Next year I'll..........(fill in the blank)

I'm thinking it might be a good time for some season wrap up comments on what you'll do differently next year. Add what you've learned to this thread. Any tips you might have come up with over the course of the season.

For me:

1. More fertilizer!! My plants did okay, but they can do better. They did good early on and I was fertilizing with spent yeast, but then my brewing slacked off a little and I didn't keep up with something else instead. I did fine with watering.

2. Be more vigilent with pest control - especially for japanese beetles and try to catch them earlier. I did better this year but they still pretty well chewed up the tops of my Liberty. I'll also monitor in the late season for Spider mites. I had them come in late just before harvest and I think they plus not enough fertilizer hurt my yield.

Order duplicates of each rhizome so that I have a better chance of one growing. Re-design my hop poles to stand up to the wind better. It looks like the leaning tower of Pisa right now.

...actually plant some!

transfer my hops to better bigger planters they were really root bound this year and it seriously limited my harvest.

I'll plant more vines and more varieties. This eyar I planted two hallertau to see how I could do. One vine died, but the other took off like a rocket and produced 2.5oz (dried) of cones. Nex tyear I will likely plant at least 3 varieties and two vines each. I am thinking my current Halletau, some Cacades and maybe some Northern Brewer.

-Todd

move my hops out of buckets and in to the ground at my new house
and plant 12 more next spring

rip out the flower garden and plant hops... Wife wont mind a bit

More fertiliser and split what I have and move half to a sunnier location, even if it means blocking of that garage door!

Next year I'm going to move my plants over on the other side of the house where they get sun only part of the day instead of all day long. Its way to hot in Alabama summers for growing hops in full sunlight.

Also, I'm going to see if I can build up some flowerbeds or planters or something to put them in to make weeding them easier. It will be easier to water them in the new place I have picked out as well.

- Re-plant Chinook

- Use compost exclusively

- Pay more attention to mite damage

- Start harvest earlier in the year.

- Use this years harvest exclusively (unless I run out)

-raise mature cascade to a box and take two cuttings to re-plant
-fertilize
-control pests better on and in cones
-water younger plants better
-plant more centennial, some columbus, chinook, more centennial, and maybe styrian goldings if rhizomes are available. These will be here and at friends houses

Finally, and this one's out there I know but I'm gonna try it.
-buy about two dozen rhizomes of the above types and plant them under telephone pole guy-wires along local roads. I will have a pan on my head and will be known as "Johnny Hoppel-rhizome-seed"

... come up with a better trellis design than this year, and harvest more effectively (because I learned a lot this year!)

Tim

Plant more varieties.
Grow vertically instead of horizontally.
Use compost and fertilizer
build drip watering system
build better trellis system
maybe prune the bottom bines so only two major ones are growing up (first year plants, so I just let them go crazy)
and HOPEFULLY have a harvest, that's the ultimate goal

Plant a few new varieties...earlier..I would love to get my hands in simcoe or amarillo..(anyone)...if not maybe kent goldings..

J

Telephone poles instead of 4x4's
Thicker suspension cables.
Widen entire plot out....now I know how much space they take up (per.)

next year, i'll not kill all my rhizomes. . . .

..................................I'LL RETIRE!!!! :rockin:

Next year, I too, will not kill my rhizomes. I got lucky that my LHBS owner gave me new plants that already started growing.

I'll plant more rhizomes.

And I'll build a new trellis because apparently 10 ft is way too short.

I'll be putting in 1 more acre of hops next spring. I will also try to get certified by the state and get next years crop analyzed for acid levels. Need to install a real drip irrigation system. The soaker hose and rainbirds just didn't cut it this year and I overwatered to the point I was afraid of root rot.

cuinrearview said:

-raise mature cascade to a box and take two cuttings to re-plant
-fertilize
-control pests better on and in cones
-water younger plants better
-plant more centennial, some columbus, chinook, more centennial, and maybe styrian goldings if rhizomes are available. These will be here and at friends houses

Finally, and this one's out there I know but I'm gonna try it.
-buy about two dozen rhizomes of the above types and plant them under telephone pole guy-wires along local roads. I will have a pan on my head and will be known as "Johnny Hoppel-rhizome-seed"

Click to expand...

i had that exact same idea. they're perfect for hops!!!

i have to design a trellis or pole system, as opposed to just stringing them along the fence... i didn't expect them to grow 12-15 foot this year.

Build a tripod trellis like Edwort describes. My dead Ash tree trellis is slated for removal.

grow hops again, but hopefully do it better and stick with it.
have some AG brews under my belt.
Possibly be set up for kegging?
Possibly have a sexy brewstand?

1. Swap some of my extra Target and Challenger rhizomes for different hop varieties.
2. Not brew so much just before harvest time, so I have room in my fermenters to make a fresh-from-the-oast-house hoppy beer.
3. Get friends round to help with the hop harvest, and lay on a barbecue afterwards.

Build some kind of wire support for the end poles in my hop garden. This first year they were just barely able to withstand the weight of the wines. Next year they will be heavyer.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpEOQfW8c9s]YouTube - Hop Harvest 2008[/ame]

A small movie from my hop garden. Most hops are harvested this first year. More pictures from the small hop garden kan be found on my web page:
Humle
Humlehøst 2008
Humle

(Sorry that the page is still only available in danish).

Regards
Lars
LaC - Brew Fanø - Forsiden