Any others experienced growing hops in heavy shade?
Here's my experience with it.
My back yard is about 100' wide x 50' deep with a 22 x 12 storage shed, retaining wall, 1 beautiful faux cherry tree, and 5 Big Leaf Oaks all with a trunk in the 30" - 40" diameter range (fully mature huge 50+ year old trees, and yes it's a PIA to rake every fall!). This spring I erected a trellis large enough to support 6 plants using treated 4x4's and steel cable about 4 feet from my back patio. I planted 4 hills. 3 survived (the Williamette just wouldn't grow and died). My Kent, rather Mississippi, Goldings did/are doing the best having grown up to the top of the 11' trellis and I've trained them back and forth over a 4' area. I've harvested about 30 Golding hop cones. My 2 Cascade plants did fair. I've pulled off about 13 Cascade cones from one plant already (mmmm they smell good).
Here's the kicker! My Cascades have probably 60 or so inmature cones between the 2 plants, and I should get at least another 50 cones from my Golding plant. The thing is that it's very late in the season, comparatively speaking for my area of the country (Mississippi). I got my plants in the ground late in the season, around the 2nd week of May, I'm in Mississippi and probably could have planted them the first week of March. As our climate here is very conducive to horticulture my plants should be finishing up right about now.
I blame 2 things for my plants 'semi slow' maturation, the extreme amount of shade. The plants recieve direct sun for about 5 hours a day from 8:30AM as the sun rises above my house till 1:30PM when the sun hits the trees. And of course my late planting.
Any others experienced growing hops in heavy shade?
I think the shade has helped my Kent Golding immeasurably as it's been really very vigorous having grown 20' it's first year. I say this as many growing in full sun tend to complain about their Kent Goldings being very slow! But my Cascades have been slow, not quite reaching the 11' height of the trellis and most seem to have the best luck with Cascades in the first year. It's got to be the shade!????
Next year I expect a bumper crop as my hops will probably break soil in Mid March and I'm gonna get my remaining 3 hop hills planted early. If things are slow next year I'll know that only the shade is to blame!
Schlante,
Phillip
Here's my experience with it.
My back yard is about 100' wide x 50' deep with a 22 x 12 storage shed, retaining wall, 1 beautiful faux cherry tree, and 5 Big Leaf Oaks all with a trunk in the 30" - 40" diameter range (fully mature huge 50+ year old trees, and yes it's a PIA to rake every fall!). This spring I erected a trellis large enough to support 6 plants using treated 4x4's and steel cable about 4 feet from my back patio. I planted 4 hills. 3 survived (the Williamette just wouldn't grow and died). My Kent, rather Mississippi, Goldings did/are doing the best having grown up to the top of the 11' trellis and I've trained them back and forth over a 4' area. I've harvested about 30 Golding hop cones. My 2 Cascade plants did fair. I've pulled off about 13 Cascade cones from one plant already (mmmm they smell good).
Here's the kicker! My Cascades have probably 60 or so inmature cones between the 2 plants, and I should get at least another 50 cones from my Golding plant. The thing is that it's very late in the season, comparatively speaking for my area of the country (Mississippi). I got my plants in the ground late in the season, around the 2nd week of May, I'm in Mississippi and probably could have planted them the first week of March. As our climate here is very conducive to horticulture my plants should be finishing up right about now.
I blame 2 things for my plants 'semi slow' maturation, the extreme amount of shade. The plants recieve direct sun for about 5 hours a day from 8:30AM as the sun rises above my house till 1:30PM when the sun hits the trees. And of course my late planting.
Any others experienced growing hops in heavy shade?
I think the shade has helped my Kent Golding immeasurably as it's been really very vigorous having grown 20' it's first year. I say this as many growing in full sun tend to complain about their Kent Goldings being very slow! But my Cascades have been slow, not quite reaching the 11' height of the trellis and most seem to have the best luck with Cascades in the first year. It's got to be the shade!????
Next year I expect a bumper crop as my hops will probably break soil in Mid March and I'm gonna get my remaining 3 hop hills planted early. If things are slow next year I'll know that only the shade is to blame!
Schlante,
Phillip