Growing hops in Massachusetts in Shady areas

Hi,

I live in Boston, and my garden gets way more shade than sunlight so I'm wondering which hops would be best for me to grow (or which varieties I should definitely not attempt to grow).

I'm mainly interested in cascade, chinook, fuggle, target, &/or willamette, but would adapt my brewing to what would grow best.

Thanks!

Cascade's pretty hardy, they grow well for me out in western MA with some sun (I don't have full sun). They need as much as you can give them, though.

One thing I've learned from talking to guys growing hops around Mass is to definitely go with the hardy strains. Also, I'd concentrate on growing more flavor/aroma hops than bittering hops since you won't be able to quantify the AA% for bittering purposes.

Thanks for the tips...If anyone else has any recommendations, please let me know.

Vendors say Sunbeam Golden, a Saaz hybrid, does well in semi-shade. Ordered three rhizomes to put here and there as ornamentals. Anyone else grow them?

I've tried growing Sunbeam, but it's been getting too much sun. Gets about 10 feet tall & turns brown. Need to replant it under the ash tree.

Cascade & Fuggle will grow just about anywhere.

Thanks David....planned on trying one Sunbeam in more sun but won't now. Have an estimate of how much sun cooked yours? I'm thinking 4 to 6 hours of direct sun...wondering if I should go with the lower number...or less. Did you get any cones? I don't see recipes using Sunbeam. Imagine it can be substituted for Saaz?

My slope is wide open all day, so 16 hours worst case. When I setup the hop garden that wasn't the case, but then the area west of my property got clear-cut, so no more afternoon shade.

Sunbeam is very Saaz-like. If it wasn't so sun-sensitive, it would be grown commercially.

Sunbeam is suppose to be get sun for 4-6 hours a day. 16 hours would definitely kill it. I would reccomend Sunbeam, Cascade, Chinook, and something like columbus. I sell all of these in my shop for 5.00 a piece with free shipping(minimum order is 2)

CrankyOldLibrarian said:

Hi,

I live in Boston, and my garden gets way more shade than sunlight so I'm wondering which hops would be best for me to grow (or which varieties I should definitely not attempt to grow).

I'm mainly interested in cascade, chinook, fuggle, target, &/or willamette, but would adapt my brewing to what would grow best.

Thanks!

Click to expand...

You know I was out and about in J.P. today.... If you go down and walk around Union Ave, Ophir St, Greenley Place, and Brookside you'll see a wild hop infestation. It might not even hurt to walk down Williams, Kenton, and Gartland. I've noticed them in that whole area.... While you're down there go over to Doyle's and have a Samuel Smith.


There were no cones on them only real small flowers and seed pods. They are definitely related to hops and it might be worth grabbing some to see if they cross-pollinate.

StAnthonyB said:

You know I was out and about in J.P. today.... If you go down and walk around Union Ave, Ophir St, Greenley Place, and Brookside you'll see a wild hop infestation. It might not even hurt to walk down Williams, Kenton, and Gartland. I've noticed them in that whole area.... While you're down there go over to Doyle's and have a Samuel Smith.


There were no cones on them only real small flowers and seed pods. They are definitely related to hops and it might be worth grabbing some to see if they cross-pollinate.

Click to expand...

Thanks for posting this. That area is right by my house so I'll check it out.

Im in Cambridge and plan on growing some this spring, so I am very interested in what people have to say.

I'm in Watertown. I planted mine facing the river so they get full sun. The Nugget and Cascade did fantastic (first year). My Goldings rhizome made up to about 8 feet then burnt to a crisp. I started watering more often than the other two and it came back to life. No hops though.

I planted 2 Sterlings last spring; 1 in full sun & 1 that only received about 2 - 3 hrs/day. I harvested 3 oz (dried) off the full sun plant; not a single cone on the partial.

I am in Clinton and was considering trying container gardening for hops this year. There was an excellent article in BYO a few months back.

I have a good space with sun, but would have to do containers. Not sure if this is an option for you...

(Doyle's is awesome. . . )

I'm near Patriot Place. I've used 5 gal buckets for pairs of rhyzomes.
I got em 6-8 feet last year (planted them late, and let them dry out before they grew cones).

I have 1 Cascade bucket, and 1 Willamette, and had em sit on my 3.5 season porch for November, since they were in buckets, then I brought them in.

I put a halide on them in my basement - spring is starting just before Christmas this year. I hope I'm not starting them too early, but they warmed up and sprouted. So far, they're pushing up dirt ~10 tips per bucket.

empty buckets are holding the shape of the holes in the sunny spot of my yard - future site of the trellis swing.