A Rhizome is a stem of a plant that grows horizontally underground and is capable of producing new shoots or roots for the plant. The rhizome serves as one means by which this type of plant may spread and propagate itself. A number of plants produce rhizomes, such as hops, ginger, bamboo, and Bermuda grass. The hop plant is a perennial; thus, the material above ground dies back each winter, but the root structure survives and will continue producing new plant material for many years. New shoots will grow from the rhizomes that have overwintered. Rhizomes grow each spring from the main root mass of the hop plant and will travel up to several feet, in some instances underground, before shoots emerge. Hop growers will often use rhizome cuttings in the springtime once new buds appear as a means of propagating a particular hop plant for use in a hop yard. In this fashion the plant material obtained will be genetically identical to its source. Those wishing to plant hops in home gardens can usually find rhizomes for sale in springtime by hop merchants and homebrew supply shops, usually by mid-March.
