Very few first year hops doing anything....

discgolfin · 06-06-2008, 01:53 PM

I purchased 9 rhizomes from Midwest back in March and I got them in the dirt in mid April. 3 Cascade, 3 Cenntennial, 2 Chinook, and 1 Hallertau .

Planted on the north east corner of backyard..slight hill to yard and cut out raised beds with nice mixture of dirt from my vegtable garden that I prepped all winter. All of the Cascades looked like twigs so I planted them sidways as with the 2 Chinook. My Cenntennial broke ground and is now just over a foot and doing good. My Hallertau just popped out last week and is getting going..but the Cascade and Chinook are doing nothing..I dug them up and saw zero shoots or roots growing..I have been watering them nicely from the beggining and the gound drains well so they are not over wet..the area gets a good 7 to 9 hours of sunlight now so that is not a problem..and my soil should be great!!

I emailed Midwest about the twigs to get thoughts and have not heard back..is this just what to expect? I would have hoped for maybe 1 of the 3 Cascades to go but man..of all of them I was hoping for them to do something..The weather has been cool and is finally warming up here in Chicago. Keep them in and see what happens?? it is 2 months now in the dirt..

any suggestions would be great

Jay

The Soft Underbelly · 06-06-2008, 02:05 PM

I ordered cascades and a Chinook from Midwest as well, along with a Willamette. The Willimette took off strong, the Chinook took several weeks to break ground and grew slowly but is now going strong after about 2 months. My cascades however fared poorly in pots and now that I have them in the garden they're coming to life. They were by far the weakest and smallest of the rhizomes that midwest sent me.

When I've emailed these folks in the past it usually takes a day or two for them to respond as well.....

discgolfin · 06-06-2008, 02:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Soft Underbelly

I ordered cascades and a Chinook from Midwest as well, along with a Willamette. The Willimette took off strong, the Chinook took several weeks to break ground and grew slowly but is now going strong after about 2 months. My cascades however fared poorly in pots and now that I have them in the garden they're coming to life. They were by far the weakest and smallest of the rhizomes that midwest sent me.

When I've emailed these folks in the past it usually takes a day or two for them to respond as well.....

How long in the ground before they did anything?

My Cascade were the smallest as well and the only ones with zero shoots or roots..Im hoping for the best but wanted to have an established plant next year so I could get some yield..might not happen and now I am out to 2010 hops

Jay

**GilaMinumBeer** · 06-06-2008, 02:22 PM

How warm is the soil?

Plants operate kind of like a mash. They need to reach the proper minimal temperature before the enzymes within start to work their magic. A few of mine took a couple months to break ground too.

Trick is to be patient and never expect a yield from a first year plant. Even if you do get cones, there prolly' wont be many and their content will prolly be lacking.

It really does take at least 3 years for the plant to mature to obtain proper yield and content. There just isn;t much of anything associated with brewing that offers instant gratification other than popping the cap on a bottle.

**david_42** · 06-06-2008, 03:10 PM

There is a very good chance your Cascades will sprout once the ground warms up. Cascade plants do not like cold weather. Mine are in their third year and of eight hops, they were the second to last to sprout this year. They are now the tallest.

**DubbelDach** · 06-06-2008, 04:41 PM

Sunlight is key... I planted mine on the south side of the house, lots of sun. My Willamette are the biggest and get the most sun - 3 feet high. The Mt. Hoods get a little shade and they're about 12-18 inches. The Cascade get a touch more shade and are only like 3 inches high.

discgolfin · 06-06-2008, 07:31 PM

I will just leave them and see what happens..It has been a bad spring here in Chicago. We are in the 80's and 90's now so the ground should be nice and warm. The plants are getting a good 7 to 9 hours of nice sun..It is on the north side..way way in the back and I only have one large tree that does not affect them so they start to get sun between 9 and 10 am and continue until about 6pm. I did not expect any yield this year but want to be sure they grown underground so they can do much better next year..I will keep an eye over the next few weeks and see what happens.

Jay

CarlosM · 06-09-2008, 04:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by discgolfin

I will just leave them and see what happens..It has been a bad spring here in Chicago. We are in the 80's and 90's now so the ground should be nice and warm. The plants are getting a good 7 to 9 hours of nice sun..It is on the north side..way way in the back and I only have one large tree that does not affect them so they start to get sun between 9 and 10 am and continue until about 6pm. I did not expect any yield this year but want to be sure they grown underground so they can do much better next year..I will keep an eye over the next few weeks and see what happens.

Jay

my fuggles are about 2 ft now (Chicago) it was an awkard spring. I ordered 2 rhizomes from midwest 1 Cascade (died at my own accidental hand) 1 Fuggle.

the cascade was doing really good too about 5 inches before i accidently stepped on it while weeding.

Carlos

**Mustangj** · 06-09-2008, 04:45 AM

I'm in the same boat. My cascades show no signs of growing.

**Jaybird** · 06-09-2008, 05:34 AM

I planted 12 Cascade and only 2 havent shown anything.... But I am going to leave them until next year. here is my hop yard
JJ