2013 Hop garden photo thread

My WI Cascades broke ground during the recent sunny afternoons.

mthompson said:

I'd seriously think about getting bigger containers. One rhizome can fill up a rubbermaid in very short order with its root system...

Rubbermaid containers are cheap, you can easily make them self-watering, and cutting up and rearranging a wood pallet makes a decent enough looking box to hide the plastic container (for aesthetics).

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Thanks for the advice! I'll look into getting some containers before the roots get too big!

3 of my 5 are up

Willamette finally broke ground.

I'm so jealous...I planted 2 beds of hops, one 3 weeks ago and one last week, and haven't had a single hop pop up above ground yet.

I know they are growing roots and will take awhile and be generally slow my first year...but I'm still jealous of all the green goodness I see from others.

Has anyone tried growing hops on a chain link fence?

This to this in a few days. I have a felling 2nd year cascade are going to be awesome.

Here are 2 more pics of my townhouse roof top container hops. The blue container has a 3rd year cascade, the brown container is a 3rd year willamette. The dirt filled blue container has a very sad looking goldings rhizome that I don't have high hopes for. If it grows I will rig something up for it, if not I'll put some veggies in there.

This is the first summer in the new location. They did great last year but got tangled together and made harvesting a pain but I got more than 1.5lbs dry off them. Here they are last year https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f92/show-off-your-2012-hops-garden-320960/index36.html#post4289104

Here are my 2 second year cascades in north texas. Both were rhizomes last year, hoping for a decent crop this year.

SpottedDogBrewing said:

Has anyone tried growing hops on a chain link fence?

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That's what I did last year, they did pretty well but you have to remember to wind them around the fence often. They grow quickly in the summer months and tend to keep trying to climb up.

Trellis up. Hops a foot tall. Pictures tommorrow.

2nd year for my cascade and centennial plants.

I'm planting on Saturday... I was so excited that my friend is giving me a piece of his shallow-grade hill with all day sun for growing my five plants up some clothesline. It never occurred to me that this hill is going to get ALL the wind. Is this a recipe for disaster?

Since this spring has been very cold and wet here in Wisconsin (expecting snow tomorow!) I'm starting my hops in planters. I've read I can transplant as late as June, but I hope to do it by mid-May.

Here are my four hop crowns from Great Lakes Hops:












I've got Rhizomes for three more types, hope to get them started soon.

good luck with your gardens everyone,

Keyth

I'm a first time hop grower in the southeast... Wish me luck! I planted a centennial and a perle two weeks ago. I've got 2 sprouts out of the centennial and no sign of life as of yet from the perle.

just getting started. In Corona CA loosening up my clay soil to make some mounds. I'm going to start them on the ground and run them up the hillside with twine going to the tops of those poles. I have my rhizomes in the fridge

My hop garden as of a week ago. A combination of early warm spring and late rain has these growing like crazy.

My hops as of this week. Cascade is tearing it up!

emyers said:

My hops as of this week. Cascade is tearing it up!

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i don't think you put a picture in your post.

EDIT nevermind, for whatever reason your picture wasn't loading on my computer...

Wilden said:

My hop garden as of a week ago. A combination of early warm spring and late rain has these growing like crazy.

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Are you growing those in Istanbul Turkey? Whats the homebrew scene like there? Are there any regional hop varieties?

Ahhh you guys are killing me- especially those pics from Turkey. My plants are still under a couple of feet of snow!

My Zeus came up in one of my pots. Not much action on the other.

I planted 5 centennial rhizomes among three hills with a trellis set up on the south side of my home. I also planted 2 magnum rhizomes in a container, with hopes of training along my garden fence. If it takes, it will go in the ground for next year.

This is my first attempt. Any feedback on the structure of my trellis? I have two eyehooks supporting coated wire rope 3/32" as a guide wire and hop twine for training the bines.

Still need to run 2x4s across the middle and top but it's getting there. Going to have eye hooks on the top to tie bailing string from. So far I have magnum, glacier, US Goldings and chinook.

Posts are 15' out of the ground, I know they go taller.

All second year plants - Cascade, Brewer's Gold and Chinook. Brewer's Gold is probably up 5 feet already. The ground plants outside the planter are strawberries, just starting to bloom, and you can see my raspberry bushes in the picture with the Chinook.

Gonna get a freeze tonight in Westchester, NY area. I have 3 hop plants in planters. Any suggestions? Will they survive the night with some plastic milk cartons on top (acting as mini greenhouses) or should I try lugging them inside?

It snowed this morning, so I thought I'd better get my rhizomes in the ground. I've got a pretty big yard for the city in Cleveland, but limited sunlight, so there's room for two plants. I chose Willamette and Cascade. Northern Brewer set me up with a fat budding Willamette rhizome and two solid Cascade rhizomes. I'm going to set up a t-shaped trellis and have two lines going to each end of the T.



Cascade



Willamette







Just out of the fridge

Nomad, you should plant those rhizomes horizontally (with the buds facing up), rather than vertically. They may do all right that way but they are supposed to be planted on their sides. If it was me, I would change it before they start developing a root system.

DirtyOldDuck said:

Nomad, you should plant those rhizomes horizontally (with the buds facing up), rather than vertically. They may do all right that way but they are supposed to be planted on their sides. If it was me, I would change it before they start developing a root system.

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Sorry but you are incorrect. Hop Rhizomes should be planted vertically (fresh shoots end up) 1 ~ 2 inches below the surface.

Watch the pros do it...

Also, what is the logic of planting BECAUSE it snowed. I would think you'd want to wait till after your chance of a hard frost was over for planting. Did you have them in shallow pots or something?

EDIT: Interesting video, I guess I've always thought of the eyes being one SIDE of the "stalk" of the rhizome rather than an "end." I've planted the rhizome "stalk" horizontal (parallel to the ground) with the eyes (little white stalks) pointing up.

gbx said:

Are you growing those in Istanbul Turkey? Whats the homebrew scene like there? Are there any regional hop varieties?

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I'm actually back in Bay Area California just haven't been at a computer to update my profile.

KeythL said:

Sorry but you are incorrect. Hop Rhizomes should be planted vertically (fresh shoots end up) 1 ~ 2 inches below the surface

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When I planted mine a year ago, everything I read then said to plant them horizontally, not vertically, and mine have done great after planting them that way. A quick (unscientific) search still shows many places recommending planting them horizontally, or not saying anything about horizontally or vertically and just saying plant them with the buds up. For example, an Oregon State University Extension Service Crop Science report I found just states to plant "two rhizomes per hill with the buds pointed up and cover with 1 inch of loose soil." I suspect that buds up is the important part and also suspect many recommend planting them horizontally in order to make sure the buds won't end up pointing down. Thanks for the info.

KeythL said:

Sorry but you are incorrect. Hop Rhizomes should be planted vertically (fresh shoots end up) 1 ~ 2 inches below the surface.

Watch the pros do it...

Video Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcBuaVyTfiU

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To tell you the truth. Most likely due to time and day laborers. Planting them like that would benefit a mega farm, not so much a home gardener. But that's my home gardening experience talking. Either way works.

My hop trellis is fairly exposed to the wind and I had problems with the bines whipping around a few years ago. I got some heavier cord (1/4" cotton-covered clothesline with a plastic core) and pulled it a little tighter, and that seemed to take care of it.

My trellis looks like a sideways E. Two ropes per vertical are anchored onto a stake on one side of the hill, then are anchored about 1' up on the vertical and run to the crossmember. They go about 2' horizontally. The unsupported length is about 12' so the jute twine I initially used just didn't cut it. This clothesline probably should be replaced each year (could maybe get 2 years out of it before the cotton disintegrates) and can't be recycled, but it is really cheap - $3 for 100', I think.

half_whit said:

I'm planting on Saturday... I was so excited that my friend is giving me a piece of his shallow-grade hill with all day sun for growing my five plants up some clothesline. It never occurred to me that this hill is going to get ALL the wind. Is this a recipe for disaster?

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hillhousesawdustco said:

Also, what is the logic of planting BECAUSE it snowed. I would think you'd want to wait till after your chance of a hard frost was over for planting. Did you have them in shallow pots or something?

EDIT: Interesting video, I guess I've always thought of the eyes being one SIDE of the "stalk" of the rhizome rather than an "end." I've planted the rhizome "stalk" horizontal (parallel to the ground) with the eyes (little white stalks) pointing up.

Click to expand...

The reference to the snow was just a comment on the odd weather we had yesterday, or is snow in late April normal for everyone? Ha. They're not going to have leaves to be damaged by the cold for a while, and I'll take my chances that it wony frost in May.

When I looked at the little buggers in the sandwich bags, they spoke to me and said, plant me pointing up! Seriously, though, I've read both H and V, and these buds looked they had been growing skyward vertically, so I followed along the path they had already started.

Here are my first years. Cascade, nugget, willamette, saaz, and centennial.

Cascades are already 2 feet.

Here is the cascade.

First year sterling, liberty, and centennial. I also have eight other hop vines up.

KeythL said:

Sorry but you are incorrect. Hop Rhizomes should be planted vertically (fresh shoots end up) 1 ~ 2 inches below the surface.

Watch the pros do it...

Hops TV

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Actually they can be planted either way, but you are correct as in most commercial hop farmers will plant them vertically. They will grow both ways, so it just comes down to personal preference. Also most commercial growers recommend 2-4 rhizomes per hill... I will post my new hop yard I started today when I transfer the pics, along with mine that I started in 2009 as well.

The start of the 2013 season for me..