Growing hops in Missouri

I'm thinking about putting together a hop garden this spring. I can't find a whole heck of a lot of info on growing hops specifically in Missouri, Kansas City area. The weather here can be really hit and miss. My tomotoes didn't produce last year as we really didn't get as much sun as we've had in the past. ...and the lack of those 100 degree days really took it's tool too... lame...

Anyway, if anybody has had experience with growing hops here, let me know what you've found!

Thanks!

I live in springfiled. I got about 10 ounces off my vines this year. They are second year. I have 5 varietys. 1 vine did nothing I believe due to the fact that it was to close to my compost pile possible burning it up. Problem with japenese beetles eating up vines. Was on vacation out of town when they attacked my vines. Main thing is to try to water every day or every other when temp is high. I soak each plant for 15 minutes every other day seam to due well. Going to have soil tested this yera to see if need to add anything to improve growth. I'm also going to dig up every other plant to spread them out more. Good luck.

I have Fuggles,Tettnanger,Glacier,Chinook and Centennial.Really only problem was the Jap beetles. The fuggles didn't get over 10' feet tall. Really didn't get any type of harvest. The tettnanger got about 15' tall and didn't get anything off of it either but both are considerd low yield.the glacier got 20' feet tall real fast didn't put on a lot of side arms. Did get 4oz off of plant through. Chinook got around 15' tall got 1 oz off in july figured it was all I was going to get but it really put on sidearms late and ended up with 6 oz. My centennial plant started off good but when we had the high winds in spring broke plant off around 4' feet. Couldn't get another sprout started and it was real close to my compost pile,not really sure if that had anything to do with it or not but it did nothing. I had at 1 time a cascade but the year the ice was so bad I lost it. I didn't mulch it enough. I plan on having my soil tested this year to add nutrients to see what happens. The vines really looked bad after the beetles attacked them.I hope this helps.

I'm in Independence. Am also going to try planting some hops this year. My choices at the moment are Mt. Hood, Sunbeam Golden (a Saaz hybrid), Kent Golding, and Williamette, course that could change over the next few weeks before I order them. I've had gardens in Missouri for most of the last 29 years but have never planted hops.

Last year was an awful year for gardens, though my lettuce and basil did terrific in my new garden. Just bought the house in Feb. so was totally unfamiliar with my soil conditions etc.

I'm in the KC area also, and last year was my second year for hops and they would have done great, but I had to dig them up and put them in buckets in the middle of July to bring them to my new house. Suprisingly they all did very well in the transplant. Last year it wasn't needed in the time that they were in the ground, but the previous year I had a drip irrigation system set up to keep them watered and they did really well. Hops can definetly be grown in this area.

I'm getting anxious for the weather to warm up to start working outside again. Am bottling my first batch of beer in over 10 years tomorrow. Am just getting back into brewing. Along with hops I'm planting fruit bushes in hopes of making wine again as well.

mykayel what varieties do you have planted?

Goldings, Mt. Hood, Sterling, Cascade, Hallertau... I also planted a Fuggels but it hasn't come back yet this year, all the others are going strong still planted in their 5 gallon buckets. I need to get going on my garden but I haven't had time yet.

I planted Willamette, Fuggles and Cascade today. One of each. More of an experiement at this point. If they start, I'll put together a trellis, if not, I'll try again next year...

Woohoo! They're growing! Well, the Cascade is anyway. It's been a few days since I've checked on them and the Cascade is about two inches above the soil.

The Willamette and Fuggles pots have yet to show any signs of life...

Four months later and here's what I got...

First, I didn't expect hop buds on a first year plant and... I didn't get any...

Second, it seems that next year, I am going to have to use an insecticide, as something COMPLETELY stripped the leaves off my Willamette a few weeks ago, literally overnight.

Third, the good news! The Cascade and Fuggles have both grown to near 10 feet! A few chewed up leaves aside, they are rather umolested.

There is a family of wasps that have tried to take root in the Fuggles which I finally broke down and sprayed. Of the three different plants, the Fuggles looks the best. Not only has it grown nearly 10 feet it has sprouted side shoots that are both a couple of feet in length now.

The Cascade is interesting! Again, nearly 10 feet tall but, the bottom three feet or so haven't grown any leaves and for about a foot above that, the leaves are yellow. Almost like they are being overwatered. But, the Fuggles doesn't show these symptoms...

...and that's it!

before I moved 5 years ago I had about 6 hops growing with a trellis of about 12 feet, I never watered them and they grew like maniacs.... don't know what kind they were... but i didn't tend to them at all, a buddy gave me the rhizomes and in the ground they went... oh and this was about one hour north of kc mo

I have a hop garden in KC (Liberty, MO). Last season was tough on my plants (but I got killer amounts of tomatoes). If you are going to grow in pots, be careful, it takes a lot of TLC. I am a reservist, and while gone on my two week, my hops in pots nearly died...they stressed so badly that I did not get any cones on those plants. I have found the key is to mulch the plants heavily to keep the soil moist, and water daily (in pots). Before I left for my two-week drill, my first season plants in pots had grown half way to the eaves of my house (around 10-12 feet)...this was from May to July.

Additionally, well composted soil is important (in my experience); I get mine from the Lee's Summit Landfill for $16 per yard (my ranger bed full and heaping). I have made all of my hop beds with this soil/compost.

Also remember, hops do not have to only grow vertically. I have 8 foot trellis that is 8 foot wide...they will spread horizontally also (once they hit the top of the 8 foot trellis). I also have some planted along my fence. I use the fence with twine as a trellis...they grow to maximum height of 4 feet, but spread horizontally around 15-20 feet along the fence. Mind you, horizontal spread does not seem to yield as highly as vertical growth, but it works.

A hint on twine trellis: buy cheap carabiners at Lows and tie them onto the top and bottom of your twine. Add eyelets to the trellis at top and bottom (I use a 2"X2"X2' wood stake with an eyelet as the bottom attachment). Then, you can simply unhook your carabiners at the end of the season for easy harvesting - rehook them once you have collected cones/flowers. Once the plants have died for the season - leave them on the trellis until they turn brown to ensure the nutrients in the bine get back into the rhizome - you can simply unhook the twine trellis from top and bottom, roll it up and store it. Next year, just unroll it and hook the carabiners back to the eyelets and you are ready for the season.

To keep the bugs off, you can buy praying mantis eggs online to put in and around the hop gardens...they eat a bunch of deadly plant-killing bugs (do a Google seach on "Praying mantis eggs for garden"). To reduce the threat of mold: once your bines are around two feet long, take off all the leaves up to 1 foot from the ground.

I have grown Cascade, Fuggle, Willamette, Kent Goldings, Nugget, Hollertau, Liberty, and Mt Hood in KC - some have done better than others. Experimentation regarding location, variety, soil, trellis, etc. is necessary to get a good hop garden going. I plan on expanding my gardens when I get back from "vacation" in April for a couple of weeks. Hopefully, when I get back home for good in August, I will have a decent crop.

On a final note, buy rhizomes...don't buy seeds. And, make sure you get the rhizomes from a reputable distributor, or you may end up with male plants.

Cheers,
Pikledbill

I am in the Overland Park area of KC I had planted Cascade, Centennial,and NewPort spring of 2009 and planted Chinook Spring 2010. I got total of 12oz between the Cascade Centennial and Newport and about 1/2oz Chinook which i didnt think i would get any of.. I did feed them with the same organic fertilizer i use on my tomatoes 2 times a month from spring till august. watered them some but let them dry out between waterings. I didnt really have any pest issues minus a wasp nest that i squashed they all grew about 12' and then started to really send out side shoots.. being only 2nd year i look forward to next year.. I also didnt spray them at all for pests of any sorts i dont want ANY Pesticides in my beer and its important if you do spray to make sure its before they start coning out.. otherwise you have to be careful for what you can ingest..