What to expect from my plants the rest of the year?

I have 4 first year plants, two are growing well, and the other two are a little slower. Wondering what to expect to see them do for the rest of the season:

1 cascade and 1 Centennial:
- Both are about 10 too 14 feet high.
- Both are starting to show flowers on some of the uppermost side shoots, maybe 20 of them. The flowers are very small at the moment.

--- Can I expect to see a lot more flowers form?
--- Can I expect the plants to grow any more, or will they put their energies into flower making?
--- How long does it take from the start of a flower (really small) to become a full sized flower ..... and then to be ready to be picked?

1 Chinook and 1 Willamette:
- Both are about 4 to 5 feet tall.
- Neither has any side shoots, and of course, no flowers.

--- I assume they will continue to grow. Can I still expect to see side shoots and flowers?


Average first frost here is mid October, so there is still 3 months of growing season. Will the plants continue to grow up to the first frost, or do they stop due to the shortening of the length of the day.

Wanting to get an idea of what I can expect to see.

I hope to get a few ozs total. I think that would be respectable for first year, and give me hope of plenty more next year.

I really like to get about 1.5 to 2 lbs wet hops total, to be able to make my own wet hop beer, but I think I'm going to be a long way short this year.

Don't expect too much on first year rhizomes. The Centennial and Cascade sound like you'll have something this year, but expecting a decent yield will lead to disappointment. Expecting nothing will surprise you. Likely your plants will sprout some more sidearms and flowers assuming you are providing adequate sun, nutrients, and water. You may even get some flowers on your Chinook and Willamette plants as well. If your plants have gone into flower mode, any additional vertical growth may be limited. I find the bulk of my growth is done early July, and it fills out with additional sidearms and flower branches from the nodes from there. At the beginning of August, the flowers begin to develop into mature cones, and by Labor Day they're ready for harvest. This has been true for the 3 years I have been growing hops. Since you're in Ohio, your climate is similar to mine outside of Chicago. You can probably expect something similar as far as timeline. This year's weather has been strange though, so I'm not even sure what I can expect from my plants.

Sidebar: My Chinook and Cascade are top plants so far this year with close to 25 feet of growth. Last year it was Zeus and Nugget with nearly 30 feet of growth. Conversely, I could never get anything productive out of my Willamette plant. 😳 She would grow fast, then sputter out around the 4th of July. In 2 years, I got a grand total of .25 dry oz. off of her. She became a gift to my mom because she thinks its pretty.

If these are first year field grade plants, they are underperforming. It reads like you have rhizomes, so it appears you're in good shape, especially when you consider what will happen next year.

Right now, all of your plants are putting a vast amount of energy into developing a strong root system. Once roots are developed and strong, these plants are nearly impossible to kill and grow vigorously. Next year, you can expect more than just one or 2 wet pounds of hops. My 4 plants gave me about 4 lbs of dry hops last year, and will likely return the same this year.

If you do your math, 4 lbs of dry hops translates to between 15 and 20 lbs of wet hops. Some people report yielding almost 2 full lbs of dry hops per plant with the right growing conditions. You'll have more hops than you'll know what to brew with. 😆

Tl:dr - 1:Keep expectations low for first year plants.
2:You will get some hops this year.
3:Keep those plants happy and healthy, and they will give you all the hops you need for the following year. 😆