sprouthing seeds in the frig - How to? (Ecuador)

[mraroid]

Hi...

I live in South America in Ecuador. I know, I know, this is the wrong place to grow hops!! I work in a botanical garden and we are going to give it a shot, for better or worse.

Seeds have finally arrived. I plan on starting maybe 20 seeds and see how many sprout. After they grow a little bit, I will transfer them to something close to one gallon pots, then transfer then to our shade house, then to full sunlight.

I am not sure at what age I will be able to distinguish between male and female plants....

I have the impression that I need to give the seeds a bit of a cold snap - probably in my frig.

Can anyone suggest how to do this, and how long I should keep the seeds in the frig?

I hope to start some seeds around the 10th of Sep. of this year. We don't have winter here - it is warm and sunny during winter in N. America.

Thanks for any help and advice...

mraroid

 

[z-bob]

I haven't done this with hops, but I grew some milkweeds for my wife this year (she raises Monarch butterflies) from seeds and they need cold stratification. I put the seeds on a damp paper towel, folded it up, and sealed it in a plastic sandwich bag. Then I refrigerated it for a month. When I took them out and planted in warm soil, they sprouted within a week.

I read a report from Oregon State University* that they wet the paper with a weak fungicide solution (Captan) and refrigerate hops seeds for 6 to 8 weeks, and got an 80% germination rate.

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*Haunold, Alfred and Charles E. Zimmermann (1974) Pollen collection, crossing and seed germination of hop. Crop Science 14:774-76

 

[mraroid]

I haven't done this with hops, but I grew some milkweeds for my wife this year (she raises Monarch butterflies) from seeds and they need cold stratification. I put the seeds on a damp paper towel, folded it up, and sealed it in a plastic sandwich bag. Then I refrigerated it for a month. When I took them out and planted in warm soil, they sprouted within a week.

I read a report from Oregon State University* that they wet the paper with a weak fungicide solution (Captan) and refrigerate hops seeds for 6 to 8 weeks, and got an 80% germination rate.

__
*Haunold, Alfred and Charles E. Zimmermann (1974) Pollen collection, crossing and seed germination of hop. Crop Science 14:774-76

Thank you for that good information. When I lived in the USA, I used Captan on cactus cuttings. I will look around in Ecuador for some. Thanks!

mraroid

 

[dmtaylor]

This seems like a very interesting project. I have often thought about how fun it would be to breed my own hops or other plants.

I agree with the guidance above. Wet paper towel for about 2 months is probably long enough to stratify the seeds and allow them to sprout.

Considerations specific to growing in Ecuador:

Like anywhere, I would expect the first growth "season" to have very small bines and perhaps a very small crop after approximately 5-6 months. At that point you might still not be able to figure out which are male vs. female, you might need a second "season" for that. Young flowers on both look fuzzy. After a couple of weeks, the male flowers resemble tiny clusters of grapes, while the females of course look like the usual cone shape.

I wonder, after they get that far, what to do when the crop seems complete? Cut down all the bines and just start over again? That might work, but I am not certain whether perhaps the rhizomes need some manner of a cold snap before they send out shoots again, or if this is just continuous. My *guess* is that in your environment they will continually send up new shoots all year round, so about every week or so, all year round, you may need to be very diligent in selecting only a couple of shoots per plant to allow to grow and climb while snipping off every other small shoot that comes up. Then after the harvest is complete on your main few bines per plant, you can cut the main ones down as well, everything cut down 100%, and start all over again. I think this will work.

In any case, lots of good soil, mulch, fertilizer, water, and sunlight are all important for optimal health of the plants. Ultimately you'll want to give your hops something very tall to climb, with strings at least 12 feet (4 meters) high, or as high as 24 feet (8 meters) if you have the ability to do so. They love to climb and it seems they produce more cones the higher they get.

Good luck!

 

[nagmay]

Sounds like a great project. Hopefully some of my experience can help. I have been sprouting for the past few years - potting up around 500 plants to date. You can read more here: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=397219

My best results have come from a cold stratification period prior to sprouting:

1) Start with clean/sterile sand, perlite, or vermiculite. Paper towel tends to be too wet & the small roots get bound up in it. I like fine perlite as it is easy to see the dark seeds. Pour water over perlite and then give it a shake. You want it to be damp, but not wet.

2) Place the seeds and damp perlite in a ziplock bag and give a good shake. I have tried sterilizing the seeds first - it didn't seem to increase the germination rates. However, I have been working with seeds I personally harvested.

3) Place the bag in the bottom of the refrigerator (like a crisper drawer). Somewhere where the temp will stay the most constant. I found that they need a min of 3 months to be effective.

4) After stratification, place the bag in warm, but dark area. Light will cause algae growth. Check the bag every day for sprouts. It can take a few weeks for all viable seeds to sprout.

Best of luck!

 

[z-bob]

Yes, if the seeds sprout in the paper towel and you don't catch them fast enough (same day, pretty much) the roots will stick to the paper. I lost some tomato seeds that way this year; luckily I had another packet.