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Buying

Buying and Growing your Hop Plant.

Hops become available to the home grower from late autumn to early spring, when the plant is dormant. Earlier, and the Rhizomes are still in the ground being harvested; any later and they’re growing again!
Bare-rooted hop rhizome. Plant with shoots facing UP!

When you buy your hop rhizome, you will receive a small package, with the contents wrapped in damp moss or cotton wool or some such. Within you will find a roughly six-inch piece of root with some buds on it. If you buy later in the season, when the plants have started growing, you’ll get your six-inch piece but with some bine growth on it. In fact, I think I got my first in a plant pot in very late May, so I suppose there’s room for manoeuvre!

You can expect to pay between £7 and £10 per rhizome, but that is variety dependent. It would appear that the more expensive the hop in the home brew shop, the more expensive the rhizome.


Try these places for your hops.

www.essentiallyhops.co.uk a little place in the south-west of England*.
www.find-me-a-gift.co.uk if you're not fussy on the kind of hop you get!
the-plant-directory.co.uk one variety only, but at least they tell you what it is!
http://www.willingham-nurseries.co.uk/ bought some recently, very good.*
http://www.eickelmann.de/ lots of European and unusual varieties. Will use these next year maybe.

*will vouch for these boys.