Seems that my addition of compost was a wake up call for the Columbus plant at least. Here's what I found just a couple of days after applying it:
And then a couple of days after that:
Still no signs of life from the other two plants. Seems winter means that we'll be starting a little later this year. I'm going to be away for 10 days so it will be interesting to see how much the Columbus grows in that time and whether the other two decide to grace us with their presence.
Hi Hopstarter, I'm a first time hop grower in Baltimore and, since I live in a row-home, I had to grow in a 20" pot on my rooftop deck. It seems like the cold/wet weather has made it difficult for the shoots to grow - they are just barely breaking the surface of the soil. Do you have any suggestions?
ReplyDeleteThanks!
Hi Anuj
ReplyDeleteAre they new this year? Did the rhizomes have healthy looking shoots? Here's an example of what I'm talking about, at the bottom: http://hopstarter.blogspot.com/2013/04/new-season-new-state-new-hops.html
Did you put them in the soil before the last of the cold weather? Once they're established they can over winter but I wouldn't want to expose a tiny, new, section of rhizome to extreme cold. Even being a couple years old is no guarantee though. I still haven't seen my Willamette this year, despite both the Columbus and Cascade really going for it (will have a new post up shortly).
Also, although pots are practical if you don't have a garden you probably won't get more than a few years from them. The Hops in Pots blog (link on the right) records how they take a couple of years to fill the pot then pretty much just give up.
Having said all of that, if they've just started peeking out then they'll probably start going for it like you won't believe very soon. When I've planted rhizomes in the past it has taken at least two weeks for shoots to appear above ground. Once they're going you can expect to see several inches of growth per day.
Best of luck.