2013 Hop garden photo thread

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Unfortunately I have been planning moves for the last 4 years and I continue growing in pots and buckets until I get my own place. Last year I got a total of 6oz dried from 4 different varieties.

I got a few late season rhizomes last year and got them started in May 2012 so they are decent 2nd year plants now. On my Trellis I have: Centennial, CTZ, chinook, galena, Newport, nugget.

I got more late season Rhizomes on a closeout sale in early may. Next year I will be adding: tettnang, hallertauer and Cascade.

image-2523227611.jpg
 
dudasaj said:
Unfortunately I have been planning moves for the last 4 years and I continue growing in pots and buckets until I get my own place. Last year I got a total of 6oz dried from 4 different varieties.

I got a few late season rhizomes last year and got them started in May 2012 so they are decent 2nd year plants now. On my Trellis I have: Centennial, CTZ, chinook, galena, Newport, nugget.

I got more late season Rhizomes on a closeout sale in early may. Next year I will be adding: tettnang, hallertauer and Cascade.

View attachment 127933
Click to expand...

They look great ! Keep up the growing. That is what it is all about.:)
 
FuzzeWuzze said:
As with other people doing Teepee designs with mixed varieties, you could have issues when the plants are in their 2nd or 3rd season and grow to the top of that easily, then they will all grow together into a giant blob of hop bines and you wont have any chance of telling what is what when it comes to harvesting.
Click to expand...

I did teepees too. Though, I didn't have any trouble raising them by myself. I actually thought it was pretty easy. But, I also used a new teepee for each variety so I don't have the top cluster mess. I have Cascades on one and Centennials on the other.
 
Here are some shots of my cascade growing from the jute to the rebar of the structures I described earlier in the thread. I guess GPS can climb rebar pretty well. Good news.

image-3442576259.jpg


image-565496225.jpg
 
I was at my grandparents house in PA this weekend and noticed this vine growing around an old boat. My grandfather used to make wine, but not beer to my knowledge. This is just a small section of a 20x20 foot area completely covered with the stuff...I thought it may be some variety of hops, but I figure the only way to tell for sure is to wait and see if it produces cones or male flowers...any guesses? FWIW it is not actively growing up the walnut tree it is underneath, just a huge tangled mess about 2ft high along the ground...

hops.jpg
 
^^ It looks to be wild hops. I know there's some threads about things people have tried to do with them. They are not as desirable as cultivated varieties but I don't think they are worthless.
 
thumb2_cascade-60225.jpg


thumb2_hop-box-60224.jpg


Here is the start to my Hop Garden. The Cascade is moving right along, waiting on the other two to do something. I planted Centennial and Chinook!
 
bottlebomber said:
^^ It looks to be wild hops. I know there's some threads about things people have tried to do with them. They are not as desirable as cultivated varieties but I don't think they are worthless.
Click to expand...

That was my thought as well. I am just going to keep an eye on them as the season progresses to see what becomes of them...maybe I'll dry hop a gallon of pale ale with them as an experiment.
 
My ghetto hop garden, living on the S SW wall of my duplex in a little strip of land behind where I live. First year Willamettes side by side, leaves look different between the plants though.

IMG_0043.jpg


IMG_0042.jpg


IMG_0040.jpg
 
first pic is of my newport. she's insane. she's already topped the telephone pole and is looking for more.

second shot is of the centennial & cascade. the cascade has run out of balcony to climb, centennial will be there shortly.

the other plants (nugget, santiam, and sterling) are doing well but not quite as impressive. they don't get glamor pix posted until they step up like their big sisters :D

newport1.jpg


newport2.jpg


newport3.jpg


cascade+cent1.jpg


cascade-cones.jpg
 
A little story on how hearty hops can be.

I picked up 2 Centennial rhizomes last year on a whim since the LHBS was clearing them out. I have some room in my yard so I figured what the heck, for $5 if they grow great, if not, nothing really lost. I got home and grabbed a couple old 2 gal plastic pots, dumped in some miracle grow potting soil my wife had laying around, stuck them in, and sat them in the back yard. (way to late in mid June).
A couple weeks later I see some bines begin to emerge so I tie some twine to a post and start them around the twine. They grew ok, but never really got past about 3 feet. By this time it's mid September in PA, so the weather is cooling down and the bines begin to die off. Well there they sat....all winter, in the back yard, in 2 gal pots, in the freezing cold of PA.

Fast Forward to the end of march. I'm in the back cleaning up and grab the pots to get rid of them. I look down and there are 3 small shoots coming up out of each pot. OK, I thought, If you little buggers are still going to try after all that abuse, so will I. With that, I go in the house, grab the car keys, and head to the local Ace hardware to get some compost, twine, stakes, and advice. I get home and start digging a new home for my stubborn little friends. The wife comes out and asks "what are you doing?" I look back and growl " saving a life woman, leave me be" and continue digging to the sound of her laughing and walking back in the house.

Well....here it is 2 1/2 months later and I have the last laugh.

These are my 2nd year, 2 1/2 month old, left for dead Centennials.
For reference, the support wire at the top is 18Ft.

945647_4944936430332_539560149_n.jpg
 
sweetcell said:
first pic is of my newport. she's insane. she's already topped the telephone pole and is looking for more.
Click to expand...

Very cool im looking forward to my Newport taking off next year.

That said, isnt it illegal to have your plants growing on the city phone lines?
I know out here in theory if the city came by and saw plants on their power/phone/cable lines they could and probably would cut back all growth on the public lines, and likely wouldnt take much care doing so and manhandle the plant.
 
This is my balco-garden. The rhizomes that I harvest off my two 3yo plants establish themselves here before going somewhere else. This year I am only collecting Centennial runners as I already have something like 9 cascade plants and 8 goldings over in my big yard (but only 1 centennial) :D
1015538_486705364732360_1297526945_o.jpg
 
whitehause said:
A little story on how hearty hops can be.

I picked up 2 Centennial rhizomes last year on a whim since the LHBS was clearing them out. I have some room in my yard so I figured what the heck, for $5 if they grow great, if not, nothing really lost. I got home and grabbed a couple old 2 gal plastic pots, dumped in some miracle grow potting soil my wife had laying around, stuck them in, and sat them in the back yard. (way to late in mid June).
A couple weeks later I see some bines begin to emerge so I tie some twine to a post and start them around the twine. They grew ok, but never really got past about 3 feet. By this time it's mid September in PA, so the weather is cooling down and the bines begin to die off. Well there they sat....all winter, in the back yard, in 2 gal pots, in the freezing cold of PA.

Fast Forward to the end of march. I'm in the back cleaning up and grab the pots to get rid of them. I look down and there are 3 small shoots coming up out of each pot. OK, I thought, If you little buggers are still going to try after all that abuse, so will I. With that, I go in the house, grab the car keys, and head to the local Ace hardware to get some compost, twine, stakes, and advice. I get home and start digging a new home for my stubborn little friends. The wife comes out and asks "what are you doing?" I look back and growl " saving a life woman, leave me be" and continue digging to the sound of her laughing and walking back in the house.

Well....here it is 2 1/2 months later and I have the last laugh.

These are my 2nd year, 2 1/2 month old, left for dead Centennials.
For reference, the support wire at the top is 18Ft.
Click to expand...

Classic, love the line to SHMBO. I can envision the snarly look on your face as you reply/ sneer. Good story...glad the resurrection was a success!
 
So I got out my tape to measure how long I was...

Turns out my baby is doing pretty well for a first year rhizome in mid-June.

image.jpg
 
drakerebel said:
Classic, love the line to SHMBO. I can envision the snarly look on your face as you reply/ sneer. Good story...glad the resurrection was a success!
Click to expand...

hehe, It's kind of an inside joke between the wife and I. She always busts my stones about my gardening. All I ever plant is hot peppers which she can't eat, and now it's hops and she hates beer. :D
 
FuzzeWuzze said:
That said, isnt it illegal to have your plants growing on the city phone lines?
I know out here in theory if the city came by and saw plants on their power/phone/cable lines they could and probably would cut back all growth on the public lines, and likely wouldnt take much care doing so and manhandle the plant.
Click to expand...
i don't think it's illegal per se - they're not going to arrest me or fine me, at least i sure hope they don't.

but i am aware that the city could come by and hack her down at any moment since she is growing on public property. i'm willing to run that risk. the newport was a "lucky dog" - great lake hops sometimes throws in a freebie when you order several crowns. i wasn't expecting the newport, so i didn't have a spot set up for her. the telephone pole was just about the only spot i could think of. while i'd be pissed off if the city cut her down she's a bonus so i couldn't complain. she was able to grow all last growing season with no interference from the city. fingers crossed that we get away with it again this year.
 
Well, finally broke down and watered my ailing Newport and Columbus hops with some 24/8/16 Miracle Grow...i realize they are first year but they were growing fine and then just sort of stunted and started turning a pale yellow green color, i hoped it was just because we had a week of straight rain but now that we have had another week or two of sun and neither has really grown more than MAYBE an inch in the last 2-3 weeks if that i realized i had to do something.

Meanwhile the center plant my Cascade has taken off, its nearly 18 feet with 2-3' side arms.

Someone mentioned to me that wood in the soil could cause this as it leeches nitrogen...this actually makes sense as both the Cascade and Newport plants are on top of spots where we ripped out giant bushes by the root this year, and the cascade is in the area in the middle that had some bulb flowers that came back every year. There were some roots that were just too deep and spread out that we just hacked them off with a saw to get the root of the bush out. Anyone know if there is truth to this wood thing? All 3 plants were planted in the same Compost/Topsoil mix, approx 33% compost, 33% steer manure, 33% topsoil.
 
Don't know about the wood benefits. It might be that the variety is a slow starter.
I started 8 different varieties this year and the Columbus and US Goldings have been just dog gone slow.... way behind the others. Some frost might have caused it early on. They finally reached the string 3 weeks ago and have climbed to about 3 feet since then. The Cascade was one of the faster movers at about 8 ft now. The rest are 6-8 ft with exception of Chinook - it is 10 ft and climbing fastest.
 
Does anyone have a good, how to harvest Rhizomes page to look at.. for future reference?
 
whitehause said:
A little story on how hearty hops can be.

I picked up 2 Centennial rhizomes last year on a whim since the LHBS was clearing them out. I have some room in my yard so I figured what the heck, for $5 if they grow great, if not, nothing really lost. I got home and grabbed a couple old 2 gal plastic pots, dumped in some miracle grow potting soil my wife had laying around, stuck them in, and sat them in the back yard. (way to late in mid June).
A couple weeks later I see some bines begin to emerge so I tie some twine to a post and start them around the twine. They grew ok, but never really got past about 3 feet. By this time it's mid September in PA, so the weather is cooling down and the bines begin to die off. Well there they sat....all winter, in the back yard, in 2 gal pots, in the freezing cold of PA.

Fast Forward to the end of march. I'm in the back cleaning up and grab the pots to get rid of them. I look down and there are 3 small shoots coming up out of each pot. OK, I thought, If you little buggers are still going to try after all that abuse, so will I. With that, I go in the house, grab the car keys, and head to the local Ace hardware to get some compost, twine, stakes, and advice. I get home and start digging a new home for my stubborn little friends. The wife comes out and asks "what are you doing?" I look back and growl " saving a life woman, leave me be" and continue digging to the sound of her laughing and walking back in the house.

Well....here it is 2 1/2 months later and I have the last laugh.

These are my 2nd year, 2 1/2 month old, left for dead Centennials.
For reference, the support wire at the top is 18Ft.

945647_4944936430332_539560149_n.jpg
Click to expand...

Good story!

Just to let ya know, hops actually require the cold season. I read somewhere that the northeast was originally a large hop center, pre-prohibition; also the pacific northwest is the big hop area in the US, thanks to the cold winters.

So you didn't abuse em all that bad!
 
My Nugget Fuggles and Centennial are makin the climb...lost my two Cascades though. Guess I didn't get them in the ground soon enough coz I dug up the two lifeless spongy rhizomes a week ago
 
Anybody's Golding looking like this? This is just one bine, and it has stopped moving up the rope, just starting to spread out. This is a first year.



Thanks!
 
johnsnownw said:
Anybody's Golding looking like this? This is just one bine, and it has stopped moving up the rope, just starting to spread out. This is a first year.



Thanks!
Click to expand...

Yep. My US Goldings, Centennial, and Columbus are well behind the others. I am not discouraged though since it is first year.
 
All of these are first year from rhizomes. Planted in mid-march in the Denver area.


Cascade


image-1530422907.jpg

It outgrew its string. Do I just let it fall over at the gutter, trim up the bottom and wait for the hops to grow?

Centennial


image-1696841184.jpg

Runt of the litter. Only about 4 foot tall. Letting all the growth go in the pot... I don't expect to be getting much from this one.

Chinook


image-2507361998.jpg

Around 7 foot tall, but missing leaves between 3-5 foot. Wonder if a deer had a snack?
 
Four hops plants, two at far left, two at far right. One pair is 5th year Cascade and Brewer's Gold, one pair is 2nd year Kent Goldings and Sterling. Can anyone guess which is which? ;)

photo-1.JPG
 
jay_mack1 said:
Does anyone have a good, how to harvest Rhizomes page to look at.. for future reference?
Click to expand...

I just start digging around the crown and when I find one I pull it up and follow it back and cut it 6-12" from the crown. Just today I pulled a late shoot out of the ground. They usually break near the surface but this one came out whole so I "planted" it in a pot that I had some grass growing in. I bet it will take right off. They are pretty tough.

image-2722795415.jpg
 
roxbob said:
Four hops plants, two at far left, two at far right. One pair is 5th year Cascade and Brewer's Gold, one pair is 2nd year Kent Goldings and Sterling. Can anyone guess which is which? ;)
Click to expand...

I'm gonna guess that there is purdue roaster chicken on the rotisserie !:mug:
 

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