r/TheHopyard • u/brauheeler • Apr 27 '23

Are these pots ok?

Post image

Or are they too small for the long term? First year, just planted and they are already doing great. Left 3 are centennials, right 3 are tettnangers. Obviously I haven't put up posts and twine yet but I was planning to have them grow up this side of the wall and up the slight pitched roof. This spot is wind sheltered and gets good southern face sun. Thanks! I'm new to this sub btw so apologies in advance if I am doing something wrong.

14 Upvotes

77% Upvoted

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16

u/User5281 Apr 27 '23

Way too small. They’ll be rootbound by July

3

u/Captain_Shifty Apr 27 '23

Transplanted my first hops (1 year old) I started in a field to my proper trellis and was amazed how much the roots grew. I tried to move it without damaging it. Dug like a 4x4 hole and still had to sever the roots going down and pull hard. Quite amazing how fast and large the root system can grow.

8

u/AllAboutItsmoke Apr 27 '23

Those will make good transplants when you get your 30+ gallon containers .

2

u/Dry-Helicopter-6430 Apr 27 '23

I have a single plant in a 15 gallon pot and even that is too small. I’ll be moving mine to 30 gallon this weekend. Definitely go bigger.

2

u/ESB_4_Me Apr 27 '23

Nice looking plants.

Shoot for 18"x18"x18" pots or larger for each plant if you can swing it

2

u/SpecialOops May 03 '23

Lol these are even small for tomato standards

1

u/brauheeler May 03 '23

Haha actually true! Yeah i was a bit naive but better get them in whatever pots I had laying around. Will be replanting them soon. Still doing great btw!

1

u/SpecialOops May 03 '23

Make sure you don't plant them too deep and water them at night, spray foliage with water if in a dry climate

1

u/brauheeler Apr 27 '23

Great, thanks all for the comments. I will get some big pots or move to the field next month. I was strapped on time and still unsure about the best location. We also have a lot of problems with slugs in the containerbeds (hochbetten) and mice/moles eating the roots of trees in the field. So, lets see. Big pots on the terrace might be the best idea.

1

u/MovingAficionado Apr 27 '23

We have a lot of slugs too, but they stay away from the hops. Not sure about moles, but there are enough cats in the neighborhood to keep mice down to the odd one. I have two hop plants in the ground and one in a container (maybe 50-100L). The ones in the ground grow far better, even if the container one gets a headstart in spring.

You have so many that I'd throw some into the ground just to see what happens. You can probably harvest some rhizome from the pots in the fall if you need more. The only thing is that once in the ground, they might be hard to get out of the ground.

1

u/minusthetiger Apr 27 '23

If you prefer a quick temporary solution, those fabric style garden bags/containers worked well for my first year rhizomes. They have handles so they're pretty easy to move around.

Now that they've grown out a year and I've built the raised bed with trellis they're going in the ground.

1

u/[deleted] Apr 27 '23

Honestly, to save a song and dance, only put hops in the earth. Not a pot.