Total Failure? Need Help

[Fletch78]

I got some hops last Fall, two plants, a Cascade and a Nugget. I planted them in very large pots. Being Fall, they did nothing and I eventually dug them up and stored them in a styrofoam cooler out of the frost. Incidentally, as I was about to replant them, we had to move. So, at the new house, we have much better Southern Exposure, and I've replanted the hops.

My question is: Are they dead now from being in a styrofoam cooler for 4 months?

The one cascade seems to have a little red bud trying to exist, after 4 days of being planted.

The nugget shows nothing.

 

[ThreeDogsNE]

They are far more likely to have been harmed by the storage in the cooler than by frost. I bought several in the late summer, and brought some in for this winter. The ones I left outside did okay. The ones inside in my basement all died, despite grow lights. They are very hardy plants, and mine do fine spending the winter in frozen ground with part time snow cover.

I wouldn't wait too long for signs of life before ordering new rhizomes. One of my winter transplants had promising looking buds, but never grew. They're generally only offered in the early spring. They're also relatively cheap. I've spent more for a pint in a pub. $4.50 here on a quick check:

http://www.freshops.com/cgi-bin/sho...s=all&template=PDGCommTemplates/rhizomes.html

You might find better deals. I only checked this one vendor.

 

[Retrofit]

I'm in Chicagoland, I get Chicago weather. I store my hops in the ground I buried them in.
Yeah, I'm suspicious of bringing rhizomes in to 'protect' them. Just leave them where you planted them next time.

The Cascade red bud is a good sign. The nugget, can't hurt to just get it in the ground. IF it looked liked dry kindling, then it would be obviously dead. Anything else... there is a chance.

Get them in the ground, give them some good compost, get them some mulch- roll the dice.

Good luck

 

[Fletch78]

I'm in Chicagoland, I get Chicago weather. I store my hops in the ground I buried them in.
Yeah, I'm suspicious of bringing rhizomes in to 'protect' them. Just leave them where you planted them next time.

The Cascade red bud is a good sign. The nugget, can't hurt to just get it in the ground. IF it looked liked dry kindling, then it would be obviously dead. Anything else... there is a chance.

Get them in the ground, give them some good compost, get them some mulch- roll the dice.

Good luck

Thanks. I wouldn't have moved them either, except I was renting and had to move.

 

[Retrofit]

Hey Fletch78, I was thinking about your situation. Had an idea. If one of the pro's thinks I'm wrong, please chime in.

When you get new rhizomes in the mail, they often tell you to put them in a plastic bag and keep them in a fridge until you are ready to plant them.

I've never done that.

I've kept them in plastic bags with several paper wet paper towels and kept them in the sun.

What I've noticed is compared to my friends who do the fridge thing, my hops take off in the bag. It's like a mini-greenhouse. You've got your light, your water, and the bag is like a warm humid 'glass house'.

Maybe you should take these rhizomes out of the freezer, leave them in moist bags inside your home, by a window. See what happens. It might helps.

Anyone else have thoughts on this idea?

 

[Malintent]

my thought is that whatever works, do it... however the idea that rhizomes do better in light than in the dark is counter-intuitive... they 'expect' to be underground, not in sunlight.