Hydroponic Hops

Kingbogart and I are doing some hydroponic hops. Cascade. Will update with pictures as time goes on. We have previous experience with hydroponics including our three basil plants that have been alive so long they are growing bark and are more bushes these days.

Planted around Friday last week. Just kinda shoved the rhizome threw the pot and buried it in hydroton.


Today its looking like this, so it is growing and alive.

Can't wait to see more!

Great thread idea!!!

This morning

Subbd


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Can you elaborate on the setup? Is this indoor lighting? Wattage??

What nutrient solution are you using?


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Today

The setup is a 5 gallon bucket with a 6 in aeration stone running on an aquarium pump for oxygen. The rhyzome is in hydroton, in a small 3in net bucket with slots cut out. The lighting is a 4 bulb, t9 configuration, all using growth bulbs. 24w, 6500k for each bulb. We are currently running it on an 18-6 lighting schedule and feeding with FloraMicro, FloraGro, FloraBloom at a ratio of 1.5:3:1 tsp per gallon. Keeping the pH at around 6.2

This should be interesting! I've thought about growing hops hydroponic but using coco coir as a medium in a ten gallon grow bag outside.

What's the plan to deal with the plant height? Ours grow 20' tall every season.

hnycrk said:

This should be interesting! I've thought about growing hops hydroponic but using coco coir as a medium in a ten gallon grow bag outside.

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I would love to see an outdoor hydroponic hops garden! That would be awesome!

Today, they love the weekend!

pickles said:

What's the plan to deal with the plant height? Ours grow 20' tall every season.

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To be determined. The light hangs from a panel made out of pvc tubing with plastic trellising material stretched from side to side and top to bottom. Picture a giant fly swatter with a big light on top. Because of the restriction of how high we can put the light, we were thinking of trying horizontal training, potentially in a zig-zag fashion to maximize the surface area the light can reach. Assuming it trains as well as we've read, we should be able to easily get 20' of length onto the trellis. If it doesn't like the horizontal training, we are in an office that is about 15'x18'. The plan then would be to allow it to grow vertically to about 9', enough to clear the door, and then train it around the room. The trellising would be optimal since our ability to provide anything but indirect light in a majority of the room is minimal. You can't explain that to a plant though.....

Awesome! Looking forward to the results!!


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Today, they are still trucking along.

I have a full on hydro set up and have been kicking around the idea of trying this out. I will say though that although t-5s are great grow lights, they don't have any penetrating power so I think you could only expect to get any buds off pretty much the very top of the plant. the rest will be spindly from lack of light. If you could get some more t-5s and run them horizontal facing your "fly swatter" in differing heights to give light to the lower parts of the plant, I think your yield would be substantially better. If I try, I'll probably be using a 1000w HPS for the light penetrating power. I'm gonna keep an eye here to see how it goes for you, good luck brother

Yea we have a HPS set up but this stuff is in our office at work and that much light is way to much light. Being programmers having this much light is already breaking enough coder laws.

Still moving along fast. They are making their way back the other direction, would say probably 5ft long now.

How do the roots look?

I can't get the lid off without causing some damage, and it's also decided to grow through one of the empty pots making it hard to see even more so. From what I can see, they are bright white and looking healthy. Reaching almost to the opposite side of the bucket. Roots as far down as I can see. Many tiny hairs as well as a good number of thicker stalks. We're feeding with what we think is a good mix, so even if there weren't a ton of root, I would think whatever it can pick up should be sufficient.

Super delayed update time, it is warped back and forth several times and there are now limbs flying off it in all directions. its still pretty happy but the lower level leaves are starting to suffer for lack of light.

That is amazing. I wonder what the room will smell like once it starts flowering.

im not sure im a little nervous for that since its a work office and not super sure that everyone likes the smell of hops, I know my wife defiantly does not.

its still growing lol, it is looking like it is getting ready to start flowering

Conman13 said:

That is amazing. I wonder what the room will smell like once it starts flowering.

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It will likely just smell "green".
I've never smelled anything from hop flowers...

Cheers!

day_trippr said:

It will likely just smell "green".
I've never smelled anything from hop flowers...

Cheers!

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Nice thats good news

I'm interested to how they get on when you shorten the day - I'd love to shoot hops on timelapse, which'll mean shooting indoors for a long time.

I'm wondering if I got a dwarf hop and manipulated the light period if I could get them flowering whilst still manageable, hydro's an obvious way to go 'cos I won't have to disturb the plants by watering - just pump the solution in and out from out of shot.

Since you've got the luxury of controlling the photoperiod I wonder if they'd do well pruned to encourage bushing and short stature - unlike outdoors you can keep them in veg state until you deem them ready.

When do you plan to kick them into flowering mode?

Switched over to a 12/12 light cycle and swapped all the bulbs for 3000k ones. Added a big does of flowering nutrients, lets see the flowers!

poptarts said:

Switched over to a 12/12 light cycle and swapped all the bulbs for 3000k ones. Added a big does of flowering nutrients, lets see the flowers!

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Nice! I wonder if the bines above the light will produce anything. If they aren't going to produce then I wonder if it would be better to trim them down. I am excited to see what kind of harvest you get from them.

Yea we arnt super sure, we are hoping we can get at least something, then trick the plant it is winter again and rebuild the trellis into more of a box with the light in the center that way we will have 4X the amount of netting for the hop to climb on below and around the light, instead of the 1 side like it has now. Pretty much going to count even one cone as a success though since we have never done hops before and can't really find anyone else online that has done better then this at hydroponic ones either.

I am really intrigued by this concept. I have experience growing peppers in hydro. But with a bine that grows like crazy and a perennial root structure I'm not sure how that could be managed well without a large temperature controlled room. Can't wait to see the results.

I know this is kind of an old post, but thought you all may be interested in these photos! Hydroponic hops do grow and grow well!!