2016 Hop Growing Thread

Williams 728
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When the HECK did TWINE become a cheap azz unreliable product?!?!? Something that has been reliably man made since the Neanderthals and Lowes selling twine that is splitting the moment I try to pull it through a ring!!!! GAH. Hops going to have to wait to be strung up until this weekend.
 
sablesurfer said:
When the HECK did TWINE become a cheap azz unreliable product?!?!? Something that has been reliably man made since the Neanderthals and Lowes selling twine that is splitting the moment I try to pull it through a ring!!!! GAH. Hops going to have to wait to be strung up until this weekend.
Click to expand...

Which stuff did you get? I was just at Lowe's tonight looking at stuff. Ordered root crowns from great Lakes yesterday so have a little time until I need twine.
 
sablesurfer said:
When the HECK did TWINE become a cheap azz unreliable product?!?!? Something that has been reliably man made since the Neanderthals and Lowes selling twine that is splitting the moment I try to pull it through a ring!!!! GAH. Hops going to have to wait to be strung up until this weekend.
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I know exactly what u mean. I went through that last year, ended up going with jute twine that someone on here recomended. I used to use that reg twine for tying stuff up years ago and i dont remember it being so frail as it seems to be today. I think i bought tbe jute twine at ace hardware although i may be mistaken. ( ive been known to forget things from time to time)
 
Last week leaving for a two week trip I noticed 5 of 7 plants I put in last fall sprouting. Two of the 7 seemed to die off last fall well before it was freezing. These may need replaced.
 
lzrdkng14 said:
Which stuff did you get? I was just at Lowe's tonight looking at stuff. Ordered root crowns from great Lakes yesterday so have a little time until I need twine.
Click to expand...

The Lowes I went to had only small rolls of twine down on the chain/cable row. Looking through them I noticed the label said safe working load 7lbs. Only thing with higher was actual string or then small rope.

Normally I have big spools of twine around the house, that take years to use up. It has worked for tying up yard waste, lumber piles, hops, etc. My last big roll appears to have been left out in snow all winter long.

Never had a problem with twine carrying bails of used lumber to the curb. This new stuff doesn't even come close to 7lbs it is rated. Snapped twice pulling through rings and it is the nastiest, clumpiest, frayed stuff I have ever seen.

I'll have to see what Ace has on the way home.

Appears this is what I got:
http://www.lowes.com/pd_349245-258-071514021164_1z11328Z1z1132dZ1z11olo__?productId=3587908&pl=1
 
sablesurfer said:
The Lowes I went to had only small rolls of twine down on the chain/cable row. Looking through them I noticed the label said safe working load 7lbs. Only thing with higher was actual string or then small rope.

Normally I have big spools of twine around the house, that take years to use up. It has worked for tying up yard waste, lumber piles, hops, etc. My last big roll appears to have been left out in snow all winter long.

Never had a problem with twine carrying bails of used lumber to the curb. This new stuff doesn't even come close to 7lbs it is rated. Snapped twice pulling through rings and it is the nastiest, clumpiest, frayed stuff I have ever seen.

I'll have to see what Ace has on the way home.

Appears this is what I got:
http://www.lowes.com/pd_349245-258-071514021164_1z11328Z1z1132dZ1z11olo__?productId=3587908&pl=1
Click to expand...

I saw similar stuff with the 7 lb rating and I didn't get it, and glad I didn't. The sisal at HD looked crappy and thinner in some areas and thicker in others on the same roll.
 
Still waiting for my Centennial Rhizomes to arrive here in central Texas. Doubt I'll be able to keep enough water on them this summer but I'm sure going to give it a try. Might be the most expensive hops on the market.
 
Does anyone have an idea of what is going wrong with my Viking hops? In the last week they have developed this browning, I thought it was because I had left them outside uncovered one night that got close to freezing but it has gotten worse in the last few days.

20160408_075522-1_zps8hf0szvk.jpg
 
mb82 said:
Does anyone have an idea of what is going wrong with my Viking hops? In the last week they have developed this browning, I thought it was because I had left them outside uncovered one night that got close to freezing but it has gotten worse in the last few days.



20160408_075522-1_zps8hf0szvk.jpg
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Did you fertilize recently?
It could be some leaf damage from the cold too. Hard to tell. Get it in a good sunny location and keep it watered.
 
No fertilizer except what was in the potting mix( I honestly don't remember what I potted them in). They are outside right now and coming in at night. Hopefully Monday I can get them in the ground.
 
mb82 said:
No fertilizer except what was in the potting mix( I honestly don't remember what I potted them in). They are outside right now and coming in at night. Hopefully Monday I can get them in the ground.
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Potting mix is designed to hold water on purpose. Hops do not like wet roots. They like lots of water, but do not like to sit in water. I wonder if you might be over watering with the potting mix.

(And there could be a thousand other things...over fertilize burns leaves, under fertilize and some leaves die off, cold weather wouldn't cause mottling like that, more a whole leaf freeze burn, bugs can suck all liquid out of leaves leaving patches, something you sprayed on something else blew over onto plant....and probably more.)
 
mb82 said:
Does anyone have an idea of what is going wrong with my Viking hops? In the last week they have developed this browning, I thought it was because I had left them outside uncovered one night that got close to freezing but it has gotten worse in the last few days.

20160408_075522-1_zps8hf0szvk.jpg
Click to expand...

Looks like frost damage if it gets worse I'd cut them so they grow back healthy. Still plenty of time to have them come back up.
 
Dorset England Checking In

All 6 year hops, first shoots, Fuggle
- cut back first shoots, will train 2 per
All 5 years hops, first shoots, Fuggle & Goldings
- cut back first shoots, will train 2 per
All 3 year hops, first shoots, Cascade & Target
- cut back all first shoots, will train 2 per
Still waiting on Galena, planted late winter 2016
- will train first 3-4 shoots

Cascade popped up first, as standard. It's been a mild winter, but the temps were low enough/long enough for good hibernation.
 
Got my plants in the ground today, in spite of the snow. Made sure to cover them well with hay and the rice hulls they were packed in.

Now, I just need to get my trellis assembled and in place before the plants grow too much. They were already starting to sprout a bit in the packaging.
 
This is one of my hop crowns that I received from Great Lakes Hops. It has been in the ground for 2.5 weeks. I live in North Texas. Are these "bull shoots"? Should I cut them back?

image.jpg
 
First year plants: Let everything grow. Same for second year. They're establishing root systems right now.
 
Thanks for the quick reply. I had scissors in hand ;-)
One more question: When should i nute?
I have some Sea Tea 2-3-2, Botanicare Pure Blend Pro 3-2-4
and SuperThrive. I'm thinking it is still too early...?
 
Are they planted in fresh garden soil? If they started well fertilized it's too early for it.

Go easy, don't burn them with too much fertilizer so soon.
 
The_Bishop said:
Are they planted in fresh garden soil? If they started well fertilized it's too early for it.

Go easy, don't burn them with too much fertilizer so soon.
Click to expand...

Just to add a bit:
You probably only need to worry about fertilizer about a month or so into growth. The goal would be around the same time the plant has used up it's stores from the previous year.
 
I planted my first rhizomes last Wednesday. Planted six varieties, Cascade, Centennial, Chinook, Zeus, N. Brewer, and Sterling. Planted them in 6" raised beds so hopefully they will be a little easier to maintain in terms of horizontal spread. I have some concrete pavers I am not using but have been thinking about boxing in the rhizomes to help control the spread horizontal spread also. I have a 6' x 6' raised bed with 4 planted in that one, one on each corner and then i have an 8' x 8' raised bed and planted 2 on the corners that get the most sun throughout the day.
 
Looking at a pretty good week of weather here in CT. A few days of rain and nothing below freezing. So into the beds went my rhizomes. Two each cascade and centennial. One of the centennials had some white spots on it that looked like it could have been some kind of mold. I don't have anything else to replace it with so in it went and I'll hope for the best.
 
One of the cascade rhizomes I planted last Saturday sprouted yesterday! Got a little purple shoot about 1/2 in sticking up. Now the other two need to take notice and come out of hiding too.
 
Finally all strung up. New location this year. Hoping that there will be just enough sun to keep them happy, but in this location there is a giant old maple that blocks over half the sky for them...oh well.
Four plants this year. Got rid of Willamatte. Seem to have lost track of (???) my Magnum. So have Cascade, Centennial, Columbus and Chinook. So far Chinook is happiest of the bunch in these here square states.

IMG_20160411_174006380-picsay.jpg
 
All four plants were separated out into single plant pots. Some fill dirt and some mulch added to the pots. First treatment of organic blood meal went on yesterday. First treatment of bone meal also, but that takes a lot longer to break down.
Fertilizing plan this year is one more blood meal (nitrogen) treatment in May. Then if the plants are to top of trellis by June will only go to bone meal. (Found a local'ish source of charred bone meal which supposedly breaks down into soil faster.) Maybe this year is the year I get the balance between growth and production right....lol.
 
sablesurfer said:
Finally all strung up. New location this year. Hoping that there will be just enough sun to keep them happy, but in this location there is a giant old maple that blocks over half the sky for them...oh well.
Four plants this year. Got rid of Willamatte. Seem to have lost track of (???) my Magnum. So have Cascade, Centennial, Columbus and Chinook. So far Chinook is happiest of the bunch in these here square states.
Click to expand...

How deep did you go on your trellis posts? And how high is it?
 
I planted my Cascade, Goldings and Sterling rhizomes this week.

Dug a 1'x1'x1' hole, removed the roots I found, and mixed in about 15lb of screened composted cow manure with the soil remaining after removing the sod. That left me with about 3" high hills that I planted the rhizomes in once I put the soil/manure back in the holes.

I built the trellis last weekend, sort of a tall (10') pergola that I'll zig-zag the hops up. The Cascade can also jump across to the 5' chainlink fence if it likes.
 
Build 3x3 boxes for my rhizomes and pulled the two in pots out and planted them in their new home. Acquired two Pacific Gem rhizomes from the homebrew club and planted both in one box. I'm going to build the same structure seen in the 2014 thread that grows up 8' but allows 20' of growth.
 
DurtyChemist said:
Build 3x3 boxes for my rhizomes and pulled the two in pots out and planted them in their new home. Acquired two Pacific Gem rhizomes from the homebrew club and planted both in one box. I'm going to build the same structure seen in the 2014 thread that grows up 8' but allows 20' of growth.
Click to expand...

Awesome. Let me know if you want some advice on your boxes. I'll be going into year 3 with them. Cheers
 
My hops broke ground recently and I did not notice until yesterday because of the grass/weeds in the boxes.When I got home from work tonight I spent 10 minutes ripping out the offending green stuff as well as clearing away dead leaves.I planted the rhizomes last year and they did pretty good despite a hail shower that cut them to bits.

Thus far I have 6-8 inches of growth and a lot of shoots from both the Cascade and the Centennial and the biggest shoots are wider than the bines got to be last year.I think I will run a double up each rope whilst choosing the thickest bines.I did transplant a Hallertau rhizome as well but it never grew so I may also run the Cascade up that rope as well.

The trellis I am using is 14 feet high and has a boom that elevates/drops via a pulley.Looks like a cross actually when the boom is elevated.

Got to find my watering jug and start watering them daily when I go to work.

RMCB
 
thaymond said:
Awesome. Let me know if you want some advice on your boxes. I'll be going into year 3 with them. Cheers
Click to expand...

Any advice or input would help. Where to put eyelets for the rope, improvements you want to make etc. I saw you say you'll gro them out around the perimeter first instead of up then around.
Any problems with sunlight not getting to sections?
 
Yeastieboy said:
1st year? When did you put the centennial in the ground?
Click to expand...

Yes, first year. I planted them into pots to get them started, same ground as where they will go. It is ferried with manure. I know centennial matures/grows sooner than cascade so hopine it takes. Trying hard to keep from digging around to check the rhizome.
 

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