2010 Hops Gardens

The existing plants just broke ground last week in our area. We put in over 200 more plants this year! The new poles are going up next weekend:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/hopfarmer/sets/72157623714494169/

This is a great thread as I'm getting ideas for my own grow. I haven't started just yet because Reno weather is ridiculous. It was 65* the last two days and snowing today. End of April should be a good time to get them planted as there will be less chance of a frost then... I mean it's still likely. It usually snows at least once in May/June

And based on pictures I've seen it's nice to know I'll be able to use a container (i.e. halfed wine barrel, big-ass-bucket, etc)

Three weeks after they sprouted, my Cascades are still only 2" tall. This is a 5 year-old plant. Doesn't help that it was 27F last week and snowed twice. Both the Nuggett and Mt. Hood are doing better, which is odd.

Speaking of odd, the rhubarb is going for sex this year:

https://cdn.homebrewtalk.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=35558
Glacier, Tett., and Will.

carndog said:

My hops are on order, hopefully they come in soon. I plan on growing them on this arbor I build last year.

If all goes well, I will post more pics of the arbor covered in hops.

Click to expand...

Great Carndog,
SWMBO saw your pics so now I'm having to build one similar this weekend and she has plans for two more My plans are 8'X16'X8'H should be interesting.

RhodyRed said:

The existing plants just broke ground last week in our area. We put in over 200 more plants this year! The new poles are going up next weekend:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/hopfarmer/sets/72157623714494169/

Click to expand...

so what varieties did you plant?

Grimtas said:

Great Carndog,
SWMBO saw your pics so now I'm having to build one similar this weekend and she has plans for two more My plans are 8'X16'X8'H should be interesting.

Click to expand...

I would like to see pics when your done... Post them up!

One of my Chinook bines has reached 8 feet! It's the one closest to the camera on the left... not the best pic...

i tried planting 2 rhizomes centennial hops and nothing happened. they put up some initial shoots, but then quickly died off. I almost gave up on them but still mulched and was about to mow ever them this spring when i went over I saw that they has come up!so I put some fresh mulch on them and am gonna hope for the best this year. just thought it was weird that a plant that went all summer with no visible sign of life came back the following spring.

My "ten days of sunshine" is down to 4, ground temperature is still only 47F and there was frost. But the Mt. Hood got happy in the last three days. I think the front two will end up at the HoV hop exchange.

extra_medium said:

i tried planting 2 rhizomes centennial hops and nothing happened. they put up some initial shoots, but then quickly died off. I almost gave up on them but still mulched and was about to mow ever them this spring when i went over I saw that they has come up!so I put some fresh mulch on them and am gonna hope for the best this year. just thought it was weird that a plant that went all summer with no visible sign of life came back the following spring.

Click to expand...

Well rhizome based plants are pretty hardy. Just look at the Iris growing at farmsteads in the midwest that have been abandoned 30 years or more. The hops rhizomes send up shoots and if they grow fine, if not they send up more, and if they survive, fine, but if they don't they go dormant until the next cold/warming cycle occurs, presumably the next spring and try over again.

Water them, fertilize them and don't cut them back this year and you should have healthy rhizomes at the end of the year.

Coming up good so far, this year the duder sent out TWO runners underground!! Next spring I'll dig em up and plant them at work.

on the far right is the Galena, middle is Cascade, both 2nd year plants. the left is Willamette, 1st year. in another area I have a sterling and Mt Hood that are 1st year, but not very big yet.

Rick500 said:

One of my Chinook bines has reached 8 feet! It's the one closest to the camera on the left... not the best pic...

Click to expand...

What are you using for wooden stacks? Do they warp and bend easy?

I woke up this morning to find an inch of snow on the ground and on the hops. It melted and the hops look fine. Hardy plants.

LexusChris said:

Getting ready to plant 40+ rhizomes in Sedona, AZ. Using a pole design, like that featured in BYO magazine last year.

I planted a Centennial last year, and it survived the heat of summer just fine. For the new plantings (2 weeks form now), have 12 Cascade, 12 Centennial, 8 Nugget & 8 Willamette rhizomes.

And I have little clue what I am doing .. he he he... a big experiment...
--LexusChris

Click to expand...

i almost forgot how beautiful Sedona is, thanks for reminding me that my locale sucks.

Just 3 plants in my yard, here on Sonoma Mountain in Penngrove, CA. An acquaintance of mine told me, "you can't really grow good hops in Sonoma County", and that Lagunitas / Russian River grow for "marketing". I'm hoping to prove that wrong (not that it hasn't been done already).



Put em in half-barrels with drip irrigation. They each have a bed of marigolds to stop the aphids, and a trellis I built myself. The twine can be untied and hopefully I can just coil a bunch of bine on the ground / marigolds; probably not necessary this season. That garden in Arizona is beautiful.

Willamette




Centennial




Saaz

HoppyDaze said:

Willamette

Click to expand...

Nice set up. I am really impressed. Anymore pictures of the trellis?

I hate people with decent growing conditions! Had another freeze yesterday. None of my 5-year old plants are over 10" at this point.

The weather's been good so I've been doing a lot of riding lately. I've made sure that my hops had enough water but that's about it. I went out today to take a close look and I have flowers starting already on the cascade plant.

Right on! My cascades just started flowering out this weekend. just hope my outriggers are strong enough

Centenial x 2
Cascade x 3
Chinook x 2
1 EKG on the way

had a frost last night...didn't cover any hops,
hope they are hardy enough to handle 34degF. I went out and covered them just after dawn which was too late; i think. will wait and see.

Its pronounced: Will-Lamb-It

I gave you a hard time for that pronunciation last year...Nice set up by the way.

Thanks for the Vid

Well, I told swmbo that I wanted to grow hops this year and she actually completely jumped in and took over the project. We now have what I believe to be quite an attractive trellis. It is 14 ft high, and 24 ft long. I really don't think they will ever reach that height out here in this climate but I will certainly give them the opportunity. I have 3 Chinook, 2 Willamette, 2 Tettnanger, and 3 Cascade planted just days ago.

These photos are from like two weeks ago. I’ve got 16 plants w/ 8 varieties all have sprouted. I’ve yet to get the trellis up but that will happen next weekend. The tallest one is about 12” right now.

Third year Cascades. Thumb is at 6'. Miracle Gro general plant food, used half as frequent as the package says.

The chinook plant is growing fastest this year. 14' tall already.

4/11/10


5/1/10

whoa, I am out of my league.

Hmm wonder if goats will eat hops. I have a nanny that wanders loose.

Goats will eat anything and everything. Protect your hops.

uechikid said:

Goats will eat anything and everything. Protect your hops.

Click to expand...

Well they'll "try" most anything but they're usually pretty picky, I know from the olden days when my dad used to plant his own recreational plants, goats wouldn't touch them after a nibble or two (deer would though). Something as pungent as hops I figure they'd either love and eat to the ground, or hate and never touch. Easy enough to keep her out of them though. Gonna be ordering some rhizomes, I have 4 acres and I like making beer so hey, homegrown hops, FTW!

dstar26t said:

The chinook plant is growing fastest this year. 14' tall already.

4/11/10


5/1/10

Click to expand...

Very cool. What are the poles made from?

One end of the upper cable is eye-bolted to a tree that you can't see. The other end is made from galvanized pipe from Home Depot. I used one 2 1/2" dia and one 2" dia I think, they fit one inside the other. The only way to get to 20' tall was to mount one 4' off the ground and slide the other one inside by 4', then drilled through and bolted them together. I anchor bolted a 4X6 to the garage and used conduit straps to mount the pipe to the wood. The top of the pipe has a threaded elbow with an extension so the hops don't hit the gutter. I use water from the rain barrel to water the hops. Also put some compost on them this year made from grass clippings and spent grain and hops from the last 2 years. The cable runs to the bottom on each side with 20' extra so the hops can be let down for harvesting.

Grimster said:

Well they'll "try" most anything but they're usually pretty picky, I know from the olden days when my dad used to plant his own recreational plants, goats wouldn't touch them after a nibble or two (deer would though). Something as pungent as hops I figure they'd either love and eat to the ground, or hate and never touch. Easy enough to keep her out of them though. Gonna be ordering some rhizomes, I have 4 acres and I like making beer so hey, homegrown hops, FTW!

Click to expand...

If you haven't already ordered rhizomes you should do that right away. They'll be gone soon and you'll want to plant them as soon as you can.

Jaysus said:

whoa, I am out of my league.

Click to expand...

Proof:

Those will be huge in no time, they kinda rocket up whatever is nearby in the early summer.

Smart design Dstar... Thanks! I have the space for a rain barrel, may put one in soon.