Topic: Hop Rhizomes?

[Uncle Joshua]

Has anyone ever grown hop rhizomes? I have been sent some in the post but don't have a clue what to do with it?

[goodlife]

As the ground is not workable condition at the moment, I would pot them up and you can then plant them in spring when the growth is just starting. It is important to keep the roots in just damp conditions to keep them alive and by potting them up allow you to sort the planting site without hurry.
Some general info here.. http://www.hopshop.co.uk/hops/hop-plants-instructions.php

[Uncle Joshua]

Cheers Goodlife. Fantastic link.

[ACE]

Make sure you have plenty of room when you plant them, they can spread quite rapidly if not kept in check. Mine are in the hedge, but I still have to hack them back most years. Even after they are dug out, some shoots will still reappear after a few weeks. They must last hundreds of years as they can date medieval hedgrows by the variety of hops that are growing in them. I do not use them for beer, one friend takes some every year to make a hop pillow which they say cures insomnia.

[Uncle Joshua]

Make sure you have plenty of room when you plant them, they can spread quite rapidly if not kept in check. Mine are in the hedge, but I still have to hack them back most years. Even after they are dug out, some shoots will still reappear after a few weeks. They must last hundreds of years as they can date medieval hedgrows by the variety of hops that are growing in them. I do not use them for beer, one friend takes some every year to make a hop pillow which they say cures insomnia.

Mine are for beer! Do they work for your friend? I have had trouble sleeping all my life.

[goodlife]

apparantely hops do work well...I remember reading from somewhere that olden days when hops were harvested manually...workers were having 'trouble' as it made them terribly tired.

[cestrian]

I bought some new hop rhizomes and planted them out in November. Prima Donna or First Gold as they're known by brewers are a dwarf  variety so I'm trying to grow them up the side and over the top of my shed. I grew runner beans there this year with some success as it's quite a sunny spot. I've been wanting to grow hops for a while as I make my own real ale, which makes me sleep like a baby, so no hop pillow required!! 

[Jayb]

Interesting thread. I've always fancied growing one but never thought to plant it in with the hedge doh! Any recommendations for variety, I thought the Golden hop sounded gorgeous. Just for looking at no beer needed 

[ACE]

Interesting thread. I've always fancied growing one but never thought to plant it in with the hedge doh! Any recommendations for variety, I thought the Golden hop sounded gorgeous. Just for looking at no beer needed 

Golden hop is great for putting sunshine in a gloomy spot. Beware though it can be a bit of an animal if you let it get out of hand, I have never had flowers on mine but the lime green leaves are something else. As from your other posts you have a tendancy to move things because of planting in the wrong place. I would suggest you plant it in a big pot sunk in the ground so you can move it later if it gets a nuisance.

[Jayb]

Good advice thanks and sunshine in a gloomy spot sounds wonderful 

[artichoke]

The hops in hop gardens are 90% female - you need a male as well for the "flowers" to really develop.

[Vinlander]

Apart from the obvious uses, hop shoots in Spring are the only one of hundreds of "asparagus substitutes" that tastes anything like the real thing.

Worth a try - especially in a few years time when you start to wish you'd planted it on someone else's land.

See my new subtext.

The other "asparagus substitutes" are so-called only because they produce something that can be cooked "like asparagus", but very few are worth eating - most are just rubbish - famine food at best.

Cheers.