Why we don’t grow our hops from rhizomes

By Denise Méthé

When my husband Robert and I decided to propagate our plants using tissue culture to allow them to stay perfectly clean through the propagation process, a lot of people questioned us about our choice not to grow our hops traditionally from rhizomes.

Hops rhizomes are small roots that are cut from the main root system of a mature female hops plant. It is the part that grows beneath the surface of the ground. The rhizome is the heart of the hops root system of the vine and it stores and transfers food to the plant.

Most people growing hops purchase their rhizomes and keep them in a plastic bag with holes punched in it and water them every second day, keeping them moist and refrigerated until the ground is warm enough to plant them in the spring. It is generally recommended that two rhizomes be planted per mound, while for hops plants with a root ball, one plant per mound is recommended.

We chose to grow in a non-traditional way because as a scientist, I believed that we could grow cleaner plants for our commercial buyers.

We combined Robert’s generations of horticultural experience and my scientific knowledge to use a process called micro-propagation or “tissue culture” to grow hops plants in our specially equipped laboratory in New Brunswick.

We knew that the advantage is that in tissue culture plants normally start life free from any bacterial and fungal diseases. And, if you start with clean material (virus-tested), it stays clean through the propagation process.

Most people who buy rhizomes from a reputable grower are getting a clean plant, of course.

But sometimes an infected rhizome is mistakenly sold. If it is to a commercial grower, it can spread viruses and whole commercial fields have to be replaced at a high cost in time, money and energy.

Whether you opt to grow vegetatively with rhizomes or alternatively with tissue culture is up to you. If you are growing hops for personal use in your garden or backyard, you can be traditional because if infection or viruses occur, it will not threaten your livelihood.

But if you are growing across the continent for commercial growers, you just can’t take that chance. One infected plant could ruin a business.

That is why we grow hops the way we do. We know from the inquiries we received across Canada that there is a great deal of interest in our method.

This is an exciting time for hops growers, and it is good to know that alternatives to traditional methods are available.

Denise Méthé and her husband Robert own and operate Northeast Plants Inc., supplier of healthy, clean hops plants to commercial growers across Canada and the United States. Based in New Brunswick in eastern Canada, they can be reached by calling 506-856-0049 or emailing [email protected]. Learn more about varieties sold at www.northeastplants.ca