I wanna grow hops but no idea how

so my sister just bought a new house and has a huge backyard with alot of tree and space that they will never use and i am wondering what i would need to do to grow my own hops. I have made 3 batches so far and am enjoying it. Its a fun hobby that allows me to read while i cook, and have home adventures while i drink, no night is ever dull.
I leave in Northern new jersey. Is it possible to even grow them here, and what would i have to do to make it work?
My bro in law is actually a chemist so i can tell him what people say and have him help me with it all
i can always build something back there aswell, i let them drink my beer so they dont have a problem with me doing what ever i need

Try this:
Hop Gardening

Don't plant different varieties close to each other. If you don't have alot of space, just plant one variety. Hops is awesome to grow! In the summer - in your climate in NJ - with full sun it will grow inches per day. It is great foliage. In the fall you can take down the vines and wrap them to make a wreath. Beautiful. Hard not to be successful growing the stuff. It's a weed and is hard to kill once it's rooted. Buy 1 or 2 rhizomes. You will be able to propogate from one plant the following year because you will have enough root and sprouts for many plants. Plant in full sun - or as best you can. Good luck, and kudos to you for being a hop-growing brewer!

hops are like so many weeds and vines that grow wild. you'll have a hard time killing them off. good soil, composting and gentle rain and sun. get some rhizomes this spring and plant them in the ground. don't expect much your first year and worry about training them too much, just concentrate on keeping them green, they'll take root.

wild said:

Try this:
Hop Gardening

Click to expand...

+1, freshops is great resource (and not just for buying)

Srm277...a good investment before starting is a soil test. Find out where you are and what is needed to bring the soil to optimum levels. Here in CT, I have mine done every year at UConn (no need for yearly testing but it is interesting to see how it changes).

Results the first year surprised me. The lawn looked good but there was less than 1lb of phosphorus and almost as poor amounts of potassium per acre. Took 60lbs of 10-10-10 and 80lbs of limestone to bring a 40'x 30' garden carved out of the lawn up proper pH and NPK levels.

Your state's soil testing lab is here: Rutgers New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station.

Extension services offer various tests. The cheapest test-- Nutrients, pH and recommendations--has been good enough for me.

NPK levels and pH take a while to rise after fertilizing and liming an area so its best to get started as soon as the ground can be dug for soil samples (I spread black plastic out one year to thaw the ground).

Be a gift to your sister too. She'll know what, if anything, she needs for the lawn, for flowers and whatever else she has growing.

Seems to me that I remember Rutgers did a study on growing hops in NJ.

It's a worthwhile article, and you can download a PDF copy here:Vegetable and Herb Gardening Publications: Growing Hops in the Backyard

.

We grow them here in Nebraska and they grow very well. I believe we need to plant more though, as alas we never seem to have enough hops.

I am here in Houston, it is August, can I get them started this year, and where can I buy some starting roots (I am guessing that is what you call them)? I have a modest backyard and figure that opposing fences are far enough apart to do two different hops. The very back fence is more shady.
I also would like to know since I use cascade almost everytime, what types would grow well in Houston?

Any help would be appreciated.