Jun 03, 2011: For a long time I was puzzled how the hops can grow so fast in spring: in one day each sprout can become 20 sm longer! When the hops was growing around WC booth (view photos: in 2005, 2007), Mom sometimes said: “I`m afraid that some day I will go in and get trapped there, as the hops will lock the door with it`s fast-growing sprouts while I`m sitting inside”.

Later, that booth was removed and replaced, and the hops was relocated, now it grows around sauna. But it wasn`t so easy to completely remove it from it`s previous place, and it sucessfully grew by itself. When it grew so big that it started to bend the fence, Mom had to make some hard weeding. And than we all saw the source of such incredible strength: of course, with such roots the hops can store a lot of resources for growth and even for trapping people in a WC ;).

(In the top right corner you can see the sauna wall with hops all over it. In early May it`s completely bare, only small sprouts appear from the earth below it. In the middle of June the wall is completely hidden — the photo was made on 19 June, 2011. In the bottom right corner you can see how the root looks inside. It`s wooden).2011-mama

species Common hop Humulus lupulus