I was looking through my Growing Hops book and the author said you can take a shoot and remove it then replant it and you’ll (maybe) get a new plant. Has anyone out there had success doing this?
Of course. That’s all the rhizome really is, a cutting.
I don’t grow hops, but I do this in my wife’s rose garden with great success. Also called “propagation” and “cloning”. With roses at least it works better to roll the planted end in a little nutrient powder. However, I’ve found that most cuttings take root with no special treatment at all, just jam it into the ground and water. We started with two rose bushes a few years ago, now we’ve got a backyard full of roses, and more every year.
Not really.
Rhizomes already have rootlings and immediate potential to grow in soil.
Hop shoots are not gifted with these traits, and must be coaxed into making roots.
I have not tried it, mostly because the availability and easy success of using rhizomes for hop propagation.
But I think you would need to use some rooting hormone.
Hops shoots might prove more difficult that roses, simply because they are mostly herbaceous.
Good luck.
I was thinking about giving this a try with shoots that I’m not going to let grow instead of just throwing them away. If it doesn’t work I’m not out anything.
I’ve trained shoots through the drain hole in the bottom of a clay pot and slowly added soil as they grew and got them to root.
The shoot method does work very well. Like was said, all you have to do is to take one of the excess shoots and keep burying it with soil (the growing tip will try to emerge a few days after you bury it) and keep continuing to throw soil over it for a week or two. You’re essentially creating the beginning of a rhizome and if you leave that portion buried and allow the growing tip to climb and make hops, over the course of the season the underground portion will turn somewhat ‘woody’ and will develop the buds and roots that Pinnah mentioned. It’s super easy to do if you have really nice soil/compost but it’ll work with just about any soil type. It’s really a win/win situation because it was an excess shoot to begin with and if you’re looking to make some clones . . .
There are a few tips that will help you have success with propagating cuttings. First, dip the cut end of the cutting in Rootone, a powder that has a plant hormone that induces rooting. I think it also has something to prevent mold. Second, keep the soil moist but not too soggy. Third, cover the plant with handiwrap or use a cover of some sort to keep the humidity near 100% until you see new growth. This last is important because the cutting has no roots so if it transpires its moisture it will shrivel and die. Fourth, keep it under a light of some sort, the plant is still doing photosynthesis so it needs some sunlight to make food.
When you see the leaf tips start to yellow, its growing new roots. After that the plant will start growing, at which time you can remove the wrap and transplant.
