Hops growers report. How far along are your hops? Pics, 1st time grower.

Mr Bigins · 08-12-2006, 08:58 PM

I'm growing hops for the first time and this is the plants first year.

The Cascade hop plant grew like a weed, while the Fugal never really got going. The Cascade is over 9' tall now and it's at the end of the stake. How tall can they grow? Is there anything I should do like clip the top piece off to promote hop growth?

Hops are coming now, I should have just over 2 months before the first frost, do you think the hops will mature by then? I know it's smaller the first year, but what kind of yield should I get?

I see a few small brown ant's on some of the leaves and on the plant. Do I need to worry about that?

Use this thread to show/tell us where your hops are at in their growing cycle.

**david_42** · 08-12-2006, 09:04 PM

It's unusual to see that much growth the first year. My cascades are on the second year and are not that tall. I suspect 85 days without meaningful rainfall is part of the problem. Hops will stop growing when they have nothing more to climb and start sending out side shoots. Don't expect much in the way of hops this year.

You don't say where you are located, but in Oregon, the harvest season starts next week.

Mr Bigins · 08-12-2006, 09:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by david_42

It's unusual to see that much growth the first year. My cascades are on the second year and are not that tall. I suspect 85 days without meaningful rainfall is part of the problem. Hops will stop growing when they have nothing more to climb and start sending out side shoots. Don't expect much in the way of hops this year.

You don't say where you are located, but in Oregon, the harvest season starts next week.

I'm in the suburbs of Mpls Minnesota.

Then you wouldn't have believed how fast this hop plant grew. But yeah, it's a good idea to keep them watered good. I grew the hops in rich organic dirt mixed with manuer, maybe that played a part.

When you say after the plant reaches the top of the stake, the plant shoots out sideways, are you talking about the shoots that come out from the corner of where the leaves attach to the hop plant?

Where the hops grow on the ends of those shoots?

Edit: So is 9' a good length for the stake to be for the plant to grow on?

homebrewer_99 · 08-12-2006, 10:19 PM

Hops usually grow over 25 feet tall. They will try other directions just like any other vine.

**david_42** · 08-12-2006, 11:58 PM

Most of the commercial growers limit the cords to 20 feet. This is mainly due to the difficulty of harvesting anything much taller. Hop flowers will grown from the main stem and from side branches. My trellis is only 14 feet, as I wanted to be able to cut the cords without using a ladder. You can actually train hops to grow on a horizontal line by going out every day and wrapping the new growth down onto the line.

Some side branches on my Fuggles:

If you look closely at the plant near the first bucket (Northern Brewer), you'll see all of the flowers are on the main stem.

Maybe I'll remember to take my camera to HopMadness for the farm tour. Two years ago, they were converting a field to Glacier and some of the old root balls they dug up were three feet across and had 10 foot tap roots!

boo boo · 08-13-2006, 01:49 PM

I planted 6 plants that were grown from seed and were barely out of the ground in June. The growing season here in NFLD, Canada is short but due to good treated soil (manure, compost and topsoil and good drainage) I now have plants that are 9 ft high with a bush of side shoots that I've wrapped around the main stem. Some of the plants have reached the burr stage (starting to flower). I'm pleased with the promise my plants have shown and am looking forward to a crop next year. Gotta love doing it yourself.

Mr Bigins · 08-13-2006, 08:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by david_42

Most of the commercial growers limit the cords to 20 feet. This is mainly due to the difficulty of harvesting anything much taller. Hop flowers will grown from the main stem and from side branches. My trellis is only 14 feet, as I wanted to be able to cut the cords without using a ladder. You can actually train hops to grow on a horizontal line by going out every day and wrapping the new growth down onto the line.

Some side branches on my Fuggles:

If you look closely at the plant near the first bucket (Northern Brewer), you'll see all of the flowers are on the main stem.

Maybe I'll remember to take my camera to HopMadness for the farm tour. Two years ago, they were converting a field to Glacier and some of the old root balls they dug up were three feet across and had 10 foot tap roots!

Looks good.

I think this link might help even a veteran hop grower. Now I know why I'm having problems with the Fuggle plant.

http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/afcm/hop.html

So I should prune the lower leaves of the plant? It's 9', how far up from the ground should I prune and where should I cut?

**Evets** · 08-16-2006, 01:25 AM

Here are a few pics of my first year plants as of today;

**Reverend JC** · 08-16-2006, 04:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Evets

Here are a few pics of my first year plants as of today;

Glorious, freaking Glorious!

Mr Bigins · 08-16-2006, 06:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Evets

Here are a few pics of my first year plants as of today;

Nice! About what date did they start growing out of the ground? Do you know when you will harvest?

I hope you looked at the link I provided because there're do's and dont's.