you take a cutting from the main bine. This doesn't have to be the case, but I'm not familiar with how well sidearms will root. Part of this has to do with the "maturity" of the growth. This concept will sometimes be difficult for people to comprehend, but the juvenile growth or proximal portion of the stem to the crown will generally root much easier than the distal portion. (The further away from the crown you are, the more likely you will difficulty in rooting.)

Chronologically, the growth that is at the fringe or edges of the plant in question is "young", though physiologically it is mature. This can be exemplified during harvest as you'll notice that the lower growth does not generally flower at all, and that is a result of that section of the plant not being "competent" to flower below that point.

So to answer your question, if you're interested in taking (and producing) cuttings, keep your plants short, this will promote growth closer to the crown which will be easier to root.

Second, treatment with a rooting hormone (should) increase the capacity of rooting, but this is likely variety dependent, as well as the environment you provide for it. Also, I have regenerated plants from a single leaf, though I can't recommend it, but likely as few as 1-2 nodes and as many as 3-4 will provide sufficient rooting.

There are many things in question here, and when taking a cutting you are removing the source of nutrition and life of the plant, and maintaining the environment that will promote all of these things can only help you.

 

[B-Hoppy]

I was reading some info on the lineage of hops http://yakimachief.com/index.php/varieties/ and found most of the newer strains I.E. Citra and Simcoe, were crosses from older European varieties. My question is do they use the older varieties because of more stable genetics?

By no means am I a breeder, but every Ag student learns a little bit about breeding/genetics somewhere in their curriculum. From what I recall is that certain plants/animals or whatever you're breeding tend to pass on very desirable traits to the offspring so they are the go-to varieties to start with in your program. This paper explains quite a bit: http://bsgcraftbrewing.com/FileCabinet/TheBreeding_Varieties[1].pdf

 

[PapaBearJay]

By no means am I a breeder, but every Ag student learns a little bit about breeding/genetics somewhere in their curriculum. From what I recall is that certain plants/animals or whatever you're breeding tend to pass on very desirable traits to the offspring so they are the go-to varieties to start with in your program. This paper explains quite a bit: http://bsgcraftbrewing.com/FileCabinet/TheBreeding_Varieties[1].pdf

So B-Hoppy hit on one of two main points. Desirable traits. These are tracked from beginning to end during the program. A lot of work during the final years of the breeding program results in making sure you can bring it to market.

Another thing going on here is generally referred to as hybrid vigor (or heterosis). So, this is generally applied to agronomic crops like corn, soybean, barley, and wheat. These species are primarily self-pollinating and will produce seed nearly identical to the parent plant. Genetically, these plant are generally referred to as homozygous. That is to say, at a specific loci (the location where a gene resides), the plant contains the same alleles (or trait, in the simplest sense). A heterozygote, would contain different alleles. Homozygotes are also referred to inbreds quite commonly.

When the plants are then forced to outcross with another inbred plant or population, the resultant progeny will outperform either of the parents. This phenomenon is what we refer to as heterosis.

Now, to bring it full-circle. Hops are not a self-pollinating species like corn or soybean. Their traits are highly heterozygous across the genome. So every time a breeder (public, private, or hobbyist) makes a cross, they produce 10's-1000's of potentially unique individuals (provided they all germinate and grow). Will they potentially share similar characteristics, yes of course. Look at your siblings or other family members, do you share traits? Are you crazy? (Don't feel obligated to answer that.)

But I digress, because hops are so highly heterozygous, one thing they have noticed (and Brewer's Gold and Bullion are prime examples of this, one parent was a male from Europe, and the female was a wild Canadian plant that had been shipped overseas) is that there is greater genetic distance between the European and American plants, so by crossing them together, they generally receive a few number of plants that are worthwhile selections for new varieties. (There are also a number of other varieties that have similar stories, but Brewer's Gold and Bullion are the earliest such examples.)

Brewer's Gold and Bullion, actually outperformed either parent and had greater bittering potential than either, which lead brewers to needing less in the brew kettle.

 

[PapaBearJay]

So just some news, I received my new seed lots (again, from different sources) and will be placing them into culture next week. I'm hoping to have better results this go around, but one never knows...

I will also be posting some pictures next week as well of some new plants.

EDIT:
03/24/2014

Just placed them into culture today. I also received some transplants that I will let acclimate in the greenhouse for a few days before I begin playing around.

 

[PapaBearJay]

The top picture is a 5 month old Sterling cutting, while the below picture is a 5 month old Centennial.

Both are representative of the treatments they received, and you can see that there are clear differences between varieties.

The greatest differences than can be seen is the number and size of rhizomes that are forming around the crown. Those which are not pictured here, are increased biomass (fresh weight), and there seems to be an initial correlation between size of the cutting and length of the longest root.

You can also see the blanched (whitened) portion of the original cutting that was under the soil line, and eventually differentiated and began forming the new crown structure.

 

[PapaBearJay]

Attached are pictures of a 2nd year plant. This is a seedling from a cross with a wild plant. It is already exhibiting some desirable phenotypic traits, greater examination and photos to come later.

 

[DarkCoder]

I am a bit surprised because you were asking everywhere for wild plant material and mentioning that this year attempts for seedling were not going as well as expected... just like if it was a first year experiment.

Happy to see that you have a couple of seedling to play with.

 

[PapaBearJay]

I am a bit surprised because you were asking everywhere for wild plant material and mentioning that this year attempts for seedling were not going as well as expected... just like if it was a first year experiment.



Happy to see that you have a couple of seedling to play with.

I don't have the wild material myself...but when I do, expect to be receiving some...


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[DarkCoder]

I don't have the wild material myself...but when I do, expect to be receiving some...

Well....thanks ! Yesterday, while driving on countryside roads, I saw some dried hop plants that climbed (last Summer) on metal wires retaining electric posts. Because of their location, I am not sure if they are wild plants or not. This spot is only 10 minutes away from my house, so I will definitely visit those plants when all the snow will be gone.

 

[PapaBearJay]

Well....thanks ! Yesterday, while driving on countryside roads, I saw some dried hop plants that climbed (last Summer) on metal wires retaining electric posts. Because of their location, I am not sure if they are wild plants or not. This spot is only 10 minutes away from my house, so I will definitely visit those plants when all the snow will be gone.

Woot! Also, no this is not a first year experiment, but as time didn't permit my forum presence dwindled. Once I found time to browse the forum, I discovered the wide array of topics that had started and failed while also presenting false knowledge.

 

[PapaBearJay]

Can anyone spot the seedlings?


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[DarkCoder]

Are you growing them in popcorn residue or what ?!?

 

[PapaBearJay]

Are you growing them in popcorn residue or what ?!?

Just some coarse vermiculite spread over the surface of a soil mix. Simple enough really.

 

[DarkCoder]

Going back in time in the current thread.... here is an interesting article about the new hop selection process and the story of recent varieties.

BYO article


** EDIT ** Here is another one... Other BYO article

 

[PapaBearJay]

Going back in time in the current thread.... here is an interesting article about the new hop selection process and the story of recent varieties.

BYO article


** EDIT ** Here is another one... Other BYO article

Both of those are well-written articles, but this doesn't even begin to scratch the surface....

 

[brewerelated]

Attached are pictures of a 2nd year plant. This is a seedling from a cross with a wild plant. It is already exhibiting some desirable phenotypic traits, greater examination and photos to come later.

Is the one of the parents a named variety or are both parents wild?

 

[PapaBearJay]

Is the one of the parents a named variety or are both parents wild?

Named x Wild. I prefer to keep pedigree information under the radar for the moment.



Picture updates, a third seedling emerged from his cage today. (The middle picture.)



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[alane1]

I know what you mean

 

[PapaBearJay]

Today was nice enough I took a few moments to go outside and work. In the process I found a few moments to string some lines and at least tell myself that the season is near..



Five down, two to go. After that maybe the fence...and then the house...


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[alane1]

I did some burning yesterday to clear out some land, which is nice to finally get outside and start work. Today is also day 30 stratification for my 1st package of seeds, moving them someplace warmer today.

 

[PapaBearJay]

I did some burning yesterday to clear out some land, which is nice to finally get outside and start work. Today is also day 30 stratification for my 1st package of seeds, moving them someplace warmer today.

Woohoo! Just remember that some seeds may take up to 4 weeks to sprout. If you don't have any after that point, replace them for a couple more weeks. Then try again!


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[alane1]

Woohoo! Just remember that some seeds may take up to 4 weeks to sprout. If you don't have any after that point, replace them for a couple more weeks. Then try again!


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Good to know, I'll post back with results.

 

[brewerelated]

I am on day 16 for my hop seed stratification. These are the seeds that DarkCoder sent me. I really hope that I am successful and able to post results.

Here is a picture of some of my hops that are currently growing in my yard.

 

[PapaBearJay]

I am on day 16 for my hop seed stratification. These are the seeds that DarkCoder sent me. I really hope that I am successful and able to post results.

Here is a picture of some of my hops that are currently growing in my yard.

Varieties?


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[brewerelated]

Varieties?


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The Centennial is 2nd year and all of the other plants are 1st year grown from rhizomes. I am relatively new to hop growing.

The seeds that DarkCoder sent me were seeds from whole leaf Cascade from Hop Union. I wish I had more space because I'd love to plant a bunch more varieties for my breeding project.

 

[PapaBearJay]

Hope for the best prepare for the worst, they say.


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[brewerelated]

From what I read on here on the forum it seems that germination rates are pretty low. It would be nice to get at least one male and one female. That would make me happy. If I could only pick one I would pick the one male. As that would give me a way to create my own seeds.