localhopheads.com

I ordered these rhizomes from Dave at www.freshops.com.  Dave had put in a little pamphlet with some valuable information on how to properly care for your rhizomes before planting.  The pamphlet suggests this:  Put a quarter cup of bleach in a gallon of warm water (not hot).  Dip the fuzzy (moldy) rhizome into the warm water and hold it there for only a few seconds, then pull it out.  Carefully rinse it off in warm water (either running warm water or another bucket of fresh water) and be mindful to not damage any of the sprouts.  Let excess water drip off the rhizome and put it into the bag, making sure that there's no standing water in the bag.  (Droplets of water inside the bag are fine, but tiny "puddles" will promote rot.)

I looked through the bag and surprisingly only about ten to fifteen of the rhizomes were moldy.  As a precaution, I "cleaned" all 100 rhizomes using the method described above.  Here I am several days later, and the rhizomes are comfortably sitting in their bag, all of them no worse for the wear.  

Everyone I've spoken with that has any experience growing hops has assured me that they're pretty hardy plants.  Here in Helena, MT, we're only a few weeks away from being able to get these rhizomes planted in the ground.  Summer can't get here quickly enough!