Should i get a yield this year?

Last year I ordered a few sterling rhisomes and planted them but the damn squirrels in my yard dug them all up and they died.. so I ordered some more but it was too late in the year to put in the ground (late mayish) and i didnt want those bastages to dig them up again so i planted the two remaining ones i had in pots.

They sprouted and grew vines to about 3 maybe 4 feet. I kept them in the garage all winter and when i checked out the pots this morning i had maybe 3 buds each on them coming out of the soil, so i watered and set in my sunroom where the frost cannot get to them.

My question is if i plant them in say mid april when the last frost should be over with, will i expect a harvest this year or will the roots take more time to establish themselves..

Sterling wasnt my favorite choice, but it was all he had left when i oredered and i wanted to plant some hops.

Damn those squirrels I'd make sure they're gone before I'd do anything.

A way (or attempt to I should say) to keep the squirrels from diggin up you seeds or roots is to lay a mesh or wire screen down over the plants/seeds, of course you would leave a hole large enough for the est. plant to continue to grow through and just anchor the mesh with metal coat hanger wire bent in a U shape, or you can get fancy anchors from home depot for $$. Good Luck!

You should get a crop this year. One way to protect them is to cut the bottom out of a 5 gallon pail and bury it with about 3-4 inches sticking out of the ground. Then put some 1" chicken wire over the top and thread the bines through.

I'm beginning to think the critters got my Nugget this year.

Guys, thanks for the heads up on the squirrels, I had no idea they would be a problem! Planting my first couple of Mt Hood rhisomes this week, I'll make sure to put the chicken wire over them.

Do hops suffer gopher and mole trouble also?

Joker said:

Do hops suffer gopher and mole trouble also?

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mole / vole..... yes, they eat tuber plants and the like

For them I would recommend plastic explosives molded to look like the mole/gopher's friends, drop down the hole, move to safe area...etc.

Almost worked in Caddyshack right?

What in the world does a Squirrel want with a rhizome!!!

Ok I am going to buy a wrist rocket!!! If I see one Dag blame squirrel near my garden (just started this year) They will feel the pain!!!!!

We Had A Problem With Them Taking Tomatos Off Before They Were Wipe. Put Dog Hair Around Plants The Next Year They Didn't Even Touch The Plants. I Have A Friend Who Knows A Dog Groomer And I Plan On Putting Dog Hair Around Mine To Keep Them Away.

So along with the problem of Squirels, which I cannot avoid. and moles, that my lawn is infested with( thinking of sinking fine mesh chicken wire a foot deep to keep them out). Do deer eat hops, hop vines, or leaves. My planting area is in direct path of a deer walking path since my neighbor feeds the damned things!!

The deer will eat the small shoots because they eat anything with small shoots. They won't like them, but will chew on them at first anyways. Once the plants are established, they'll leave them alone.

Try fox scent. Dog training supplys stores should have it. It keep most critters away (bunny, squirels, deer, mice, moles). Also human hair works, we use around our veggie gardens.

human hair works? I had only had heard of dog hair working?

If you don't mind cruel and effective, I've got a solution for any of you with burrowing/rodent problems. Here in North Dakota, gophers and ground squirrels are a huge problem. I understand that one of the most effective ways to deal with them is to leave bubble gum in areas where you expect them to be. They will be drawn to the sweetness, eat it and retire to their burrows where they'll die. However, if you like the squirrels in your neighborhood, you may just want to keep some gum around your hops.

Shoot the squirrels. Use a small caliber rifle or pistol, such as a .22, and try for a head shot so as not to destroy the meat. After cleaning the squirrels, freeze them. Then this winter after youve made several batches of beer using your homegrown hops, thaw the frozen squirrel meat out and make squirrel and dumplings, with a glass of homebrew

Option 1) Low velocity rounds. Kill squirrels, not your neighbors.
Option 2) Get a cat and keep his claws on him. Ya know how cat's like to bring you "gifts", tell me those little bastards with a couple of puncture marks in it's throat wouldn't be like f'n xmas morning! I just let my kitten out for a couple hours and he came within 6" of getting his first bird. I'm pretty sure my garden will be safe from rodents.
Option 3) Try other methods that don't kill them. But damn it, that's no fun.

My neighbor is a very pleasant older woman who has a problem with squirrels raiding the pecan tree.

Solution: Shoot the squirrels and make stew.

I hope the squirrels miss my Hops plants....

For squirrels just use some peanut butter on a rat trap. I've been doing that for years, because they can't learn from their mistake!

I've also experiemented with this for moles and what I found out is that moles can be carinvores as well, when they find one of their dead buddies they will eat him.

So take a pound of bacon, cook it up and save the grease. Then take a mouse trap and smear a thin layer on the trip. You don't want it too thick. Set the trap right next to one of their holes. What you want them to do is lick the trip and set the trap off. That's why you want a thin layer on there. Also if you have pets, put a basket or something over the top of the trap with a big rock or something on it to hold it down. That way you won't have a dog with a mouse trap on it's tongue. I caught 9 moles last October this way.

Sounds like squirrels go for the rhizome. Do they bother the bines?

NRS

NorthRiverS said:

Sounds like squirrels go for the rhizome. Do they bother the bines?

NRS

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I was wondering that also

I thought my dogs where messing with the rhizomes last year becouse of the mulch I mixed with the soil so I put a little fence around them one made it the other did not.so fast forward to this year I plant another type of rhizome where the one did not make it and noticed dig marks around it looking at it thinking no way the dog just happend to get his ball right where the rhizome is planted.plus one dig spot was really small but deep

so why do squirrels mess with the rhizome and not the bines. but thinking of it my second year shoots where comeing up and I think the squirrels ate a few of them off

so time for some bubble gum action

Love this thread!! It made me laugh on an otherwise dreary day - Thanks!

cap46 said:

We Had A Problem With Them Taking Tomatos Off Before They Were Wipe. Put Dog Hair Around Plants The Next Year They Didn't Even Touch The Plants. I Have A Friend Who Knows A Dog Groomer And I Plan On Putting Dog Hair Around Mine To Keep Them Away.

Click to expand...

Actually works really well.