general hop growing info

anyone have good sources on growing these hops? i ordered three rhizhomes from fresh hops, and am looking for some background/instructional how to's. doesn't loook too complicated, i figure if i cannot kill clemantis vines, i shouldn't be able to kill hop vines.

i've also ordered the homebrewer's garden, with the hops, but was wondering if there was any more literature out there, or what you experienced growers consulted when you started.

I grew hops in Van Wert, OH. It is West of "Clebland". I used oak half barrels, instead of raised beds. The hops did great the first year, but I think that the cold winter froze them. There is also information about Black Walnut poisoning, which some people are skeptical, including me. I did have Black Walnut trees, but they were more than 50' from the hops.
Here are some links:
http://www.freshops.com/gardening.html#planting
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Grow-Hops/message/2872
Also, expect the hops to grow over 20'. I rigged a pole with guy wires, and used twine for the vines to follow.

van wert's just down the road from ft wayne indiana no? i used to lived there for six years.

http://freshops.com/gardening.html Is a pretty good basic source of info. This is my first season/attempt at growing hops, and so far I haven't screwed up completely. Both my hop plants are growing, and one has even trained itself to the jute twine I strung for it. When I put the string up the bine didn't quite reach, but the next day it had already found the string on its own and now has got 3 wraps, and this is only 3 days later. This plant is growing like an inch a day right now.

I put together a quick introduction on growing hops here. It covers the basics.

If you go to the end of the article there is also a link to another blog post that has a collection of hop growing resources. There is lots of great stuff there as well.

Cheers,
Brad

thanks guys. here in cleveland i'm waiting towards the end of may to plant anything. we're still due one snow storm i suppose...

This is my first season growing hops as well, so I'm no expert, but I don't think you should wait that late to plant them. I'm in southwest Michigan and I put mine in the ground this week. According to the data I looked at 9/10 years the final frost is around April 23 for my area so I may be little early. But hops almost always sprout before the final frost and they always make it. I think it would be worse for your hops to sit in your fridge for 2 months than to get planted outside and chance a frost.

d'oh! i meant april.

small scale commercial/personal use organic http://www.crannogales.com/HopsManual.pdf

if your worried about frost damage at least plat your rhizomes in a 4-6in pot now then transplant in mid-late may after hardening off(leaving em out in the pot for a wk or so before planting)

thanks, i dl that pdf when i ordered the roots. they've not arrived yet, and i purposely held off ordering them, as i figured it'd snow again in ohio, like it did today.

from the limited reading i've done, it seems best to let the hops establish a root structure the first year, or perhaps two. is it better just to let them be the first year, then cut them back in winter, and worry about training vines the second or third year?

i've half a mind to let em go wild and climb up the trees in my back yard....

I remember trimming the vines to 4 or 5 good vines per rhizome. That was about 20 years ago, so I'd suggest listening to others & checking the literature. You really want the plant's energy to go into a few good vines & make less hop cones that are good, instead on many small cones. It is similar to culling apple or peach buds so that you get less fruit, but better fruit.
Also, Van Wert is East of Ft. Wayne & on the Lincoln Highway, US RT 30.
I was teasing about Clebland, you might want to edit your profile. Go Tribe!

Note the pruning portion: http://www.freshops.com/gardening.html#planting

my nugget and magnum and goldins arrived saturday, from freshhops. they all had nice root structures and white leads growing, with the exception of the goldings. they're in the ground and enjoyed a nice rain shower over night.

we'll see how they do, but i 'marked' my territory to help keep the deer away. bastards already ate my tiger lillies before i could wizz on them....

Grow-Hops

You can learn a lot by lurking

uglygoat said:

my nugget and magnum and goldins arrived saturday, from freshhops. they all had nice root structures and white leads growing, with the exception of the goldings. they're in the ground and enjoyed a nice rain shower over night.

we'll see how they do, but i 'marked' my territory to help keep the deer away. bastards already ate my tiger lillies before i could wizz on them....

Click to expand...

So urine works as a natural deer deterrant eh? :cross:

i don't know if it helps or not, but it's fun...

seriously though, coyote urine prolly works the best, as deer naturally recognize the scent as a predator. the deer in ohio are prolly really used to human scents etc...