When and how to store rhizomes for the winter in warm climates

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1

I’m in North Florida and have read that I should refrigerate my rhizomes during the winter.

  1. When should I do this? The new hops book says they need 6 to 8 weeks below 40F.

  2. Mine are in pots.  How much of each rhizome do I dig up?

  3. Put them in a zip lock bag with moist paper towel, correct?

  4. People say newly planted hops don’t reach their peak until their second or third year. If I pull and refrigerate each winter won’t they always be a like new hops and never improve their yield?

2

Someone please reply.

I’m struggling with the same issue.

3

Will they rot if you leave them in the ground down there?
I wouldn’t dig up the whole root wad. If you do, you’re starting from scratch, every year.  Cut yourself serveral healthy 5-6" rhizomes and put them in a cool, dry, dark place as insurance in case your main plant rots out.

4

I don’t think your warm winters won’t hurt your rhizomes, you should have enough cool nights to winterize the plants.  I’m pretty sure you’ll do more damage by digging them up and putting them in the fridge every year.  i also recommend getting those hops planted permanently into the ground.  Build up a little mound so the rhizomes don’t drown(seriously).
BTW I’m from Mobile AL and though winters there are warmer than where I am now, the nights are cold enough for your hops.

5

I don’t have the option to plant them, unfortunately.

6

If you have the space, dig up as much of it as you can (no more than 12"x12") and refrigerate that.  It won’t be the same as starting from scratch in the spring because you’re leaving a lot of it intact, not just planting a pencil thin piece of rhizome.

7

Ha! I’m gonna try that one… just to see the look on the Mrs. Pinski’s face!

8

;D  You don’t need to pull your rhizomes in Portland!

9

Thanks, I’ll try that. Should I go ahead and do that now or wait some more?

10

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You really need to plant them in the ground. This is a 5 year old Cascade crown I had to move, it’s sitting in a regular sized lawn chair

11

Interesting topic.  If it were me, I’d probably split the plant leaving some of it in the ground and refrigerating some of it.

I was under the belief that the reason hops preferred a higher latitude was that they needed the sunshine longer summer days provide.  Not so much the temperature fluctuation.

My personal experience has been that my plants that are in sunny locations perform much better than those that get shaded.

12

They love sun, but they also need  a certain number of cold days to improve production, just like almost all fruit trees.