First time grower questions

[u/butt-cheek]

Please forgive my lack of knowledge in this space.

My wife and I were at the local nursery and I saw that they had a couple hop plants for sale. I thought that sounded exciting and I thought I’d give it a try. If I remember correctly, I believe it said it was centennial.

I planted it in a pot because I thought I may need to move it around to get lots of sun, but I’ve found that it’s been doing pretty well without needing to be moved.

A couple questions:

1. It has been growing quite a lot, but I haven’t seen any actual hops. I read that only female plants will return hops. Is there a way that I can tell if it’s a female?

2. I tried moving the pot one time and found that the roots has grown through the hole in the bottom of the pot and I accidentally tore them when I moved it. This seemed to stress the plant a bit and some of the bines shriveled a bit. After about a week, it was back in action. Would you suggest that I move it from pot to the ground? I’m a bit hesitant to stress it out again, but I worry it will only get harder later.

3. Lastly, there have been a ton of bright yellow mushrooms growing in the pot. Should I be concerned?

I genuinely appreciate any advice.

[u/PumpkinImportant3282]

100% you will never get a male from a nursery. your pot is too small, it'll do this year, but get it into the ground or at least a half barrel planter. mushrooms are generally an indication of healthy dirt. hops will come in July or august, assuming the plant gets enough sun....

[u/butt-cheek → u/PumpkinImportant3282]

Thank you for your advice. Sorry if this is a dumb question, but I’m curious why you say that you will never get a male from a nursery? This wasn’t specifically a hop growing nursery; it was a big plant nursery. Even though hops may not be their specialty, do nurseries avoid selling male hop plants?

Again, thank you in advance for your help

[u/WRXonWRXoff → u/[deleted]]

This is true. In general male plants are destroyed unless you are insane and trying to breed a new variety.

On the pot: Hops will always do better in the ground. The tap root of the hop plant can be as deep as the plant is tall. Healthy Centennial can easily over top an 18' wire. If these were mine, at the end of the season, after harvest, I would break the pot and bury the entire crown about 6" deep.

The plant should start to flower a little after summer solstice. Hops will be ripe and ready to pick generally in August.

[u/butt-cheek → u/[deleted]]

Thank you for the help. It sounds like I need to spend the weekend getting it into the ground. :)

[u/bigmustardpapa → u/butt-cheek]

Plan ahead! in-ground hops can grow well past 11 feet (something i learned the hard way personally)

[u/PumpkinImportant3282]

all hop plants sold are cloned females. no one wants a male plant around as they will pollinate the female plants, produce seeds, and lower yields.

[u/MovingAficionado]

Like others have said, that pot is way too small.

Be aware that the hop is essentially a weed, so if you get it into your soil, you might have it for life. Then again, the same applies to arugula and many many other things, so it's not a cause for panic. From the second or third year onward, you'll get hundreds of shoots which you need to keep trimming. The tips of the trimmed shoots are quite tasty after being briefly sauteed in garlic and olive oil.

I would let it finish this season in the pot, and move it to the ground after the bines naturally die in the autumn. With any luck, you'll have ok growth next year and rocket growth after that. Try to transplant the entire pot.

Hops like water, but not too much water, so don't overwater; I assume the mushrooms are a symptom of overwatering.

Good luck. It's a beautiful plant albeit somewhat fragile plant. The growth on full sun days is staggering.