Hop Cuttings - Caring for?

[Craig Howard]

I have been given some healthy hop cuttings that  I need to care for until they get taken to their eventual home.  A few weeks away.

Anyone got tips how I look after them and feed them untl then?

Pots, water, mix, feed.....trim , divide, etc...

BTW - I am in Auckland for now and thats where they have been growing.

We have no idea what type they are except they are being used in home brewing.

[Harry]

Wrap them in damp newspaper and gladwrap and leave them in the fridge. 

So long as the newspaper stays damp you should be fine. They should be dormant in the fridge and not need feeding. 

[Damon Colbert]

If it's rhizomes you have, the damp newspaper + fridge idea is good.

If they are cuttings from new spring growth, I would be planting those bad boys in pots now, and give them a chance to put out some roots.  Over spring/summer they should grow some rhizomes, and these will survive the winter in a pot if that's what you need.

Potting mix works well.  Last season I trimmed all the excess shoots from my crowns down to four per crown, and poked the cuttings into a nearby pot of old potting mix.  They grew into fully fledged plants over that season, and are now sprouting again.  This time around I've just used a bit of plain old top soil, and they seem fairly happy.

Hops do grow fairly quickly once they get established.  If you find their leaves start to look a bit brown, holey or sad, throw them a little citrus fertiliser, or nitrophoska which was recommended to me by a friendly Hop breeding scientist.  :D

[Craig Howard]

Thanx to both responses

I have young rhizomes that are starting to "sprout" nodes and some shoots of about 100mms.

I decided to pot them in potting mix and let them "develop" into strong rhizomes. Will try and control them and expand the pot size as necessary.

I want them in the ground by next season.