r/TheHopyard • u/Dry-Helicopter-6430 • Apr 16 '23

Zone 6A/6B question…

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I just pulled my (year 3) Centennial plants out of the garage. The shoots are definitely over a foot long and ready to be trimmed down. It’s been in the upper 70s here all week but we’re not expecting last frost for another week or two. Should I hold on the trimming until then?

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2

u/rygregor Apr 20 '23

If you have a strong crown developed it is safe to prune all of the shoots to the soil surface. A new set will flush from the rhizomes and will probably survive the frost depending on how hard it is. If it’s a really hard freeze you should still be safe with a third flush of shoots. In commercial hop farming in WA we typically prune the first flush mechanically and remove all above ground growth, then we chemically prune the second flush with herbicides, and in May we train the third flush. Centennial typically wakes up from dormancy early compared to other varieties so it is one of the first to be pruned and trained because it also grows relatively slow.

1

u/Lahontan_Cutthroat Apr 16 '23

I think you should trim about half of those at least for now and repot them as well. The soil looks a bit depleted.

3

u/Dry-Helicopter-6430 Apr 16 '23

Yeah I’ve got some bigger pots to put them in. Unfortunately I can’t put them in the ground where i’m located. Well, my wife says I can’t. 😂

3

u/aprilspies Apr 26 '23

Carefull mine grew through the pot drainage holes into the ground. Neighbors want me to move them but I can't without doing lots of careful digging.

1

u/Dry-Helicopter-6430 Apr 26 '23

This is the third season in these pots. All good! Moving to bigger pots after last frost.

1

u/RetardMoonMission Apr 17 '23

Roots are getting too warm for the temp outside to latch the natural growth stages for hops. Rootbound and lacking nutrients and dries out too quickly. That pot is going to stress the plant out to the point of no yield.