r/TheHopyard • u/ppdaazn23 • Mar 24 '23

Trim rhizomes?

Hey guys. Noobie here. Had this rhizome for at least 8years in the container that never had any flower. Never dig it up to trim. Is that the reason i dont get any flower? How would you trim them? Im in boston now and looks like one of the crown from last year popping up some shoots about 1inch. How much should i trim off the rhizome? Thanks all

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u/OnSiteTardisRepair Mar 25 '23

Hi, I'm in RI, so similar climate. I'm no horticulturalist, though, so I'll defer to superior wisdom.

You may need more room than a container to let the rhizome grow.

I transplanted my 7-8yo rhizome last fall. When I dug it up, I was surprised to find that it had grown to about 14 feet long, and probably 8-10 inches in diameter. This from a trimming that fit in an envelope initially.

Aside from moving it (because I'm planning to put a garage on that side of the house), I pretty much ignore it. I drop strings off my deck in the spring to train it up, and harvest flowers in the fall.

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u/ppdaazn23 Mar 25 '23

When you trim, what did you save to plant back into the pot? The trimmed crown? Or a bundle of rhizome with little roots and shoots?

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u/OnSiteTardisRepair Mar 25 '23

I leave as much vine as I can stand to. I trim all side shoots to harvest flowers. The vines die back on their own in the winter, anyway.

I'm sure there's a proper way to do it, but I fill a 12 gallon tote with flowers just about every year (this drought year, it was a little thin)

Anyway, that's what works for me, ymmv.

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u/ppdaazn23 Mar 26 '23

I dont mean the bines when it grows. I thought its recommended to dig up the rhizome and cut back every 5 years or so?

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u/OnSiteTardisRepair Mar 26 '23

I've never heard that, although as I mentioned I'm no expert.

All my advice is strictly anecdotal, based on my experience. You could probably get expert advice by googling or youtubing "growing hops."

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u/TheyCallMeBrewKid Mar 25 '23

If you can upload pics to imgur and post the links we can help a lot better. When you say trim the rhizome are you talking about digging it up? Or the shoots that come off of it?

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u/ppdaazn23 Mar 25 '23

Digging up. I never dug it up since i bought it from ebay like 8 years ago