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"containing" hops

Ingredients
#1

I’ve got two hops plants in buckets (willamette and perle) that I would like to put in the ground. I also have a septic drain field that takes up most of my back yard that I would like to keep the roots out of.

I’ve got a little corner raised bed that I’m looking to use and I’ve seen mint put in a bucket with the bottom cut out in the ground to keep it from running out of control. If just the roots grow out the bottom, I should be fine. My concern is if any rhizomes grow down and out, the plants may spread and put roots out much further away.

So, do rhizomes grow down or do they pretty much stay near the surface?

#2

How close is the septic field to the surface of the soil? Hmm, just looked up hop roots and found this:

http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/afcm/hop.html

I also saw a thread where they said to just dig it up every few years and trim the tap root.

#3

Sorry, I wasn’t quite clear on placement. The raised bed is not over the drain field. It is probably 30-40 feet away. I don’t want rhizomes to get out and put down roots of their own because that will likely get into the drain field if they go the right direction.

#4

I’m pretty confident you’ll be fine. The rhizomes are usually found within the top 6 inches of the soil and grow radiantly outward from the crown. One thing you can do to limit the potential spread is to make sure you plant vertically. Horizontally will encourage the rhizomes to spread due to some of the buds being oriented downward. Like was said, after it’s been in the ground for two growing seasons (one season for that matter),you can dig it up, trim it and then plunk it back into the earth with very little depreciation in harvest. If you’re familiar with growing stuff it’s a piece of cake as these things are pretty much indestructible. Hoppy Growing!!

#5

Sweet. My hops are going in the ground next spring!

There is a 6’ privacy fence south of the bed but the hops will grow right out if it’s shadow. I might even take that portion of the fence down and replace with chain link.

#6

Plant’em now, theres plenty of time for them to grow up and get established. You might need to water for the first several weeks.

#7

Well, I’ve got garlic there now.

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