Got some hop rhizomes from wzl46 today. Dude has been hookin me up!!
With great anticipation I plan on planting them.
Should I just till some soil and add some fertilizer?
Any other green thumb tricks I should know about.
Not much of a green thumb myself, grew some plants closely related to hops years ago but not sure that it is the same.
I don’t know if it’s the right way, but I dug a hole in our lovely clay about the size of a 5 gallon bucket, filled it in most of the way with soil and composted manure (50/50), planted the rhizome, then piled a good mound of 50/50 on top of it. Once they poked up I mulched.
I would start them out in a small pot (1 gallon) with some decent potting soil to get them somewhat rooted and then transfer them in May to their permanant home in the ground. Pick a location that gets a good amount of sun in your house for now like a window sill. You will need to fertilize them at some frequency after they have established. Read this article and go from there.
http://www.brewingtechniques.com/library/backissues/issue2.3/montell.html
I dig a hole (not as big as a 5 gal. bucket, though!), add compost, and stick 'em in the ground.
+1
Organic compost is the best for hops.
For planting rhizomes the best way to do it is a dig a hole about 1 foot deep. Fill with a 50/50 blend of compost and dirt. Plant the rhizomes so that they have the white vine looking parts about 1 inch under the ground and they should be pointed up. Then top with a layer of compost. Water until saturated once a week and then let dry.over the week. Do this for the first two months then start watering every other week. After about a month or when your vines are about 1 foot start training them.
You should start them in a pot if your outside temperature is still going below freezing every night. But if you are in a warmer climate then you can just start them outside.
If you want to download our growing guide just click [diybrewing.com - diybrewing Resources and Information. pamphlet.doc](diybrewing.com - diybrewing Resources and Information. pamphlet.doc)
Compost FTW
Also, put them on a little bit of a hill and create something of a moat in the middle.
One: To keep the nasty beasts away 
Seriously, the hill will prevent them from rotting early in their life and the moat will provide even moisture to said hill.
Good luck, hop growing is very rewarding 8)
Thanks guys, this really helps. I planned on doing it today but ran out of time.
Im gonna ddo it tomorrow
Its been pretty warm around here.
I have a bunch of ground hogs, skunks and rabbits out there. Wondering now what I can do to keep them away?
I’m guessing your soil isn’t 4 solid feet of red clay and shale.
Gotta love our soil in these parts. :
Nickname of the part of my town that we live in is Rock Village…took about three years of work to get the gardens soil where we wanted it.
Could be worse. Up by my in-laws, any “digging” requires blasting. Neighbors had a pool put in a couple years back. That was interesting.
Plant them where they’ll get plenty of sun. Also remember that the roots grow amazingly fast so you’ll need to plant them in a place you can get to them to trim the roots every 2 or 3 years. Also don’t plant them near tomatoes, I don’t remember why but they don’t like each other.
Just out of curiosity, what happens if you don’t trim the roots back? I just tried doing mine last week and I pulled out a good twelve footer. Got me wondering if I was hurting production by doing that. The big concern I had was the varieties intermingling, but I couldn’t decide if intermingled feeder roots had any impact on that.
I don’t pull the roots. The crown is the heart of the hops and should be left untouched. I only clip the vines back in the fall. I leave about 12" of vine exposed above ground.
Hmmm . . I’m certainly no gardening expert, but I have never heard of trimming the roots on any established plant as a matter of maintenance. What’s the thinking behind that?
Well, for my part it was unintentional. I was digging in a circle around the hill with a sharpened e-tool (best. gardening. implement. ever.) to make sure the rhizomes weren’t spreading and I sliced clean through this root. So I pulled it out.
no big loss. there’s plenty more where that came from. you’re lucky you didn’t hit one of the BIG ones that go straight down. when you hit one-a-them-boys your foot usually bounces off the shovel and you end up limping for a couple days. i’ve learned just to go down about the depth of the spade as that’s where most of the rhizomes are. if you happen to miss one or two, they usually rear their heads in a week or so. just go back in and sever their tie from the crown.
If you don’t trim the roots back they will take over your yard. You’re not cutting near the main crown so it doesn’t hurt the plants at all. The roots can grow 2 or 3 feet per year in every direction, then you start having sprouts coming up all along those roots. I guess that’s fine if you have all the room in the world, but it would also make it very hard to trellis the bines if they cover an area 5 or 6 feet in diameter per plant.
roots and rhizomes are two different structures. rhizomes are underground vegetative stems with shoots/buds capable of producing new plants. roots are primarily involved with water and nutrient uptake. they have no buds so they pose no threat when it comes to your hop plant taking over an area. they’re just down there doin’ their thing.