Help with Magnums in planters

[60sd]

I planted some magnums this year, after killing my cascades from last year. I worked a deal for 2 sprouted plants and a rhizome. The seller gave me two rhizomes, just in case... I promptly planted my new hops in my 1/2 wine barrel planters and have seen no noticeable growth. One of the plants has grown maybe an inch, nothing from the other, and no sprouts from either rhizome. As near as I can tell, they are getting enough water, they are getting plenty of sun, it's been plenty warm. I can't really see any reason that they haven't exploded out of the ground. (Of course, I'm no farmer; I bury plants and seeds and apply water and hope for the best)

The only thing that I can think of is the soil. Last year, I dumped spent grains in my planters and worked it into the soil. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but now I'm wondering if I may have poisoned my soil. For purposes of comparison, 4 of the 5 tomato plants I put in this year are doing great, the last one is alive but not thriving. I've asked this before on this forum, but have never got a soild answer: Is it OK to put spent grains in planting beds? More importantly: How can I save my Magnums?

 

[Yaksha808]

I would also like to know this.. i was looking to use spent grain in my composter to use in a few months to fertilize my plants...

 

[PosterGuy]

Raw spent grain may be a problem if you are trying to fertilize your plants with it.
In fact there was a corn based crab grass killer on the market some time ago.

Spent grain is best fed to livestock or composted thoroughly with other vegetation.
Do not use it to mulch on anything you want to keep alive.

 

[60sd]

I planted about a month ago; the plants don't appear to be dead, but the rhizomes havent sprouted yet. Is it too late to pull them out and replace the soil in my planters with something else? I don't really have much more dirt, so I would have to use something from a garden center such as garden soil, or potting mix to fill the planters. I'm excited to have magnum hops, and I don't want to kill them and be set back another year.

Thanks again.

 

[60sd]

My hops finally started growing! It's a beer brewing miracle!!

Still nothing from the rhizomes... I've pretty much given up on those

 

[one-L]

How often are you watering the rhizomes? That may be part of the problem. Rising Sun farms (where I got my rhizomes this year) repeatedly stressed to me to not hit the rhizomes with much in the way of the water until there was pretty significant growth. Before then he said just keep the soil moist basically and that overwatering too early was one of the msot common problems encountered.

 

[60sd]

Im pretty sure that overwatering is what killed my plants from last year...That and the spent grains that I dumped in the planters. I've been real careful about how I'm watering these, so I think it comes back to the spent grains. Im considering the year a loss, if I can keep the plants I have alive, maybe we'll make another run next year.

 

[tgmartin000]

I compost all my spent grains, hops, yeast, veggies, grass clippings, etc. Pretty much everything. You have to actually compost it before you add it to the soil, or it can actually harm your soil - microbes in the soil will focus on breaking down the compost material, rather than breaking down nutrients in yoru soil for the plants to use. At least, that's what I understand.

TO make a cheap composter, just buy a big wheeled trash can and drill some 1/2" holes at about 8" every direction.