How to prep ground for New Hops next year in New England

**nhwrecker** · 12-06-2011, 01:50 PM

Hi All,

I'm planning on trying to grow hops next year in southern NH. Should I do anything now (i.e. next week or two) to prep some ground that would help kick things off next spring?

The intended area for the hops is a southern exposure site that's next to a few oaks (that are going to be the trellise, and finally do something besides drop leaves in December), and hasn't been used as a garden or anything else before.

Thanks, Mort

PoppinCaps · 12-06-2011, 02:05 PM

I didn't prep the ground in the fall before I planted mine. I used good quality top soil and loaded it with fertilizer, peat and compost when I planted them in the spring. They took off just fine. Even tried the old myth on some of burning some old hop vines to ash and laying that down beneath the rhizome before covering. No difference. I guess they didn't take the hint of "that's what will happen to you if you don't produce".

Anyway, I'm not a gardener, so hopefully someone will chime in. Just my $0.02.

stevo155 · 12-06-2011, 03:05 PM

I waited until spring as well to plant mine. No sense prepping the ground now to have the snow melt wash away all your nutrients.

Just make sure that you have sun in the area by the oak when they have leaves on them. It's easy to look at it now and say, "wow..that area gets a lot of sun".

After the season is over, I cover them with some sort of mulch ( grass clippings, leaves etc ) for the winter. Good luck.

**nhwrecker** · 12-06-2011, 03:59 PM

Thanks for the input! Looking forward to the spring already.....but a heavy snow in October will do that to you.

day_trippr · 12-06-2011, 10:58 PM

I did my ground prep in the spring as I didn't get my first rhizomes until late March anyway. But I did do a bit of work to build the three beds (for Chinook, Centennial and Cascade): First I dug out the boney soil in 3 foot wide by 8 foot long strips, about 18 inches deep. Then I mixed 50/50 compost/loam plus some general purpose fertilizer to fill the beds to around 6 inches above grade.

After planting the rhizomes I covered the beds with a couple of inches of bark mulch, and set up a drip irrigation system with a 2g/hr emitter at each rhizome, and set it to run for 90 minutes every other day. When the rhizomes sprouted I cut off all but the one strongest looking bine on each rhizome and let 'em rip. This pic shows the Centennial and Chinook bines in late August, a few days before the first harvest (the Cascades were out of frame to the left).

I ended up with a pound and quarter (dry weight) of cones, not too shabby for a first year crop. I've since used all but a couple of ounces of the Chinook and Casade and they were kick-@ss! Way higher alpha content than I expected...

Cheers!

**nhwrecker** · 12-07-2011, 12:41 AM

I'd call that photo inspirational! Where did you get your rhizomes from?

day_trippr · 12-07-2011, 02:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nhwrecker

I'd call that photo inspirational! Where did you get your rhizomes from?

From Midwest Supplies. I would have gotten them from my LHBS (Strange Brew in Marlboro) but their arrival date kept pushing out and I got too antsy to wait any longer...

Cheers!

**JRems** · 12-07-2011, 02:49 AM

You can prep the area now by tilling the soil, you can till in some compost or decaying leaves. Then till it again in the spring once it has decayed along with a little fertilizer and peat moss.

**TuefelHund** · 12-17-2011, 11:15 PM

I would say the best advice is raise the beds for the hops - to promote drainage. You don't want to overwater the hops during growth. Top the beds with good organic compost with plenty of organic matter. Weed the beds regularly. I use organic vegetable plant food once a month during growing season, along with a little tomato plant food. Ensure FULL sun exposure, and a nice trellis for the buggers to climb. They'll look like this eventually: see attachments.

BruBrus · 01-07-2012, 07:19 PM

Awesome pics, guys. I'll be joining the club in spring!