South Florida Hop Growing

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
About how big were you guys' plants when they started producing cones?

I'd say mine were about 10-12ft. Once they start growing sidearms then the sidearms will start putting out cones.


Ok here is my location. Just planted them. Need to get some mulch on there. I think is over estimating the height, probably closer to 22-25 feet not counting 12 or so inches from the planter.
Oh and my rhizomes are just about the most pathetic rhizomes I've ever seen. Measly 4" clippings. I think they were ashamed so they gave me two on a couple. Only one was somewhat beefy in size. The others about the size of a sharpie marker!

Half tempted to buy the eBay entire crowns...

TD

I highly recommend ordering hop crowns from Great Lakes Hops. The crowns are already a few years old and huge. Ive recommended many people here on HBT to them and have heard nothing but great things.
 
Yeah, I think since I've already got my rhizomes planted, and I'm in FL, that I'm gonna let them ride. if one dies out, I will swap over to a Centennial crown. Wish I knew before. Those are like many many times larger than the crappy half pencil sized rhizomes I received.

TD
 
TrickyDick said:
Yeah, I think since I've already got my rhizomes planted, and I'm in FL, that I'm gonna let them ride. if one dies out, I will swap over to a Centennial crown. Wish I knew before. Those are like many many times larger than the crappy half pencil sized rhizomes I received.

TD

There's nothing wrong with growing from rhizome but its much harder, takes longer, and I feel like many people get them not knowing they could have gotten crowns(no offense). It's much easier to start from crown and basically save yourself a couple years. Crowns are also fairly inexpensive. That being said, there's a lot of hop varieties you can only buy rhizomes for. So depending what your looking to grow, that may be your only choice.
Hope your rhizomes take off and work out for ya! Lots of sun, nitrogen, and water and they'll be happy.
 
Thanks.


Mine have all sprouted now, and have been mulched in. Got a plan for training them that'll be done soon. Have all the parts for that.

This brings up a point I'd like to ask about:

Fertilization and pest control

When to start fertilization? What products work well? My soil is actually potting mix moisture control miracle grow brand.
What was the name of the pest control stuff again?
Been checking and watering them when I get home from work. So far seem fine, but they are only an inch tall!

Thanks

TD
 
TrickyDick said:
Thanks.

Mine have all sprouted now, and have been mulched in. Got a plan for training them that'll be done soon. Have all the parts for that.

This brings up a point I'd like to ask about:

Fertilization and pest control

When to start fertilization? What products work well? My soil is actually potting mix moisture control miracle grow brand.
What was the name of the pest control stuff again?
Been checking and watering them when I get home from work. So far seem fine, but they are only an inch tall!

Thanks

TD

Make sure to let the soil dry out the top few inches between watering and to water deep once a week. If you have access to a fish or turtle aquarium then use the dirty water from water changes for watering your plant. It's full of good stuff that will keep any plant happy. If you don't then use a fish emulsion mixture every other week or so. I also use this stuff called Plant Tone once a month.
For pest control I use Organocide on my hops, peppers, and tomatoes with great results. I have pics of all the stuff in the link in my signature as well.
 
OK- I had some homebrew and it inspired me to order hop crowns from great lakes, as was advised. I'll dig out the miniscule rhizomes and replace them.

I had:

Cascade
Columbus
Magnum
Sterling

I bought just 3 crowns (cascade and centennial not available)
Chinook (I'll replace the magnum plant)
Columbus - direct replacement
Sterling - direct replacement

it seems that the magnum would be used primarily as a bittering hop but since the AA would be unmeasured, I wouldn't know how much to use. I think that was poor planning on my part (Maybe I was similarly inspired when I made the rhizome order!)
Anyway, now I'll have a bunch of american hops that I can use for bittering, aroma, and flavor. Maybe I will make a brew from the first seasons harvest and just see what happens.

The nightmare pencil size rhizome of the cascade will persist and I can see how it compares with the others.

TD
 
Cool I hope things go well for you. I'd say when the time comes to use them, use a little more than normal to make up for the AA. If the beer comes out hoppier than expected than your hops AA is higher than expected.
 
I did mine of rhizomes and they are doing great so dont give up on your cascades yet, it may take a week or two for them to start coming up but once they get established they'll be ok
 
I've been out of touch with this thread for quite awhile, but I grew (2) rhizomes each of Cascade and Centennial last year...in Coral Springs. They yielded a good pound of hops before I cut them back to the ground towards the end of the year. I noticed that they recently re-sprouted about two weeks ago, so I got the bed they were in all ready to go for this season...I've been super busy, so today when I did my yardwork I checked and one of the Cascades has two or three bines already six-feet tall. So, I spent awhile getting all my lines up and ready to rock 'n roll for this season. I'll post some pics in the near future.

Has anyone brewed with the hops they have grown in South Florida...and what were the results? In January I brewed a blonde, and used about 13 oz. of homegrown hops...I was hoping for something crazy hoppy. It wasn't hoppy at all... It was excellent, as I oak aged the blonde, but it was a lot tamer as far as the IBUs go. Is this because of our soil? Will the second year crop have higher AAs? Anyone have a clue? I sure don't... Thanks.
 
Finally seeing some green!

image-2762740221.jpg
 
Seemed criminal uprooting my rhizomes in place of the new "crowns". I think that some were field grade plugs. Regardless, still much more developed than my existing. I was thinking about planting the magnum rhizomes on the old kids Playset to let them climb that, it realized the puppy might get into the hops. Where the other hops a planted are behind a row of rosebushes mostly and in big planters, more puppy safe than in the dirt.
I'll post some pictures once I get my "trellis" installed, which is really just some coir twine.

TD
 
I can't speak for everyone's dog here but I can say mine never messes with my hops at all. I even throw my hops out in the yard post boil and he never shows any bit of interest in them.

I wouldn't throw out your rhizomes either. No reason to really. Just transplant them if need be so you have more plants.
 
TrickyDick said:
Not many good places to re-locate without having a huge hassle come harvest time

TD

I don't know if it would work in your space but I've been thinking of making a sort of trellis with a hinge in it. Say the trellis is 15ft, more of just a piece of wood with a hook at the top to hook twine on. Have a hinge around the 4-5ft mark that you can use to slowly lower the upper half of the trellis to harvest. Then when your done you just raise it back up. Probably sounds more complicated than it is on paper.
 
Seemed criminal uprooting my rhizomes in place of the new "crowns". I think that some were field grade plugs. Regardless, still much more developed than my existing. I was thinking about planting the magnum rhizomes on the old kids Playset to let them climb that, it realized the puppy might get into the hops. Where the other hops a planted are behind a row of rosebushes mostly and in big planters, more puppy safe than in the dirt.
I'll post some pictures once I get my "trellis" installed, which is really just some coir twine.

TD

You can always install chicken wire around the hops
 
Here you can sort of see my setup for the vines to climb.

How many should be trained from each plant? I have three vines I believe, on most hops. Found some ladybugs!!! Keep those bugs away! Looks like already been having some chewing on the sterling plant. Organocide has been ordered. What are recommended fertilizers? I have some fish emulsion that's a bit old, and man does it smell horrendous!!

TD

image-2852964243.jpg


image-4038894184.jpg


image-3404850890.jpg
 
You may want to cancel that Organocide order. Ladybugs are considered highly beneficial. Some organic growers actually buy them by the thousands and let them loose on their crops! (They eat up the aphids that eat your hops). Unless the Organocide is safe for ladybugs?

Fertilizers higher in nitrogen are recommended for the early growth stage of hops. You can then switch to less nitrogen when sidearms start showing, increase phosphorous. High nitrogen late in the game reduces the lupulin production in hops.

Not sure if they are, but if these are first year plants, don't trim any bines off, train them all up to help establish a strong crown. You can trim the bottom leaves off to keep the base of the plant drier and less friendly to insects/fungus once the plants are tall enough where it wouldn't hurt them too much.
 
HydroGeologist said:
You may want to cancel that Organocide order. Ladybugs are considered highly beneficial. Some organic growers actually buy them by the thousands and let them loose on their crops! (They eat up the aphids that eat your hops). Unless the Organocide is safe for ladybugs?

Fertilizers higher in nitrogen are recommended for the early growth stage of hops. You can then switch to less nitrogen when sidearms start showing, increase phosphorous. High nitrogen late in the game reduces the lupulin production in hops.

Not sure if they are, but if these are first year plants, don't trim any bines off, train them all up to help establish a strong crown. You can trim the bottom leaves off to keep the base of the plant drier and less friendly to insects/fungus once the plants are tall enough where it wouldn't hurt them too much.

I knew ladybugs were good, but I only saw a single insect. Ill keep my eyes peeled for more, and other bugs as well.

Thanks for the fertilizer advice. I know they give three numbers for fertilizers, but I don't recall what they stand for. Probably nitrogen, phosphorous, and some other nutrient amount. Are you able to elaborate? I used miracle gro potting moisture control mix cause it was the cheapest. I think it has some fertilizer in already. How soon can I supplement additional fertilizer?

These are first year plants. Too late on trimming the the bines. I will not trim any further now that I know.

Thanks for the expertise!

TD
 
Gotcha, I misunderstood the bug sentence. N-P-K are the fertilizer numbers. Nitrogen-Phosphorous-Potassium. That miracle grow soil is good, it's what I used to start off some rhizomes last year which are now in the ground and doing exceptionally well. I just used fish emulsion starting around 3 months from when the bines first broke. I added that once a month until the side arms showed up.

Growth stage suggested NPK ratio: 2-1-2
Flowering stage suggested NPK ratio: 1-3-2

This is what I use and it works for me. Anyone agree/disagree?

There is an awesome post by gridlocked here: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f92/my-hops-garden-project-176340/

He explains what he used and it sure looks like it worked! He's got one hell of a backyard hop garden.
 
The Teamaker hops have come back with a vengeance.

2013-06-02+11.28.26.jpg


Willamette died off a bit and is starting to come back.

2013-06-02+11.28.38.jpg


Columbus was covered in mildew and was dying, I trimmed it back, put in the drip irrigation and used neem oil on it.

2013-06-02+11.28.46.jpg


Magnum was stinted a bit, but is now growing good again.

2013-06-02+11.28.57.jpg


Overall... you can see the teamaker on the end is taking off like crazy now.

2013-06-02+11.29.09.jpg


Cheers!
 
HydroGeologist said:
Gotcha, I misunderstood the bug sentence. N-P-K are the fertilizer numbers. Nitrogen-Phosphorous-Potassium. That miracle grow soil is good, it's what I used to start off some rhizomes last year which are now in the ground and doing exceptionally well. I just used fish emulsion starting around 3 months from when the bines first broke. I added that once a month until the side arms showed up.

Growth stage suggested NPK ratio: 2-1-2
Flowering stage suggested NPK ratio: 1-3-2

This is what I use and it works for me. Anyone agree/disagree?

There is an awesome post by gridlocked here: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f92/my-hops-garden-project-176340/

He explains what he used and it sure looks like it worked! He's got one hell of a backyard hop garden.

Those numbers look about right. Just check if the nutes are slow release or not. Fish emulsion isn't slow release so the plants get a nice boost whenever you use it. I'd stick to somewhere between every other week to once a month. As well when your getting near harvest your going to want to stop giving them any nutes to flush the plants.
 
Looks like I'm getting to where I need some fertilizer. I saw the recommended early and late stage NPK levels. Any recommended brands? I have some probably dried up and rock hard Fertrell 2-1-1 and 3-1-1 made of fish and seaweed. I think is probably too dried and hardened to use.

TD
 
Any brand of fish emulsion should do fine.


Here's a couple pics of some early cones I've got. Hopefully it will stop raining for a day so I can give the bines a spray down with Organocide.


image-3268734665.jpg



image-1978720807.jpg
 
I'm hoping this large amount of rain we have been getting isn't too much for them, where they are it has good drainage but its been coming down in buckets here.
 
It's the same here, two days now of constant drizzle, and about four hours now of extreme downpour. I've been hearing something around 9in in the last few hours. Fingers crossed my drainage is good enough.
 
Well, my columbus is getting it's first side arms and cones! The tea maker is now over my head. I think I am finally getting the hang of this hop growing thing.

What was the rule of thumb? What kind of fertilizer do you need when the cones start emerging?
 
Brewmech said:
Well, my columbus is getting it's first side arms and cones! The tea maker is now over my head. I think I am finally getting the hang of this hop growing thing.

What was the rule of thumb? What kind of fertilizer do you need when the cones start emerging?

Lower nitrogen and higher phosphorus.
 
Bone meal. Or something like 5 - 15 - 5. I just put a good amount of bone meal and it says slow release for 8 weeks.
 
Cascade is Rockin!

Chinook is Semi-Rockin

Columbus is Struggling

Sterling is preparing to be rocking very soon!

Got Cones on the Cascade and Chinook already.

Photos on iPhone to MacBook via photostream is not quite like they show on the TV commercials or else I'd be posting pics.

TD
 
Cascade has cones and is closest to camera in group photo. Behind are chinook and Columbus kinda overlapping. Last is sterling.

On vacation so I hope that Mother Nature gives them plenty of water while I'm gone.

TD

image-1681062182.jpg


image-976374157.jpg
 
2013-07-01+09.24.06.jpg


Willamette (or magnum) on left isn't doing well, not really taking off. Columbus has some hops and the other side of the plant is getting taller finally. The magnum has one good bine getting taller, and on the far right the Tea Maker is growing at about 3-4 inches a day. I'm training it to grow across the top of the pergola. I'll get some hops this year, but it's my first and I just want to get the plants established well.

2013-07-01+09.24.14.jpg


2013-07-01+09.24.29.jpg
 
Well3 of four plants going crazy!



The cascade is biggest but the cones have little scent to them when pressed between fingers

The chinook smells great and also doing well. I think could b ready to harvest..

Lots of cones on first two plants.

The Columbus is doing poorly. Poor height.

The sterling was also doing poorly,then took off And is a bit leggy. The tallest but least developed of all! No cones!

So how to know when they're ready to pick??

TD

image-4121156816.jpg
 
Back
Top