Hop Growing in Pennsylvania

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My Centennial vine is about 8', Perle and Nugget are 5' and 6' respectively. I am worried my 16' trellis is not going to be tall enough. Any thoughts on this? :confused:
 
Anyone harvest any cones yet? I am thinking that I might have some cones already ready. Gonna lower the lines and check tomorrow, but I am just curious if anyone else is seeing the same thing?
 
I've been looking at hops that are so big and full, they look ready to pick! The literature states August, and to test them by squeezing. I think it's so ambiguous!
 
mrbowenz said:
I grew some with good success ;EKG, Chinook, and Fuggles, checking the soil pH is the key, don't over water them and plenty of sunlight with some general wide band fetilizer worked well here just to your north, here are some shots from this past summer and fall harvest:
Click to expand...

Wow!? Those look awesome!!
 
So I lowered my lines today and, sure enough, I did have some cones ready for an early harvest. Only 1oz wet of Centennial, but they were definitely ready to pick. A bunch of cones weren't ready yet on the same plant (or my Cascade and Perle plants) plus there were still a lot of new burrs forming.

Hope to have a big harvest in another month or two!
 
How do you know for sure they are ready to pick? How will you store them? freeze?

gavball6 said:
So I lowered my lines today and, sure enough, I did have some cones ready for an early harvest. Only 1oz wet of Centennial, but they were definitely ready to pick. A bunch of cones weren't ready yet on the same plant (or my Cascade and Perle plants) plus there were still a lot of new burrs forming.

Hope to have a big harvest in another month or two!
Click to expand...
 
Brewfist said:
How do you know for sure they are ready to pick? How will you store them? freeze?
Click to expand...

I rely mainly on the squeeze test (squeeze between thumb and finger and the hop cone should bounce right back to shape... if it stays compressed, they aren't ready yet). They should also feel papery and sort of make a crinkling sounds when you rub them. Lastly, the ones I picked were starting to turn brown at the ends of each leaf in the cone.

I will vacuum seal and freeze this first little batch. Since it will only be about 0.2-0.25 oz when they are dry, there isn't much I can do with them by themselves!
 
I'm in the Lancaster area and third year Cascades look ready to pick as well, which seems a little early but they feel ready and also turning brown. I'm guessing the heat last week didn't really help that situation.
 
TVM71 said:
I'm in the Lancaster area and third year Cascades look ready to pick as well, which seems a little early but they feel ready and also turning brown. I'm guessing the heat last week didn't really help that situation.
Click to expand...

I was definitely surprised that some would be ready this soon, but they certainly were. Just a tiny bit though.
 
gavball6 said:
I rely mainly on the squeeze test (squeeze between thumb and finger and the hop cone should bounce right back to shape... if it stays compressed, they aren't ready yet). They should also feel papery and sort of make a crinkling sounds when you rub them. Lastly, the ones I picked were starting to turn brown at the ends of each leaf in the cone.

I will vacuum seal and freeze this first little batch. Since it will only be about 0.2-0.25 oz when they are dry, there isn't much I can do with them by themselves!
Click to expand...

How do you vacuum seal for freezing?
 
I picked 2oz. Dry already and I still have a few more cascades I can pick. Must be the weather!
 
Brewfist said:
How do you vacuum seal for freezing?
Click to expand...

I use an old school Foodsaver vacuum sealer that my mom bought when I was a kid. I never remember her using it and on a whim asked her if she still had it last summer. Sure enough, she did and it works great for sealing up the homegrown hops!
 
gavball6 said:
I use an old school Foodsaver vacuum sealer that my mom bought when I was a kid. I never remember her using it and on a whim asked her if she still had it last summer. Sure enough, she did and it works great for sealing up the homegrown hops!
Click to expand...

I looked them up, NOT CHEAP! I guess for now we will zip lock them and squeeze the air out. They will be tossed into a boil in a few weeks anyway! :ban:
 
I think I'm going to harvest some this weekend and see what I come out with weight wise and do a Cascade Pale Ale as to not having to worry about storage. Some of the ones I did ziploc bags in the freezer last year didn't hold so well but probably left them in too long.
 
Brewfist said:
I looked them up, NOT CHEAP! I guess for now we will zip lock them and squeeze the air out. They will be tossed into a boil in a few weeks anyway! :ban:
Click to expand...

I got mine off of eBay with a ton of bags and 3 rolls that you can use to make any size bag you want for 35 bucks! Just keep an eye out and one should pop up eventually.
 
Thanks for this thread, fellas! One day I'll start some plants and seeing some people in the climate doing well is heartening.
 
Last weekend I braved the tiny black mosquito swarm (issitme, or are they particularly aggressive this summer?) and picked a total of 9 oz. fresh weight of Centennial, Perle and Nugget. Centennial by far was the highest yield. There are more on the vines and will get them in a week or so.

Does anyone know a good conversion tool to calculate dry/fresh hop equivalents?

Related question: Does anyone know of SE Pennsylvania commercial hop growers?

Would anyone like to trade a few of their Citra rhizomes for healthy, vigorous Centennial, Perle or Nugget this Fall?

:mug:
 
I ended up with about 4 1/2 ounces of Cascade the other week and happy to see more have sprouted since then.
 
Long story. I was growing hops in large planters on my balcony in Richmond, VA, before moving to Philly two years ago. Cut down the hops, brought them with us, even though we wouldn't have an outdoor area, because we were planning on joining a community garden and building a pergola to grow them on. We never did, so the pots just stayed in the apartment for a year and a half and never did anything. Tossed them into the front yard this spring (we're not really allowed to do anything in the front yard, but the first floor tenants/landlord/whoever let it get so overgrown that I figured no one would care that someone dumped some dirt in the yard. The landlord actually tilled over the whole yard (its only like a 6x6 patch) and did a little bit of landscaping earlier this summer (mid-june). Just last week I noticed that there are hops growing up the fence. They look like they're the nuggets. Pretty small growth, but what do you expect after all they'd been through? I'm moving out of the state at the end of the month, and will probably never come back, so I won't know what happens with them, but their will probably be some nuggets up for grabs on 32nd north of spring garden in a couple of years, if anyone wants to brave it.

There are also hops growing on a fence in front of a vacant lot in the Rittenhouse square area that I would assume are up for grabs.
 
Great story! Not sure if I will brave trespassing in the backyards of 32nd & Spring Garden :cross:, but a stroll past Rittenhouse Square is a no brainer! :p Can you give a closer approximation for that address?

MrOH said:
Long story. I was growing hops in large planters on my balcony in Richmond, VA, before moving to Philly two years ago. Cut down the hops, brought them with us, even though we wouldn't have an outdoor area, because we were planning on joining a community garden and building a pergola to grow them on. We never did, so the pots just stayed in the apartment for a year and a half and never did anything. Tossed them into the front yard this spring (we're not really allowed to do anything in the front yard, but the first floor tenants/landlord/whoever let it get so overgrown that I figured no one would care that someone dumped some dirt in the yard. The landlord actually tilled over the whole yard (its only like a 6x6 patch) and did a little bit of landscaping earlier this summer (mid-june). Just last week I noticed that there are hops growing up the fence. They look like they're the nuggets. Pretty small growth, but what do you expect after all they'd been through? I'm moving out of the state at the end of the month, and will probably never come back, so I won't know what happens with them, but their will probably be some nuggets up for grabs on 32nd north of spring garden in a couple of years, if anyone wants to brave it.

There are also hops growing on a fence in front of a vacant lot in the Rittenhouse square area that I would assume are up for grabs.
Click to expand...
 
Thought I would give this thread a bump.

I am just looking to start in the central PA (Dauphin county) area. And needing any and all advice possible!

Pictures of how to grow, trellises, etc would be awesome to see!
Places you recommend to buy and what varieties to buy would also be greatly recommended.

Thanks everyone!
 
There's tons of practical (and good) advice available via Google, and reading through the threads here @ HBT. There's a commercial hop farm in Huntingdon, PA area.

http://www.flyingsquirrelorganichops.com/Location.html

Good Luck, have fun!


Rypcord said:
Thought I would give this thread a bump.

I am just looking to start in the central PA (Dauphin county) area. And needing any and all advice possible!

Pictures of how to grow, trellises, etc would be awesome to see!
Places you recommend to buy and what varieties to buy would also be greatly recommended.

Thanks everyone!
Click to expand...
 
Was searching the internet for a thread on growing hops in PA, and came across this one. Decided to join the forum!

I live in S. Central PA (near Gettysburg) and I am in my 3rd year of growing hops. I have Cascades and Centennials in year 3, and have grown like they were on steroids from day one. My Nugget, Columbus and Wilamette are in year 2. For my first year, I had cones on the Nugget and Wilamette, but not the Columbus.

I made an IPA a month ago using .5 of Nugget (pellets) as my bittering, but then a lot of my Cascades and Centennials as late additions and for dry hopping. I am very disappointed with how earthy and piney the beer turned out. Really wanted more citrus to come through. I don't know if the timing of my picking was the factor or if I dried them improperly. I just put them on a window screen for a few days in the shade before vacuum sealing them.

Anyway, just thought I'd kick up this older thread with what I'm growing here in PA.
 

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