First Year Hop Growers

Year 3 of my hops project and I see so many repeat questions being asked. This is aimed at year one mainly.

1) Don't expect too much in year one, hops require 3 full growing seasons to stabilize to their full potential. If you get some cones in year one consider them a bonus

2) Planting requires a well drained soil with lots of goodness, they are gross feeders, heaped and or raised beds are definitely something you should consider.

3)New Rhizomes can be kept in a cold fridge for a very long time if you are not ready to plant, they should be sealed in a damp (not wet) baggie, I use a small piece of paper towel in a ziplock bag. I have successfully planted a year old rhizome.

4) Watering is one of the most important parts of successful hop growing, when young - first year- dont over water until you have 2 ft of growth, they need to build roots and stressing the plants will help them put out deeper and bigger roots. Allow the surface to dry out between waterings -if dry below 3" deep then they will need water. In the heat of summer an under watered plant will wilt, but can be revived easily with a good watering. DONT water too much until at least June / July when you have 2-3ft of growth. (not for later years- then you need plenty water)

5) If planting directly into newly prepared soil, plant at a depth of about 1-2" (deeper is not an issue but takes longer to break surface), I dig a hole , add a handful of potting soil, add the rhizome after dusting with rooting hormone, cover it with a second handful of potting soil and add soil to a mound over the surface, I then tramp it all down into a basin for water to gather in, compacting the soil helps the plants get established as roots do better in soil than air. I then cover the basin with mulch to retain moisture.

6) Bugs more than animals are your most likely enemies in these early days, companion planting - Marigolds are wonderful - they keep aphids away and if there are plant eating insects they will chomp on the Marigolds first. Rabbits , Ground Hogs and even squirrels (digging up plants) can sometimes be an issue. Mixed reviews about deer, some people say they have eaten their hops, but all around me and on our farm deer leave the hops be , have seen them eating grass right next to our hops.

7) Food - compost is great, try and put some down each season, for other feeding I use both Miraclegro and a balanced 10:10:10 fertilizer. I do this about every 3-4 weeks until cones start. Get a soil test done, local extension service usually offer a free service for this, Lowes and home Depot also sell a cheap test kit which will give you the basic idea too. Hops like Neutral soil, and require lots of Nitrogen in early growth , and phos later when cones set.

8) Cutting back- we could not find any commercial advice on this, but a horticulturist friend suggested leaving all greenery year one to promote root growth, we did and still got cones. Year two was gangbusters with early out the ground strong growth. Now we train 2-3 bines per rope and pull and cut out all other growth. Also cutting off leaves below 12".

9) Mark your plants - within a few weeks you will have forgotten what they are, also mark them well at season end as there is almost no evidence of where they are in winter

10) At end of season after frost kills them off, cut off the bines leaving only 1/2" -1" above ground, you will see the new shoots on the stems , dont cut all of these off.

11) Know what hop roots look like - they are like thin light brown carrots and are just below the surface , so careful when weeding.

I will add more later.

I finally talked to Dave Wells (Freshops) about watering. He says a mature plant needs about a gallon of water a day during the main growth. He drip irrigates using 4L/hr emitters, once every three weeks for an entire day.

For new plants (once they get going as Zulu says), 5-6 hours once a week is better.

Mind you, this is for the Willamette Valley, where we can go all summer without any rain and 80-100F is the typical high temperature.

maybee just add one more. don't plant different types close to each other. I have found underground runners 7 feet out from the crown. They will run under the next mound and you will have a poporii of sorts. alot of the pix I have seen they are way to close.

David
Great information for me, we just finished our automated irrigation system this week after hand watering last year all 100 plants and each plant has a pressure compensated 2 gallon per hour dripper and currently programmed for 1 hour a day (2 gallons each day) . 138 plants under irrigation so far this year, have enough soft cuttings in greenhouse to expand that to at least 150

I will certainly go back and reprogramme them for every 3rd day and maybe 2 hours instead.

On the point about varieties too close - yes, they will spread pretty far , but also easy to control, you just root prune at beginning of a season , using a spade about 3 feet from the crown center, this will also yield new rhizomes that can be sold or planted.

We have our major varieties fully separated, and our experimental ones at least 5 feet away from a different variety .

To bring this back to the top...

Year 4 starting....

With very cold weather with no breaks right up to Mid March (first time in 20 years) the hops literally sprung out the ground after getting some warmth.

We are a month into growth, and have 3-4ft already.

Fertiliser , each plant got a large handful or 17:17:17, and will get Miracle-Grow every 2 weeks when irrigation starts next week. We have a few freeze damaged pipes to repair first.

All 138 Plants made the season, we harvested about 180 Rhizomes, sold I think 20, and have potted up all the rest, mostly Nugget and Cascade.

All test plants made the cut (Perle, Brewers Gold, Horizon, Glacier) , but unless our main stream Goldings do better this year they and the 8 x Willamette will get the chop end of the year. These are cool weather hops and we are obviously too hot.

Chinook, Cascade, Nugget, Centennial are all great producers in our climate, Mt Hood is OK.

The Experimental Sterling was fine, and rest were first year last year.

For new growers , keep records, it helps you decide what is worth putting efforts into.

Weeds continue to be a pain for us, and it requires the whole co-op out there weekly at present to get on top of them. Most of them came from compost we took from the farm I guess. Lesson learned.

Soil test still shows lower than required N, so hoping Miracle Grow will help some.

Happy to answer questions... and will update the blog this weekend

This thread has been very helpful Zulu, thank you.

Will be planting my first 3 hops today. Very excited!

Zulu said:

Soil test still shows lower than required N, so hoping Miracle Grow will help some.

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Have you considered ferts that have higher N than P and K content? Seems if you are Nitrogen deficient you really want to try to work on that more so than adding additional phosphate and potassium...

Various nitrogen-targeted options here and other info:

http://www.canr.msu.edu/vanburen/e-896.htm


Forgot to mention: Nitrogen fixing cover crops like beans, field peas, legumes, etc are also a great option. You can plant a fall cover crop and then till them in for the spring and plant another spring cover crop. There is a lot of material out there you can easily find on the interwebs about nitrogen fixing cover crop options.

Zulu said:

6) Bugs more than animals are your most likely enemies in these early days, companion planting - Marigolds are wonderful - they keep aphids away and if there are plant eating insects they will chomp on the Marigolds first. Rabbits , Ground Hogs and even squirrels (digging up plants) can sometimes be an issue. Mixed reviews about deer, some people say they have eaten their hops, but all around me and on our farm deer leave the hops be , have seen them eating grass right next to our hops.

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There are quite a few Japanese beetle threads and I have had luck with pole beans and rose bushes attracting the brunt of the attention.

For Aphids, marigolds, daisies, aster are all great options. It's not so much that they keep aphids away (they do attract some types of aphids), but they will attract beneficial insects as well. Additionally, peas are a wonderful and I use them as a cover crop. They attract ladybugs, which are your best friend in the aphid-control fight.

Here is a nice link about encouraging natural predatory control of aphids and using companion plantings targeting aphid-eaters:
http://www.small-farm-permaculture-and-sustainable-living.com/natural_pest_control_aphids.html

I've never had mildew or mold/rust issues so I can't comment on those.

We have over-seeded the field with Red Clovers for N benefits, but still see low Nitrogen issues each year. When i mow , it is mulched right back into the field.

Miracle Grow is HIGH N (12:4:8), which is why I use it and I will investigate other fertilizers this year. Too many real life issues as well.

As for bugs, we have no issue, marigolds have worked for us, and Japanese Beetles have not been an issue. With drip irrigation , and feeding via the drip system, we took a bunch of maintenance out of the hops yard last year, system is on a computer and the well is on demand. Just weeding remains a chore.

two points:

1) when talking about water requirements it is difficult to suggest amounts without taking into account the type of soil they're growing in and how old the plants are. hops grown in heavy clay soils will generally need less water than those grown in sandy soils as the clay has a much greater ability to hold moisture. over the past 20 or so years i've only HAD to water a handful of times throughout the growing season (we usually average an inch or so natural rainfall per week during the growing season). once the plants are well established they produce some scary big and deep roots which are very efficient at obtaining moisture from deeper in the soil profile.

2) please make sure to clarify when you are speaking about roots and rhizomes. i've seen posts where many newer growers are apparently mistaking one for the other and don't understand that the rhizomes are a primary way for the plant to self-generate (they have buds/eyes) and are usually found relatively close to the surface. the roots, which will grow laterally (somewhat) but mostly in a downward direction, are structures designed to secure water for the hops and are not capable to regenerate new plants.

growing hops is a blast but i'm finding that a lot of the FORMAL information on the internet has been provided by sources like the hop commissions of Oregon and Washington, two of the major growing regions in the U.S., which is great. the only problem is that most of that info. is geared toward commercial production methods used in those regions and commercial farmers have to cultivate their thousands of plants in a much different way than us as home growers can. we can provide a little more individual attention which ends up producing much healthier plants that are capable of producing greater yields than an individual plant growing in the midst of thousands of others in a 200 acre hopyard. so for all the newbies out there, if you try a technique or method that someone suggested and it doesn't work for you, don't give up. instead, keep in mind that what works for one may not work for others considering climate, soil, environmental stress differences from their growing location to yours. but most of all, remember to B-Hoppy! and obviously have a cold one.

My Centennial is growing very rapidly and has a second shoot popping up. The main bine is 2 ft long. My Cascade on the other hand is only 2" long at best, but has like 5 shoots. Should I trim a couple back? How many bines are optimal and how far do i trim them back?

Thanks for all the great info!

If we are talking first year , let it all grow, more green equals more root.

Each variety will grow at different times and rates.

This is an awesome resource. Will be referencing frequently.

Zulu said:

If we are talking first year , let it all grow, more green equals more root.

Each variety will grow at different times and rates.

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Zulu is right on - each variety has it's own quirks. Some come out of dormancy early (Cascade, Saaz) some slow (Chinook, Willamette). Some are fine-stemmed (Cascade, Centennial, Euros) some throw primary bines (Chinook, Nugget, Perle) Some are good climbers, some have long side arms, some have small cones, some like fertilizer, some hate phosphorus.
Long and short of it - all different. Don't expect them to all be alike. Brewing would be pretty boring if they were

Zulu - Another Greensboro hop grower here. What kind of sun are yours seeing? Full? The ones I just planted (Cascade, Centennial, and Nugget) will get probably 2/3s sun due to some trees blocking morning sun. Think this will be alright?

Maybe I missed it in the thread but I was wondering what rhizome varieties to pick for the first year. I have read about buying several types and see what's doing best. I live in Georgia and have selected one of each of these to order:

Centennial, Cascade, Hallertau, Magnum, and Tettnanger

I just don't know exactly which will do best in my climate and soil (Red clay soil if you are curious, seems to grow other vines well haha). Advice? Thank you

Ryan

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rcboelter said:

Maybe I missed it in the thread but I was wondering what rhizome varieties to pick for the first year. I have read about buying several types and see what's doing best. I live in Georgia and have selected one of each of these to order:

Centennial, Cascade, Hallertau, Magnum, and Tettnanger

I just don't know exactly which will do best in my climate and soil (Red clay soil if you are curious, seems to grow other vines well haha). Advice? Thank you

Ryan

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my online research reveals that Centennial, Cascade and Magnum are "all climate" hops, meaning that they've done well in heat. hallertau and Tett might be iffy - european hops tend to have lower heat tolerances. for more info, check out the link in my signature.

if you have red soil, chances are it is very low in organic matter. you will want to add manure, peat moss, leaf-gro (composted leaves), etc.

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Great info "sweetcell"! Thanks.

Been a bit lax on this topic.

As much sun as you can get, hops grow best where the days at e very long , ie 40 deg latitude and north.

We have replanted our areas that were not productive, and planted 30 new Cascades with rhizomes from healthy plants on our circle, all have produced exceptionally well. In fact two or three are better yielding already than established plants

Keep the bottom 12" clean , no growth or weeds or grass, I am using Poast selective grass herbicide to keep grasses down and it has no effect on hops.

Keep nitrogen levels high pre season, and use general fertilizer during the season ( I do miracle gro as only have 200 Plants), I get full soil analysis twice a year.

Watering deeply once a week if no rain, tried twice a week with no benefit , so now just do once 7 to 10 Days apart.

Great info..Thanks coming from a first year grower.

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any pics of your trellis's?

I will update pics when I get to PC

I'm not a hop grower but have been working in the Ag chemical business for 7yrs. I have a few suggestions and please correct me if this isn't viable for growing hops.
Do you use a pre-emerge for weed prevention? It might not be the best option for the first year as 90% of all pre-emerge is a root pruning herbicide but on plants with established root systems I think this would eliminate the need for weeding and post emergent herbicides like post or roundup.
Also I've noticed people talking about the plants need for high levels of nitrogen and it seems a lot of people are using miracle grow(foliar fed fertilizer). My suggestion would be to use this in addition to a top dressed or soil incorporated polymer coated (slow release) fertilizer. Miracle Grow is only absorbed through the plants leaves and does little to replenish the nutrients back into the soil. A quick way to put this into perspective is by looking at the fertilizer analysis. An all purpose fert is usually a 3-1-2, ex. 24-8-16(divide each number by the smallest number. That gives you 3-1-2). What that number means is there is 24 lbs of nitrogen per 100 lbs of that specific blend. Divide that by your container size and that's how much you have per bag. Then divide that by how much you use per feeding. You quickly realize you aren't adding much back to the soil with foliar fed fert. Don't get me wrong foliar fed fert is awesome but unless you plan on applying it every 7-10 days your best bet would be to use it along side a granular slow release fert. Again, I'm not a hop grower (I do plan on starting a few plants this spring) but this is the method most utilized in the commercial market.

Daniel1980...I'm not the horitculturalist in our hop growing operation but I can regurgitate some of the stuff they say.

First, no round-up. I've seen fields killed by overspray from a nearby corn field.

Second, we have about a 6 week window to get the nutrients into the hops. They have to be done by Summer solstice. Anything after that results in excessive vegetative growth and what are sometimes refereed to as "angle wings", basically leaves growing out of a cone or even a new side arm. We saw this effect this year since some put down granulated fertilizer that wasn't properly absorbed due to the drought.

There are some pre-emergants that you can use, but not until the crown is fairly established...2nd year at least.

So maybe switch to a fertilizer higher in phosphorus and lower in nitrogen in the flowering stage? Phosphorus is better for flowering vs nitrogen or do you pull away from fertilizing at all during flowering? What's been working for you guys?
I know what works for some plants doesn't work for others.

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Like I said, not the horticultrulist...just regurgitating. Let me get back to you in a bit.

This is good info. I qm looking wt planting hops this spring in Eastern Nebraska. I have an acreage. First some for myself and friends. How many plants if microbrewery is interested in buying locally?

Dave, there's a whole lot of answer to that little question.

Quick answer, figure 1 lb of hops/bbl and a single plant at full maturity should yield 1 to 2 lbs of dried hops, depending on variety. An acre can hold 900 to 1200 plants, typically. So you can do the math from there based on how much production your local micro is brewing.

The reality is that they rarely sole source hop or malt purchase and quality of the product is usually a higher concern. Some will demand pellets instead of whole cone. Many will want testing performed to give them the alphas, etc.

Then there's the simple question of what variety can you grow vs. what they want to buy.

Those are some good things to think about. I am going to research what has been grown in Nebraska and what I would personally want. I'll try a few plants from 4 varieties or so this spring qhile I research and go from there.

Thanks!

I was looking around our property this weekend while we were enjoying the nearly 70 degree weather, and noted some promising growth around the base my Cascade hops. This is their 2nd year and I was pleased to get about an ounce of cones last year. I planted four rhizomes and three sprouted last year - I'm hoping to see an increase in growth and yield this year and so far it looks very promising.

For those of you've had success your first year with planters or pots, which one of the following would you recommend? Ideally I'd prefer the ground, but it's not an option here in NYC... so, I'm limited to a small space, facing South West-ish in a planter.

These were all available at the Lowes nearby:

Unknown size (smaller than 20 gallon):


30 gallon container:


20 gallon "all purpose" basket:



My other option is one of those larger red plastic planters at a local hardware store, but not sure what size they have, they weren't labeled and seemed rather expensive for what they were.

As for trellis system: Do you think using a cross with twine, and two screw-eyes on each end more stable than say, one of those cross-hatched trellis fence things?

I would pick bucket #2 the largest. Filled with potting soil. With a cheap pole of any kind stuck in the middle. With holes drilled in the bottom.

+HopSpunge+ said:

I would pick bucket #2 the largest. Filled with potting soil. With a cheap pole of any kind stuck in the middle. With holes drilled in the bottom.

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Thanks! Do you think that type of tub would be too flimsy though? I can't imagine how much weight the potting soil and water will add.

Edit: Also - would 2 plants (same type) per pot work, or would that be extreme overcrowding for the roots?

In general, the bigger the better but as you pointed out it needs to be able to hold the weight of the soil and you need to be able to move it. I haven't had good experience with large tubs like #2 because they break down in the sun as well as the roots push through and tear it apart.

I have gone with #3, successfully for a few years. Eventually, they always need to be re-potted.

GVH_Dan said:

In general, the bigger the better but as you pointed out it needs to be able to hold the weight of the soil and you need to be able to move it. I haven't had good experience with large tubs like #2 because they break down in the sun as well as the roots push through and tear it apart.

I have gone with #3, successfully for a few years. Eventually, they always need to be re-potted.

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That makes sense as well, it was my main concern with the quality of the larger container. This isn't (hopefully) a permanent place, but something that may last 2 seasons, and then require movement elsewhere, re-potting, etc.

In either container, would planting 2 rhizomes be too much? I've seen a few contradicting sources, some say throw 2 into one spot, some say space them apart by a few inches. This is all the same variety of course, I was planning on two types, 2 per planter.

Thanks

Most commercial growers stick a few rhizomes in each hole to make sure they'll have enough vines to train from each hill in case there's a dud or two in the bunch. Two rhizomes per pot are gonna fill up the volume of soil a little quicker than just one. At the beginning of your third season you're probably gonna want to remove them and cut them back anyway. This will help you control the underground mass somewhat without really setting them back. Either way you'll most likely have success.

Like B-hoppy said, the 2 per hill rule is insurance against a dud. The one thing I wanted to add is make certain they are the same variety. It seems obvious but I can't count the number of times someone has put a cascade and nugget in the same pot and then sends me pictures of leaves asking which is which. You'll never know.

So, where do you guys get your hops rhizomes from. Looking to plant some this spring and I want to get off to a good start.