First year harvest was good: What I learned

First year hop grower (2 Cascade and 1 Centennial). Some things I did right, and wrong:

Did a "partial" harvest today of one of my cascades, which yielded a bit over 12 oz wet. Based on the remaining bines and buds and growth, plus the average sun I have left though October here (SoCal), I am sure I'll get at least three times that by final harvest from that single plant.

The other Cascade is booming too, and the Centennial, transplanted late (late June) is already 7 feet and rarin' to go.

So it is possible to have a great first year. What I did:

1) I had my gardener dig 36" deep holes in my backyard, and I filled them with Miracle Grow. I think this is absolutely key to having a good first year. I doubt commercial hop farms do this due to the expense, but 3-4 holes, why not? BTW, I tried standard gromulch at first, and young hop roots do not seem to like such coarse soil. Go with Miracle Grow.

2) I watered every day, obviously more as the plant grew. Hop roots don't like being waterlogged. But they aren't cactuses. Good soil in a deep hole drains, so over-watering shouldn't be a problem.

3) Used Miracle Grow plant food every 3 weeks or so.

4) Sun 14+ hours per day. This is key. Gotta find an area in your yard that gets good sun.

What I learned for next year:

1) Don't plant rhizomes that look like sticks. Gotta have shoots already sticking out of them, and Freshops sent me junkers. Cost me several weeks of growth having to replace them. LHBS fortunately had some still in stock in May, which saved me. Buy yours in-person if possible so you can pick out the ones that look more like Body Snatcher pods and less like dead twigs.

2) Higher trellises. 10 feet is not enough. I compensated for it in various ways, but 15 feet would have been much better. Fortunately, I can run them across my 25' clothesline. :cross:

3) Gotta prune early and often. Today I felt like I was breaking up two giant squid having sex trying to get the bines apart. Pick 3 bines early, keep them apart, and prune everything else. Otherwise you have a mess and the plant wastes energy. Failure to plan = giant squid sex.

Anyway, those who say you can't have a good first year are wrong, assuming you have good sun, good soil, and water every day.

Here are pics from 7-10 days ago (PoS Mediafire having some issues ATM).

Working on an IPA recipe...

Now comes the dissapointing part watching that 12 oz. wet dry out to about 4 oz. Still, it looks like you had a good year.

Looks good. I had similar results first year. Some of your cones look like they had worm holes in them. The ones I had that looked like that, I pulled them apart and a big worm came out... Did you get them out or just dry them???

MajorTom said:

Looks good. I had similar results first year. Some of your cones look like they had worm holes in them. The ones I had that looked like that, I pulled them apart and a big worm came out... Did you get them out or just dry them???

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Yeah, I had a worm drop out of one of them. Freezing them now. Any idea what kind of worm it is, and how to get rid of them? Insecticidal soap ran off the leafhoppers, but somebody left their evil progeny behind. I'd really like to treat my plants now, as I have a lot more cones growing.

addis29 said:

Now comes the disappointing part watching that 12 oz. wet dry out to about 4 oz. Still, it looks like you had a good year.

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Thanks. Yeah, not really disappointing, as I know they will shrink when dried. But I am planning on using them "wet" anyway. :cross:

The only thing I would change is the Miracle Grow to an organic Fish and Kelp liquid fertilizer. I use Fertrel and or Neptune's Harvest. I can find the Fertrel cheaper then the Neptune's. I have great results with both.

Chardo

FERTRELL-Soil Care Products

Obviously, you mean in place of the MG fertilizer, rather than the soil.

I'm all for organic. I will try Fertrel if I can find it. I am absolutely convinced that feeding with something makes a huge difference. You should see my 5' tomato plant. I am so sold on plant fertilizer/food.

Just ordered some bt for the worms. Hope it works. Saw a moth last night on the wall near my hops that looked like a likely suspect for the green cutworm I found in my hop flower. The moth is deceased.

chardo said:

The only thing I would change is the Miracle Grow to an organic Fish and Kelp liquid fertilizer. I use Fertrel and or Neptune's Harvest. I can find the Fertrel cheaper then the Neptune's. I have great results with both.

Chardo

FERTRELL-Soil Care Products

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I ordered from Freshops.com also. I had a few that worried me, but all is well and I have a booming crop. I just started them in a hole filler with manure and top soil. We have very good soil in my area, so that doesn't hurt.

I also ordered from fresh hops (Cascade and Chinook). The Chinook took of and did well. The Cascade started then died. I reordered and the second batch is doing well. It did cost me some of the growing season though.

I got one Jumbo Fuggle from Fresh hops and........



and it's bigger now. No cones, but I think first year is more about roots, so I didn't prune back at all

I never tire of looking at trellis designs. You should take a pic from farther out - how far up do those strings go?

BTW, I honestly believe that potted hops get stunted, even in the first year. My Centennial stagnated for weeks until I transplanted it to the ground, then boom! Same soil, same watering, same plant food, just pots versus ground. Those roots need room!

blaze379 said:

I got one Jumbo Fuggle from Fresh hops and........

and it's bigger now. No cones, but I think first year is more about roots, so I didn't prune back at all

Click to expand...

Brewinator said:

I never tire of looking at trellis designs. You should take a pic from farther out - how far up do those strings go?

BTW, I honestly believe that potted hops get stunted, even in the first year. My Centennial stagnated for weeks until I transplanted it to the ground, then boom! Same soil, same watering, same plant food, just pots versus ground. Those roots need room!

Click to expand...

Totally agree. I have a friend who bought his hops and planted them a week before me. He lives in an apartment, so he didn't have the ability to plant them in the ground like I did. His are about 7 feet tall right now with no shoots coming off the main bine. Mine are twice the size and have hundreds of hops on them.

I think the big pot in the above picture is fine, but I would trim back some of the bines coming up. Maybe limit it to two. That's just me though...they look like they're doing good either way.

I would actually like to transplant my Nugget to a barrel next year. I think it would have plenty of room, and seeing as how it's already got it's root structure in place...can't be too bad. I want to free up more room for the Mt. Hood and Cascade to explode.

A barrel? You mean like the wooden ~31 gallon wooden ones? That would be cool if you could find them cheap.

But one problem might be that the hop roots might eventually tear through the bottom. Believe it or not, my LHBS guy said his plantered hops in his rear parking lot dug through the asphalt! Hard to believe roots that start out so fragile turn into diamond drill bits.

Suthrncomfrt1884 said:

Totally agree. I have a friend who bought his hops and planted them a week before me. He lives in an apartment, so he didn't have the ability to plant them in the ground like I did. His are about 7 feet tall right now with no shoots coming off the main bine. Mine are twice the size and have hundreds of hops on them.

I think the big pot in the above picture is fine, but I would trim back some of the bines coming up. Maybe limit it to two. That's just me though...they look like they're doing good either way.

I would actually like to transplant my Nugget to a barrel next year. I think it would have plenty of room, and seeing as how it's already got it's root structure in place...can't be too bad. I want to free up more room for the Mt. Hood and Cascade to explode.

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Yes, the wooden barrels. Home Depot in my area usually carries half barrels toward the end of fall for about 20 bucks. I just think it would add a little something to the homebrewing theme of the yard.

Brewinator said:

I never tire of looking at trellis designs. You should take a pic from farther out - how far up do those strings go?

BTW, I honestly believe that potted hops get stunted, even in the first year. My Centennial stagnated for weeks until I transplanted it to the ground, then boom! Same soil, same watering, same plant food, just pots versus ground. Those roots need room!

Click to expand...

We are doing some major yard rearranging this year, so I put them in pot. Next year they will have a dedicated area in the ground for these 5 plants + some new ones.

chardo said:

The only thing I would change is the Miracle Grow to an organic Fish and Kelp liquid fertilizer. I use Fertrel and or Neptune's Harvest. I can find the Fertrel cheaper then the Neptune's. I have great results with both.

Chardo

FERTRELL-Soil Care Products

Click to expand...

Miracle Grow is full of salts..You will be so much better in the long run with a nice mulch of high grade compost in the fall followed by feeding with liquid fish and seaweed foliar and drench feedings during the season...

Pumpkinman906 said:

Miracle Grow is full of salts..You will be so much better in the long run with a nice mulch of high grade compost in the fall followed by feeding with liquid fish and seaweed foliar and drench feedings during the season...

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Ditto, totally agree. Thats what I do.

Brewinator said:

Failure to plan = giant squid sex.

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I ordered one gigantic (probably 8" with more than four buds starting upon arrival) rhizome from [email protected], who posted in this forum in the spring of 08. I just put them in the ground and watered them occasionally, no special drainage, no fertilizer.

No cones last year, but this year I'll have more than I can use (the extras are spoken for )

I'm putting the squid sex quote in my sig.

Don't get too hung up on rhizome size. The twig of a Centennial that I got this year and planted closest to the house so that I could keep an eye on will be my second best producer behind a really big rhizome that my boss wanted and babied. The funny thing is I treated it no better than my second years and it's still gonna give me more cones.

Pics seem to have disapeared. I agree with the soil being a major factor. I prepped mine last year, planted hop rhizomes this year and the hop plants are well over 20 feet (Cascade, and Nugget) Magnum stopped at 15 feet but would have gone further if I had more vertical for them - If I had more rope out who knows how high they would get.

Soil has to drain well yet hold moisture too - get that right and water at least every other day and you will do well. I went organic and the hops are thriving. Cascade harvest probably today, then Magnum - Nugget are still half burr stage.

I harvested my Nuggets and Cascades last week. Already dried and stored in the freezer in 4oz. bags. I didn't get much from my Mt. Hood. Not enough to bother harvesting anyways.

I cannot agree more with your comment about proper pruning and maintenance. I moved about 6 weeks into planting (in a pot) my single cascade and then got busy with work. I am paying for it now as the cones are starting to grow. I have these three massive bine bunches all tangled at the top of my trellis which is going to make harvesting a challenge. The best part was the text I got from my wife about two weeks ago while away:

"Hops going crazy.. growing to parking garage.. neighbors think you're growing pot."

I'll post a picture later on. I used miracle grow soil and alternated MG and MG organic liquid. These things LOVE water.

My first post here.

Hello,

I'm a hop farmer from Slovenia. We have abuot 8ha of hop field and two version of hops. One is Styria golding and one Super strya golding.

There is a few picture of my hops.



















I hope you can read my english, it isnt prety god.

Greetings

Brewinator said:

1) I had my gardener dig 36" deep holes in my backyard, and I filled them with Miracle Grow. I think this is absolutely key to having a good first year. I doubt commercial hop farms do this due to the expense, but 3-4 holes, why not? BTW, I tried standard gromulch at first, and young hop roots do not seem to like such coarse soil. Go with Miracle Grow.

Click to expand...

Agreed - soil prep is critical. I have always gotten a least a few ounces of cones, even from first year plants. I mixed native soil (high percentage of clay), topsoil and rabbit manure in equal proportions.

2) I watered every day, obviously more as the plant grew. Hop roots don't like being waterlogged. But they aren't cactuses. Good soil in a deep hole drains, so over-watering shouldn't be a problem.

Click to expand...

I have never watered new plants more than twice a week, and only once a week once the bines are up three or four feet. I think it makes the plant more tolerant of the heat, long term.

What I learned for next year:

1) Don't plant rhizomes that look like sticks. Gotta have shoots already sticking out of them, and Freshops sent me junkers. Cost me several weeks of growth having to replace them. LHBS fortunately had some still in stock in May, which saved me. Buy yours in-person if possible so you can pick out the ones that look more like Body Snatcher pods and less like dead twigs.

Click to expand...

I found that bines will grow, even from the sticks. Just takes some patience. But I would select the bigger ones as well, if I had a choice.

2) Higher trellises. 10 feet is not enough. I compensated for it in various ways, but 15 feet would have been much better. Fortunately, I can run them across my 25' clothesline. :cross:

Click to expand...

Horizontal works as well. They just need some room to stretch out. A friend who has an established hop garden cuts the tops at ten feet. Doesn't seem to hurt the plant and he gets more hops than he can use in a year.

3) Gotta prune early and often. Today I felt like I was breaking up two giant squid having sex trying to get the bines apart. Pick 3 bines early, keep them apart, and prune everything else. Otherwise you have a mess and the plant wastes energy. Failure to plan = giant squid sex.

Click to expand...

Amen, brother.

Miha7 said:

My first post here.
I'm a hop farmer from Slovenia. We have abuot 8ha of hop field and two version of hops. One is Styria golding and one Super strya golding.

Greetings

Click to expand...

WOW. Nice pictures, you have a really nice looking crop. Thanks for sharing.

As an example of what proper soil prep can do...without miracle grow.
Harvested our 4 cascade plants friday, dry weight today was 24 oz. While I'm sure there are many that have done better, but we never fed or watered after spring. Granted we got 35 feet of water in the NE this summer, but I believe proper soil prep of organic matter, manures and balanced meal ferts along with fish and seaweed can make it happen. In any event, we saved $72 on just what we would have spent on hops...works for me.

Brewinator said:

First year hop grower (2 Cascade and 1 Centennial). Some things I did right, and wrong:

Did a "partial" harvest today of one of my cascades, which yielded a bit over 12 oz wet. Based on the remaining bines and buds and growth, plus the average sun I have left though October here (SoCal), I am sure I'll get at least three times that by final harvest from that single plant.

The other Cascade is booming too, and the Centennial, transplanted late (late June) is already 7 feet and rarin' to go.

So it is possible to have a great first year. What I did:

1) I had my gardener dig 36" deep holes in my backyard, and I filled them with Miracle Grow. I think this is absolutely key to having a good first year. I doubt commercial hop farms do this due to the expense, but 3-4 holes, why not? BTW, I tried standard gromulch at first, and young hop roots do not seem to like such coarse soil. Go with Miracle Grow.

2) I watered every day, obviously more as the plant grew. Hop roots don't like being waterlogged. But they aren't cactuses. Good soil in a deep hole drains, so over-watering shouldn't be a problem.

3) Used Miracle Grow plant food every 3 weeks or so.

4) Sun 14+ hours per day. This is key. Gotta find an area in your yard that gets good sun.

What I learned for next year:

1) Don't plant rhizomes that look like sticks. Gotta have shoots already sticking out of them, and Freshops sent me junkers. Cost me several weeks of growth having to replace them. LHBS fortunately had some still in stock in May, which saved me. Buy yours in-person if possible so you can pick out the ones that look more like Body Snatcher pods and less like dead twigs.

2) Higher trellises. 10 feet is not enough. I compensated for it in various ways, but 15 feet would have been much better. Fortunately, I can run them across my 25' clothesline. :cross:

3) Gotta prune early and often. Today I felt like I was breaking up two giant squid having sex trying to get the bines apart. Pick 3 bines early, keep them apart, and prune everything else. Otherwise you have a mess and the plant wastes energy. Failure to plan = giant squid sex.

Anyway, those who say you can't have a good first year are wrong, assuming you have good sun, good soil, and water every day.

Here are pics from 7-10 days ago (PoS Mediafire having some issues ATM).

Working on an IPA recipe...

Click to expand...

You have a gardener?