When to transplant bine cuttings from pot to ground?

[jenray]

First time post from first time hop grower.

I was given about 20+ bine cuttings (cascade) to try and grow. I had no idea what I was doing so I just stripped off the bottom leaves and poked the ends down into a large pot about a month ago. Well wonder of wonders, about half survived and I have about 10 little hop plants growing in a 24" pot. From what I understand, hops started from bine cuttings don't grow as fast at first, as they are putting their energy into root development, so do you think they will all be ok living together in that pot this year? It seems to me that if they have undeveloped root systems at this point, trying to dig them up and transplant them, either into individual pots or the ground, would not be a good idea. But I'm also worried that having that many plants in one pot will create a root ball that will be impossible to separate later. Any suggestions?

Thanks
-jen

 

[nefarious_1_]

I would try to separate them while they're still small. My thinking is that you don't want the roots to become intertwined: you'll never be able to separate them without severely stunting them. I'm also thinking once they get bigger, there will be a lot of competition for nutrients, root space, etc. and the stronger plants will choke out the smaller ones.

Depending how big they are, I wouldn't put them all directly into the ground though. Individual pots with some rooting soil sounds like a good idea, at least until the root system is more established and you feel they have a better chance of survival.

 

[jenray]

Yes, I was thinking that if I did need to separate them now, individual pots might be easier on them then putting them in the ground. Thanks for the advice.

It is my understanding that rhizomes will form eventually on these cuttings. I was thinking that after that happened would be the time to transplant them to the ground. Any idea how long that might take take?

 

[jenray]

UPDATE:

Only two of the 10 cuttings really took off, so I culled the rest. I left one in the original pot and, as carefully as I could, transplanted the other to a separate pot. The transplanted hop was really set back by the move, and at first I was not sure it was going to make it, but it slowly came back, and within a month was almost caught up with the other plant. I got a nice small harvest of hops from both plants. I was quite pleased!

So happy that growing hops from cuttings worked.