2014 Hop garden photo thread

My chinook second year is going crazy. The Columbus is looking good too. Probably ready to harvest the chinook.
Also have a first year centennial and a sterling. The sterling doesn't do very well because it gets some are from the AC unit blown onto it. Pic of the chinook (left), and Columbus (right).



TD


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2nd year plants doing well. The Newport is the only one showing signs of budding yet, the other two still feel like they need to grow.
As a reference the the gutters are at 18 feet and the plants are 6 feet apart.

The Cascade plant is going crazy again, growing to the top then growing to the left and right towards both other plants..ive already had to reach out the window 5 times over the last two month to loop the cascade plant back away from the Columbus plant or they would have intermingled a month ago.

Columbus


Cascade


Newport

My Galena/Centennial/Columbus Hop Pole......

Hopphead said:

What's eating Gilbert?View attachment 207235View attachment 207236
I don't think it's the lady bug:
View attachment 207237


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Lady bug is looking for what ever is eating Gilbert

Battling some mildew, leafhoppers and possibly some nutrient deficiency at the moment.

I was lazy early in the year... I moved my 3rd year cascade, columbus and perle hops from the pots I had them in to the ground, then left them alone too long. By the time I went to string them up everything was a tangled mess. I hacked most of it off at the ground after getting my arms shredded trying to untangle everything. Columbus and perle didnt seem to mind much. The cascade was NOT a fan of how I treated it. From left to right, two of each: Columbus, Willamette, Perle, Centennial and Cascade. Williamette and Centennial are first year.

Cascade in middle, and Nugget on right. Had some high winds break all but one bine off the plant on the far right. What does it do? Pushes up new bines, and makes radials all over the place.



This is my first year Chinook. Slow and steady.

I added blood meal and compost and mulch to all the plots. We'll see what happens.

Third picture. Going good. Added drip irrigation and it thrived.

Here are a few pictures taken this morning from part of the hop yard. All of these are first-year rhizomes taken from the yard at the start of the season. The first shot is a row of Centennial, with two Nugget plants growing to the poles. For reference, the tops of the poles are over 21' from ground.

The second picture is of three Nugget plants and one Centennial on the left. To the top is about 16'.

The last picture shows a few "fertilizer-makers." Spent brewing grains, chickens, and hops--symbiotic loop, for sure!

Anyone know if this is the start of cones?

theck said:

Anyone know if this is the start of cones?

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I don't think so. Looks more like side shoots to me. The start of cones looks more like... well... tiny pot buds with hairs.

Here ya go. This is the beginning of hop cones.

Alright first pic is of the four in the backyard cent is going crazy willament seems to have stalled, chinook sorta growing, and well Columbus I got a question about, I didn't notice the tip broke off some time and now I have some bines coming up off the old bine pics below should I just let it go and see what happens?

The Fab Four


Columbus problem ?????

It looks like regular old bines just growing but off the old bine that lost the tip almost like an above ground rhizome

Eventually. Those are the sidearms/laterals beginning to form. As they get longer you'll see little burrs on them which will eventually turn into hops. Congrats!

edit; looks like you have the answer already. Congrats anyway.

WOO HOO! Lots of progress here, but not much in way of pics, sorry. Magnum has FINALLY reached the roof line, out of six hops it is about three-four weeks behind the others.

ALSO...Willamette is FINALLY showing hop flowers. Got about 3-4 right up at the roof line.

And...my cuttings from the start of this season are actually showing some attempts to make hops. My Centennial cutting now has a few hop flowers showing.

Here's my in progress trellis. They're all first year plants. Only one Chinook is really taking off.

Off chutes

Ok, so I'm about 3 weeks late posting this. I harvested about 1 1/2 lbs of Columbus and 1/2 lb of Centennials off of my second year plants already! After harvest, I cut them off at ground level and restrung my trellis. I have new healthy bines that are about 3 ft tall right now. I'm going to let them go and see if I get a second harvest out of them.


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For all you early harvesters. Lucky ducks!

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=479609

2014 HBT Hop Harvest Totals

Sorry, double post.

Finally strung up mu hops. Took a while to build the deck. I cut all the 1st shoots off this year and now they are taking off again.

2BeerSpeer said:

Finally strung up mu hops. Took a while to build the deck. I cut all the 1st shoots off this year and now they are taking off again.

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Wow that is quite the deck!

Things are getting out of control. One nugget bine is over 30 feet and still growing! It ran through the full helix (24') and is wrapping around the top section at 1 full 4' section , and just turned the corner with 3' additional growth. I think there's 6 additional bines and most are still climbing at 16' to 24' respectively. Each diagonal section is exactly 4' if my math is correct. No cones yet, but it is side arm crazy.

Zeus has a good 16' of growth on 4 bines. Lots of bushy undergrowth, but no signs of rot or leaf issues. Tons of sidearms, no cones.

Cascade has 6' to 12' of thin growth, but things are picking up quickly. Few sidearms, no cones.

Chinook lost 3 of 4 bine tips to some severe weather. Not sure how this was the only one to lose them, but they broke off at 18'. My guess is that this is the far western facing plant, so it will absorb the brunt of any westerly straight Iine winds from our Midwestern storms. She has tons of cones forming on all 3 bines that are still climbing. The one remaining bine is racing up the line to the top. Over a foot of growth yesterday.

I love this hobby.

Holy "wild" hops! Took my little kids to swim at their sister's house in Lorain today and found these huge hops plants on the fence in her back yard! Of course i dug some up to take home and see how they are!

20 ft of Centennial !!!!

Aphids anyone?

That sucks! I wonder if you could harvest them and sell to someone who raises ladybugs?

Holy crap that's a lot of aphids

Guess its time to post some pics.

First up is my 2 raised beds. Nearest is all cascade and farthest is Willamette.


Next up is the hops mess I have 4 variaties in this area. 3 cascades on the right side of the arbor, an ekg on the left side far, an fuggle on the right side near, and 4 nuggets all the way to the left. Its hard to see but I have a top string running from each side of the arbor to the flag pole. Next year I need to use wire instead the string is stretching to much.


Same plants different angle.


Here is my pool side bar. The left is an ekg and the right is a cascade.


Last up are 3 more cascades.

just harvested first round of a possible two, of Columbus, second year rhizome. I ended up with 8.4oz wet weight. Its rather surprising the volume the fresh hops occupy. Seems like you have a ton, but then after picking and weighing, only a hare over 8 oz. Dried I'll expect only 2 oz! Well, maybe next year they'll do better. My Chinook plant is next - I've only got one drying setup at the moment.

Found some strange ?seeds? near the top of the plant. Will post pics later.

TD

Chrisl77 said:

Next year I need to use wire instead the string is stretching too much.

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I use para cord for the top. Doesnt stretch much, if at all, tough as hell, cheap and doesn't rust. Stainless cable and the shackles and turnbuckles you would need can be a bit pricey for what it is.

EdMerican said:

I use para cord for the top. Doesnt stretch much, if at all, tough as hell, cheap and doesn't rust. Stainless cable and the shackles and turnbuckles you would need can be a bit pricey for what it is.

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The guy at Home Depot under charged me for the wire I have. I think its stainless. So far no rust. The pulleys are pretty useless, and you really only need some eyebolts. The wire comes off the pulley and binds it all up. Four available to a good home if anyone is interested. Para cord is tough stuff, I fashioned a brew hauler out of it for a primary bucket I had that came without a handle (seriously!). Hadn't thought of that, but would work great for hops I'd imagine.

TD


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By the way. Here is that photo
Several actually. The first shows my bine lowered to the ground sort of. The next two show funny looking cones? Seeds? I don't know what they are. I left then on.

Last pic shows an old LME bucket from an AHS wheat kit (don't have an adjustable mill), it's filled with Columbus cones..

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I was not expecting to see any flowers for a first year cascade.

Side arms on one are coming along well...

Some hop growing going on. My Magnums are to the roof line, finally looking like an actual hop grower...

All six plants


Hop porn

My Columbus plant is only about 4 feet high, and it's already starting to grow side arms. It's only a first year plant, so I wasn't expecting cones. Do side arms usually mean cones?

*edit* It looks like my centennial plant has side arms growing as well. Man, I hope I got lucky with my first year plants!

MrNic said:

My Columbus plant is only about 4 feet high, and it's already starting to grow side arms. It's only a first year plant, so I wasn't expecting cones. Do side arms usually mean cones?

*edit* It looks like my centennial plant has side arms growing as well. Man, I hope I got lucky with my first year plants!

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You will absolutely get some cones. It just wont be a lot most likely. I think of 6 mounds I got 4 dry ounces my first year.

EdMerican said:

You will absolutely get some cones. It just wont be a lot most likely. I think of 6 mounds I got 4 dry ounces my first year.

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My first year I had a total 4 dry oz. Total from the plants I received as a gift. Willamette gave me a whopping 0.2 dry oz. Nugget gave me 2oz. Sunbeam gave me just over 1.8 oz. The following year I got over a pound from the three. These plants were potted, so they had limited growth potential to begin with.

This year, I am tying cascade, Chinook, Zeus and nugget. The plants in the ground are so much happier. Tons of sidearms and spurs are already showing.

Ride out the first year with no expectations of cones, and you'll be surprised with some. Expect anything, and you may be disappointed when you get none, as I was with Willamette. Cheers!

My original 3 varieties are in their 3rd year. Last year I got about a pound of columbus and about a little less than a pound of cascade. Perle had some major problems with bugs and fungus and didnt grow much. They were also in pots. This year I moved them to the ground and added Centennial and Willamette. Columbus is to the top of my trellis and full of cone starts. Perle is almost to the top but doesnt have much for cones. Its always been a late bloomer anyway, though. Even my first years are doing fairly well at about 8ft high, sans cones. Ive not fertilized yet this year, either. Im expecting some production, but my real hopes are for next years harvest.