Vernalizing Hops

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

cheezydemon

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 13, 2007
Messages
1,917
Reaction score
15
Location
The "Ville"
Evidently hops need to "winter". This means that southern growers may need to consider this.

I have read of growers digging up their rhizomes and refridgerating them for a couple of months in between seasons. This alone would make me re-consider growing if I lived in Florida, Texas, etc..
 
Well, I clipped my bines in late October and moved my root-ball and crown inside to overwinter. I have 3" long bine shoots now. I moved them inside to act as a decremental spire cover for our indoor planting area this year. Like I said though, these didn't stay outside before sprouting so I can't talk about that, but they seem to be growing well and I am in southern Oklahoma.
 
Yes, I must admit that I didn't pay too much attention to the particulars since we have full on winters here. I am not sure if the detriment came at flowering, vegetative growth, AA dropping, or what. But some pretty experienced growers were talking about packing bags of ice on their mounds covered with upside down coolers. There must have been good reason.
 
I'll try to remember to ask one of the local pros at this week's meeting. I don't remember seeing any specifics, but this might be one of the reasons hops don't flower as well down south.
 
My source Bill Velick recently recanted his earlier statement citing the fact that australian farmers have no real winter but produce abundant crops........:(
 
I'll post back later this year if my hops flower. This will be their second year and while i have no winter weather I do have a severe dry season. My hops died back in October and I did not water them until early Feb. They are now about 4" tall and looking good. Only time will tell.
 
Die-back to the root is normal for hops. This time of year, a hop farm looks like bare dirt with poles.

Looks like niquejim will be able to answer both the how much cold AND the how far south questions.
 
cheezydemon said:
Who knows? But there must be some reason hops are seldom grown in warmer climates.

Two reasons. First they like a dose of cold in the winter and second, and most importantly, they are a long day plant and therefore need to have short nights in order to induce flower formation. The further South one goes, the longer the summer nights are. Go far enough South and the nights are too long to get much cone formation.
 
Back
Top