Questions re. hop seedlings and brewing quality

[timmydog]

Hello all,

I've got some Flyer x open pollination seedlings growing, inspired by Seymour's experiments. I have space for a few in pots at the front of my house and I know a couple of other people who want some, which will leave me with a few left over.

I'm up for a bit of guerilla gardening in the hope that I can get a few free hops over the years to come, but I won't be able to tell if these seedlings are male or female until, at the earliest, autumn this year, but probably not until autumn 2016.

I think that having male hops near by will make the females produce less lupulin because they will put energy into producing seeds instead, a bit like another well known herb, which wouldn't be great. Does anyone know if this is the case?

Also, by growing the plants at home, I can check the quality of the hops and only plant ones that are vigorous, have good aroma and plenty of lupulin.

Do you think I should plant the seedlings or if I should actually wait until I know what sex they are and only plant good females?

Thanks for your thoughts,

Tim

PS anyone near York fancy some hop seedlings?

[timmydog]

Here's a photo (hopefully). I've since put canes in the pots and some of them have started to climb up.