Paulasaurus's Hops Garden

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Thanks man! I tried to space the vines out about 6 feet apart, but only had so much room to work with for the cables. I did run a 360 degree sprinkler head off of my existing lawn sprinker system and positioned centrally located in the hop garden. I turned back the flow output of the head to more of a light spray, so that it doesn't over saturate the soil. Now I need to drop the cables down and add some more ropes, just want to be careful that different species ball up at the top and I don't know which is which. I also need to be careful that they don't steal sunlight from one another. The weather is absolutely gorgeous here in Michigan right now, so this sounds like a good project for tomorrow afternoon! Thanks for the info and I hope all is well. :mug:
 
2013 growing season has finally come. I moved my Fuggle, and Nugget from planters(They really wanted out as the pictures show) into the ground finally so I have all 8- 4'x4' areas spoken for.

Onto the pictures....

You mean to tell me that they wanted out so badly that they actually busted out the sides of the pots? I knew they were amazing plants but never seen anything like that. I'd keep an eye on that one once you put her in the ground, haha!
 
Well the planter was buried in the ground all winter so i'm guessing the freezing temps had something to do with it. But, it sounds way cooler to just say she busted out cause she wanted to :D

You mean to tell me that they wanted out so badly that they actually busted out the sides of the pots? I knew they were amazing plants but never seen anything like that. I'd keep an eye on that one once you put her in the ground, haha!
 
I didn't hear what you said about the freezing thing so I'm all about the new variant developed in MN: Humulus Lupulus 'Ninja-sotaus'. I'd still suggest keeping an eye on her as you could end up like the commercial showing that golfer that the giant venus fly trap gobbled up! Happy growing!
 
This is what I'm talking about. Here is a pic. of one of the second year Chinooks from the rhizomes that Ted sent me last year. As you can see, they are a bit unruly this year with at least 25 bines already per plant! The Cascades look very similar.....maybe 20 bines each. The remaining 4 have at least 10 to 15 bines each. I'm just trying to guage how many should be climbers and how many should be trimmed back to allow the crowns root system focus it's nutrient supply to the climbers.

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That looks like a very happy Chinook! Being that it was a clipping from Teds you'll have a monster on your hands there.

I'd run 4 ropes to that plant and trim back all but 8 of the largest bines. 2 bines per rope. Same goes for all of them now that they're in their 2nd season.

I'm hoping to get my ropes strung up tonight or tomorrow night. I'll get pictures up once that happens.

This is what I'm talking about. Here is a pic. of one of the second year Chinooks from the rhizomes that Ted sent me last year. As you can see, they are a bit unruly this year with at least 25 bines already per plant! The Cascades look very similar.....maybe 20 bines each. The remaining 4 have at least 10 to 15 bines each. I'm just trying to guage how many should be climbers and how many should be trimmed back to allow the crowns root system focus it's nutrient supply to the climbers.
 
Finally got my ropes up for all plants! Just in time for the monsoon to hit, the plants are very happy though. Once things dry up a bit i'm going to be adding some reinforcements to the pergola. My yard sees some high winds so better to beef it up now than be left with a pile of rubble. Still a couple more random rhizomes to harvest but otherwise time to add another bag of manure and watch them climb. Oh and pull some weeds outta there :ban:

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That garden looks great, man!

Thanks man!

Tempted to expand to the south side of my house just like yours. I'd love to add a few more varieties next season. Or maybe just more Centennial and Columbus :rockin:
 
I was thinking about that today when I saw the most recent pics. You'll need to get yourself some monkeys and train them to harvest for you!
 
Great thread. You have an awesome garden. I always enjoy seeing what kind of beer you are drinking when you update your pics. Nice touch.
 
Thanks, greatly appreciate it.

I'll keep the updates coming as the plants continue to grow. We've been getting lots of rain over the past week here in MN and my plants are growing 1-2 inches a day so hoping for some sun soon to hopefully see 3"+ of daily growth.

Great thread. You have an awesome garden. I always enjoy seeing what kind of beer you are drinking when you update your pics. Nice touch.
 
I just saw you and Ted on chop and brew.

I planted several hop rhizomes this spring. The video had some great info.

If others are interested in some hop growing basics, it is worth watching.
 
I just saw you and Ted on chop and brew.

I planted several hop rhizomes this spring. The video had some great info.

If others are interested in some hop growing basics, it is worth watching.

Thanks! Good luck to your hops and keep tuning in to Chop and Brew for more info as the season progresses :mug:

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Well its been a busy summer to say the least. Need to put some time into the hop garden very soon. Soil still very depleted of nutrients so I have plans to bring in some compost as well as raising the timbers by one level to hold said compost/top soil. Really hoping to see my plants hit the top this year and even more so next year.

Here they are as of yesterday. My Cascade is finally at 10' and the others are close behind. Still need to do some weeding as well. Raspberries are also starting to fruit :)

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Looking great Paul!

All but two of my 8 vines have made it to the top (18ft). We had a wicked storm roll thru with 70 mph winds on Monday and it did some damage. :( The trellis system was designed to allow plenty of sway for the trees that support it, but I evidently didn't have enough slack in a couple of the lines and it ripped about 4 of my largest bines out of the ground.....2 on one of the chinooks, and 2 on one of the cascades. Thankfully I ran 3 climbing lines for each crown and trained 2 to 3 bines per line, so there is plenty left, but the ones I lost were the a$$ kickers. Oh well, can't control mother nature.
 
Sorry to hear about the damage to your hops man. Its one of those things that just isn't in our control. Being that my hops are more in the open now than ever I worry about hail and high winds whenever a storm goes through. I try to keep my ropes as tight as possible and that helps a lot but isn't a guarantee.

You may have lost the larger bines but the energy that was feeding those will now go into feeding the rest.

Keep at it!


Looking great Paul!

All but two of my 8 vines have made it to the top (18ft). We had a wicked storm roll thru with 70 mph winds on Monday and it did some damage. :( The trellis system was designed to allow plenty of sway for the trees that support it, but I evidently didn't have enough slack in a couple of the lines and it ripped about 4 of my largest bines out of the ground.....2 on one of the chinooks, and 2 on one of the cascades. Thankfully I ran 3 climbing lines for each crown and trained 2 to 3 bines per line, so there is plenty left, but the ones I lost were the a$$ kickers. Oh well, can't control mother nature.
 
Updated pictures!!!

My Cascade is now throwing cones and topped out just shy of the top. Columbus was the first plant to reach the top of the pergola and my Nugget is close behind. A few other varieties are sure to reach it soon too. Centennial and Chinook are lacking this year, need to get some more nutrients into that soil!

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So nice to see the plants topping out on the pergola this year! Was very worried about growth after the transplant and they're finally starting to look happy!

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Cones are growing larger on all plants and are still a bit wet but i'd expect to start harvesting some of the varieties in the next couple of weeks here. They didn't get nearly as full at the top as they have in the past but at least they've hit the top of the pergola this year and hoping for more growth next year. Its been quite the experiment of how a transplant can affect hop plants but happy to see them getting stronger. Even though they've been fairly neglected as of late.

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Everything looks great! Question: I have a 10 ft. high/10 ft. wide arch that I have 5 separate (partially buried) boxes with different hops growing up ropes that I eye-hooked from the boxes to the top bar of the arch. Looks just like your pergola but only 1/2 of that (like one side of the box). They're all 1st year rhizomes, but a couple of the strains are really aggressive and have already reached the top and started to grow across the cross bar. I'm worried the leaves are getting all bunched up among the strains and that they'll get O2 deprived since it's so dense ... is this a valid concern? Especially for next year when all the strains reach the top... where are they going to go? Thanks! :)
 
Thanks! As for your question, I wouldn't worry at all if the plants get bunched together, its going to happen more as they mature year after year. The only concern you might have is keeping the varieties separate from one another. At my previous house I had this issue and for the last month of growth every other day i'd be out in the garden training the bines away from the other varieties and back into themselves. This worked well enough that when it came time to harvest I knew which hops were which. But I never had any concerns of my plants becoming 02 deprived.

Good luck and put up a picture of your hop arch.

Everything looks great! Question: I have a 10 ft. high/10 ft. wide arch that I have 5 separate (partially buried) boxes with different hops growing up ropes that I eye-hooked from the boxes to the top bar of the arch. Looks just like your pergola but only 1/2 of that (like one side of the box). They're all 1st year rhizomes, but a couple of the strains are really aggressive and have already reached the top and started to grow across the cross bar. I'm worried the leaves are getting all bunched up among the strains and that they'll get O2 deprived since it's so dense ... is this a valid concern? Especially for next year when all the strains reach the top... where are they going to go? Thanks! :)
 
Well my neglected plants produced better than last year but still not near what they have in the past. I'll be loading up the garden with compost and leaves before the winter and hope that it'll help the soil prepare for next year.

Harvested 4 of the 8 plants I have and will be getting to the rest of them very soon as most of them are starting to brown at the tips.

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Nice work Paul.....despite the neglect. ;) Those are some big azz cones! I just finished up my harvest, drying, and packaging. Off of my 8 second year plants, I ended up with 40.6 oz. or 2 1/2 lbs. of dry hops, but mostly chinook and cascade. The columbus was about 5 oz., the centennial only produced a couple of ounces, and the hallertau was pitiful at one ounce. I definately jumped the gun on the glacier plant, as the cones were very plentiful, but tiny and still a little green. It yeilded about 4 oz. dried. I had one small window of opportunity to finish the harvest, so although they could have benefited from another week or so on the vine, I picked them anyways. As expected, a decent amount of lupulin, but very grassy once dried. My vines took a beating in several wind storms and like yourself, I probably didn't care for them as well as I should have. Let me know what your total yield is for the year when your done.
 
Nice work Paul.....despite the neglect. ;) Those are some big azz cones! I just finished up my harvest, drying, and packaging. Off of my 8 second year plants, I ended up with 40.6 oz. or 2 1/2 lbs. of dry hops, but mostly chinook and cascade. The columbus was about 5 oz., the centennial only produced a couple of ounces, and the hallertau was pitiful at one ounce. I definately jumped the gun on the glacier plant, as the cones were very plentiful, but tiny and still a little green. It yeilded about 4 oz. dried. I had one small window of opportunity to finish the harvest, so although they could have benefited from another week or so on the vine, I picked them anyways. As expected, a decent amount of lupulin, but very grassy once dried. My vines took a beating in several wind storms and like yourself, I probably didn't care for them as well as I should have. Let me know what your total yield is for the year when your done.

Great yield Hoppo! I'll be lucky if I see half of that. Most of my bulk is coming from my Columbus(yet to be harvested) and my Cascade(already in the freezer). I haven't yet weighed mine but once the Columbus is dried i'll guess that i'll be just over 1 lb this year dried. With some prep before the snow flies i'm really hoping for double that next year. Once my soil is back to where it should be i'm hoping for big big numbers!

My daughter continues to tell everyone that comes by, "you have to smell the lupulin!". And her favorite so far has been the Chinooks. lol

:mug:

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I know....my 9 y/o daughter helped me harvest all of the cascades, columbus, and centennial, but was at a friends house during the chinook, glacier, and hallertau harvest. I'm sure she is going to school telling everyone about the hop harvest. She's definitely my little brewing assistant and loves to help me with all of my brewing related projects. She says that someday she wants to open a restaurant and she will be the chef, and I will be the brewer. She cracks me up! :D
 
Great yield Hoppo! I'll be lucky if I see half of that. Most of my bulk is coming from my Columbus(yet to be harvested) and my Cascade(already in the freezer). I haven't yet weighed mine but once the Columbus is dried i'll guess that i'll be just over 1 lb this year dried. With some prep before the snow flies i'm really hoping for double that next year. Once my soil is back to where it should be i'm hoping for big big numbers!

My daughter continues to tell everyone that comes by, "you have to smell the lupulin!". And her favorite so far has been the Chinooks. lol

:mug:

She's hooked. And that's a good thing.
 
Paulasaurus - I know this thread hasn't been updated in a while, but I saw your hop pergola on brewing TV and tracked down this thread. I want to build something similar. What did you use for lumber? Is that 4x4 legs with 2x6 on top? Did you bury the posts or use some sort of concrete foot?

Thanks!
 
Paulasaurus - I know this thread hasn't been updated in a while, but I saw your hop pergola on brewing TV and tracked down this thread. I want to build something similar. What did you use for lumber? Is that 4x4 legs with 2x6 on top? Did you bury the posts or use some sort of concrete foot?

Thanks!

Hey Benny thanks for looking up my thread! Looking forward to a much improved growing season this year with hopefully twice the yield. As long as mother nature works with me, got a few inches of snow just yesterday, and just when I was about to see my garden for the first time this season. Oh well soon enough there will be new bines poking through the ground.

I used 16' 4x4's and dug down 3' and cemented them in. And yes 2x6's for the top pergola sections. I have plans to do some structural cross supports of some kind but I haven't yet figured out how I want to do it. I live on top of a hill so I see some pretty nasty winds come through and watching it sway the tiny bit it does makes me nervous but very unlikely that it'll ever come down, aside from a tornado coming through to claim it. Also planning on staining it this year so it matches my newly stained deck.

I'll be sure to update this thread once I start seeing some growth this year.

Stay Tuned! :rockin:
 

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