Growing Hops in the South

can anyone give me advice on successfully growing and harvesting hops in the south? i live in SC where temps can get up into the 90's and 100's regularly in the summer. last time i tried to grow some (ten yrs. ago) i put in cascade and had a good vine or two growing until true summer heat hit. then it whithered quickly and died.
can i plant and grow hops in the semi shaded areas of my property, or do they need full sun?

full sun is fine but they do not tolerate being dry you need to keep them watered.
not drought tolerant need water and need to be mulched heavy to hold moisture in not flooded but not dry need to be damp all the time.

this site claims Nugget and Galena grow in hot weather

Who knows what they think is hot in Washington state.

http://www.hopsdirect.com/news/article.src?ID=11

I ordered from them last week they were suppose to contact me with shipping info for the UPS next day air. Haven't heard squat.

They tried to grow hops in the "New World" many years ago. Found out they don't like the humidity.

I never knew it until I moved into the area, but one of the largest hop growing areas is in the Yakima Valley in Washington. Whenever I thought of Washington I assumed the weather was just like Seattle, but its not. In the summer the average temp is 85-100 with very little precipitation.

Downy Mildew is a big problem in any humid area, but I suspect lack of water. Last summer it was hitting 100+ most days and watering weekly just wasn't enough. Most big growers have gone over to drip irrigation and that's what I plan for this year.

thanks. i will try again this year. and i will make sure to keep them damp. what mulch is best? we have lots of pine straw here but it is highly acidic. would another medium be best?

Pine bark mulch is popular. I think cypress mulch is superior, it will not rot or attract termites.

Bokonon said:

I never knew it until I moved into the area, but one of the largest hop growing areas is in the Yakima Valley in Washington. Whenever I thought of Washington I assumed the weather was just like Seattle, but its not. In the summer the average temp is 85-100 with very little precipitation.

Click to expand...

I guess you've been to the American Hop Museum in Toppanish then? I have...

My wife has relatives in Yakima and Sunnyside. We visited Toppenish for the Indian murals. I also went to a hop farm and got some free rhizomes from the friend of my wifes cousin's husband...(something like that...).

Found this at Hopunion:

All Climates: Cascade, Centennial,
Glacier, Horizon, Mt. Hood, Nugget &
Willamette.
Dry, Hot Climates: Chinook.
Mild, Moist Climates: Fuggle,
Golding, Hallertau, Liberty & Saaz.
Moderate Climates: Northern
Brewer, Santiam, Sterling & Tettnang.

I had the same problem you had razyrsharpe once full summer hits. My cascade are already 6+' tall this year (2nd year). I'm going to try and have them grow horizontal now where they'll only get partial sun and see what happens this year.

good luck desertbrew. my brother just ordered 17 rizomes (5 different varieties) for him, me and my bro-in-law. hoping for better luck this year. i am going to really prepare the ground and everything i can for better success. gonna set up a drip style irrigation system too.