First timer: thought I ordered rhizomes, got plants instead

Hey all,

Moved into our house, and am eager to get some hops in the ground! While I was originally planning to order rhizomes from Left Fields, but they were out of Cascade, so I ended up picking up Hallertau and Cascade from Richters.

It seemed like the thing to do with rhizomes was to get them in the ground as soon as possible, and so I was surprised when Richters told me they wouldn't be shipping my order until June. I got irate, jumped to conclusions, and said "I want to get them into the ground in April!" at which point they said "Okay, no problem, but it's not our fault if they're planted to early, freeze to death, etc." My assumption at that point was it was just "typical CYA," so I insisted and they shipped them.

Opened the box this evening, and discovered why they were so reticent to ship early -- they're not rhizomes, they're actually green, leafy little plants in planters! Now I'm not sure what to do; my well thought out master plan of planting rhizomes on a slightly chilly April afternoon seems like a bad idea with a growing plant.

Any advice for a newbie?

Plant them in a container, bring them in when the forecast is below 38. When the cold goes away, re-plant them in the ground, be very careful to remove the soil around the root ball to not damage the roots, or, plant all the soil in the pot.

You should be fine once the nights are above frezing. Have fun with them!

Yep, leave them in whatever planter they shipped in until your nights warm up. After the threat of frost is over drop them in to the ground and let them do their thing!

Thanks for the great advice everyone!

They shipped in some pretty small little pots; seeing as how I'm likely a week or two out from frost free nights, should I move them up to slightly bigger pots, or leave them as is and water bit by bit?

I would just leave them as is and just keep them damp and cool.