2009 Hop garden picture thread.

[Schlenkerla]

Is it going to be as droopy this year, I remember checking your pics last summer! It looked like you had a sturgeon on.
-Ander

Hopefully not. I upgraded my posts to AL antennae posts. I really like the 4x4 wood post but SWMBO pitched a fit about the appearance. Can't figure why. Wood is so classic in appearance. fingers x-ed

 

[nystevecf]

Where are you guys getting those "keg buckets" so cheap?

 

[Eves]

I have nothing to photograph yet. Just planted my rhizomes last weekend. Sadly I had stored my rhizomes in the fridge for 3 weeks due to nasty weather. My centenial and williamette 'appeared' healthy but the cascade looked a little dry by the time I was able to plant them. Thankfully hops are supposedly hardy plants.

Funny thing is I still haven't figured out how in the world I am going to attach twine or anything else to the roof of my house.

 

[Schlenkerla]

I have nothing to photograph yet. Just planted my rhizomes last weekend. Sadly I had stored my rhizomes in the fridge for 3 weeks due to nasty weather. My centenial and williamette 'appeared' healthy but the cascade looked a little dry by the time I was able to plant them. Thankfully hops are supposedly hardy plants.

Funny thing is I still haven't figured out how in the world I am going to attach twine or anything else to the roof of my house.

You don't have to... I use tomato cages and one big pole and two smaller ones on either side. The strings are multi-stranded and connected all together in an "A" shape. I also put three strings going up from the cages to the main line. Its pretty simple.

 

[calpyro]

Pic of hop garden this AM:

 

[HoppyDaze]

wow; those got off to a good early start!

 

[DBbrewing]

Here is my 1st year hops, this is my Northern Brewer;

 

[HoppyDaze]

Centennial

Cascade

Nugget

Willamette

 

[svengoat]

WOW those are HUGE... What year are those??

 

[calpyro]

WOW those are HUGE... What year are those??

Second year

 

[adamjab19]

My Centennial hops. So I have one rhizome, one planter. You could say I put all of my "hop" into one basket. I will attach a hook somewhere along the facia so they have at least 12 feet to grow and then I will start to lower the string. The side of the house gets sun for at least 5 hours a day but the planter gets sun all day long.

 

[Battery_BreweryNJ]

1st of the bunch...
Northern Brewer

 

[bmorris1]

Got a question for the seasoned growers out there. Has anyone noticed first year bines coming up away from where the rhizome was planted?

I have some Zeus, Cascade and Centennials that were all planted in the center of my planting circles (over 18 inches diameter) and added mulch on top.

Each sprout/bine is coming up near the outer edge of the mulch, and seem to be healthy.

I just found it strange that they are poppin up 9 inches away?

Anyone ever see this before?

 

[anderj]

As they get older they will shoot bines out a couple of feet away. As soon as I see that I get out the clippers but with a first year plant I would just let them do their thing. My first year I made the mistake of putting the trellis up and putting in the twine before they came up. They came up quite a ways away from where I thought and it took a few weeks (maybe a month) before they were long enough to reach the twine.

I believe that this is one of the reasons for planting them in a hill in the first place. As the crown continues to send out shoots laterally, they end up popping out of the side of the mound. They can then be monitored and nipped in the bud so to speak before they take over.

 

[bmorris1]

cool, just thought I was going nuts. I did the same, buried them (in the center), mulched, then ran my lines.

Then they come up a little ways away. Just thought it was crazy for first year bines.

 

[flyangler18]

First year Cascade (foreground) and Chinook (background) doin' their thing:

 

[humann_brewing]

My Willamette is the only one getting about 8 hours of direct sun right now and you can really tell. It has grown quite a bit more since this picture last Saturday too. The others are probably 5-6 hours of direct sun.

 

[greatfookin]

I used chain-link top rail, attached to existing fenceposts.

Cascades

My asst. gardener Ian with his favorite hops

My neighbor thought I was putting up a net to keep balls from going over the fence.

All hops 2nd year- 1 Sterling, 2 Centennials, 1 Cascade, 1 Willamette, 1 Zeus, and 2 Fuggles.
Next year all will be leaving the pots, and planted in hills right where they are now.

 

[humann_brewing]

Great first post there!

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

Got a question for the seasoned growers out there. Has anyone noticed first year bines coming up away from where the rhizome was planted?

I have some Zeus, Cascade and Centennials that were all planted in the center of my planting circles (over 18 inches diameter) and added mulch on top.

Each sprout/bine is coming up near the outer edge of the mulch, and seem to be healthy.

I just found it strange that they are poppin up 9 inches away?

Anyone ever see this before?

No surprise at all! After the first year that twiggy little rhisome you planted can spread out in every direction and by the end of the year may reach 4 foot across. Keep in mind, that while these plants are vigorously reaching for the skies above ground, they are also reaching out below ground to set their anchors, propogate, and multiply.

After a couple years, it is good practice to think about root pruning, lest a few years go by and you find you have hops emerge 10 to 15 feet away from where you originally planted.

I dunno the actual stats but, I have read that the hop plant puts anywhere from 1/4 to 1/2 of it's energy into propogating itself underground while the plant is also focusing itself on upward growth. Once it starts putting on laterals and burrs, it starts to switch gears and gradually focuses it's strength on the bloom production.

 

[kinison_fan]

Pic of hop garden this AM:

Man, that is a sweet home hops garden.--looks mini-pro!

 

[calpyro]

Man, that is a sweet home hops garden.--looks mini-pro!

Thanks,
They really do go crazy when established.

 

[TwoHeadsBrewing]

Calpyro, just noticed the location in your signature...that's awesome. I figured you were somewhere in CA with those big oak trees in the background.

 

[SOB]

First year grower here. Hops have been in pots about one month now. Weather has finally been nice for about 2 weeks now. The first week I planted I had to pull the containers into the garage for 2 days due to cold conditions. They still sprouted within 10 days of planting. They get sun about 8 hours a day right now...

*please ingore the crappy (lack-of) landscaping, we're getting there! *

Hallertau has been growing nicely.

Willemette slowed down recently and started looking dry even though we've been getting lots of rain. I chemically fertilized about 2 weeks ago but I recently put down some horse manure too and the Willemette started back up.

Here's the over-all view. It's about 15 feet to the top of the rope. Harvesting (if there is any this year) should be pretty easy with the window right there. Either hang out the window or un clip the rope and let the bines down carfully.

 

[david_42]

Sad to see, but this is all that's happening as of yesterday. Most of that green is just wild carrot. I hate weeding!

And another week of cold and wet predicted. I'm trying something different with the yarn this year, I staggered the attachment points on the T-bars.

 

[NWBasementBrewer]

I know there short but i thought id show a picture of my babies at about 10' tall so far!!
If you want to see my Flickr pics check out my link
http://www.flickr.com/photos/38070686@N08/sets/72157617521793147/

 

[FxdGrMind]

must be the radiant heat from the siding on your house.... Mine are not much better than Mr Oregon above you. 6-10 inch bines that aren't long enough to train on the twine...

First year... so I'm hoping that's it rather than something else... Like a "Brown" thumb for growing hops...

 

[hungrymonkey]

these are two weeks old.

All but the Zuess took off. The Mt Hood is the most prolific. It is now at 3' of growth!

My grandfather gave me some a few weeks ago. He took a shovel and just dug up a chunk of ground around the shoots. So far they have grown quite a bit.

 

[bkwdz]

my first year. hadn't planned on going so tall initially, but stumbled onto a really good deal on 20 Ft 4x6's at our local feed store.


1 Mnt Hood
2 N Brewer
2 Williamette
2 Fuggle
1 Nugget
4 Cascade
4 Chinook

 

[mrkristofo]

Looking better than my last post:

Overview with the new garden boxes in front:

Right row (Back to Front): Hallertauer, Golding, Centennial, Cascade
Left row: Northern Brewer, Fuggle, Nugget:

Cascades looking kinda weird:

Close-up of Cascade leaf:

Hallertau (also looking kinda weird):

Soil tests showed low nitrogen, which amazed me since I planted with a bunch of compost/manure, Neutral/slightly alkaline pH, high phosphorous, and average potassium. I'm thinking the curling leaves might just be a function of the cooler nights here still. Either way, added a bit 'o fertilizer to correct the supposed low nitrogen.

 

[gwalt]

my first year. hadn't planned on going so tall initially, but stumbled onto a really good deal on 20 Ft 4x6's at our local feed store.


1 Mnt Hood
2 N Brewer
2 Williamette
2 Fuggle
1 Nugget
4 Cascade
4 Chinook

Congrats! Awesome setup... plus you've already done a better job dead ending your hops than a CATV company does cables...

 

[Schlenkerla]

My bushes got a Brazilian today.

Cascade Bush..

Nugget Bush...

Need to trim both

 

[cuinrearview]

My bushes got a Brazilian today.

Well......??

 

[humann_brewing]

My Willamette is way ahead of any other plant I have and is starting to train itself around the 2x2 it will travel up.

I will get some pic up soon but they are only 1st year hops. I think it is a direct correlation to how much sun it gets compared to the other plants I have. I think it gets a solid 8 hours of direct sun where the others are more like 6 or maybe less. The days are definitely getting longer and I trimmed a neighbors tree that was blocking a little late sun from hitting them so hopefully they will start chugging along here soon.

 

[Schlenkerla]

Well......??

All that other junk got trimmed away. Outside of the tomato cages.
You need pictures? You can't imagine what it looks like now?

 

[HBHoss]

My first year plants 12 days later:

1st three are Glaciers 2nd three are Willamettes.

 

[HBHoss]

Here's the third picture:

 

[The Pol]

I will have to get some pics when I get back home in a cpl. days. Mine are between 6' and 8' tall. The leaves on te Mt Hood are about 4" across!! They are HUGE

 

[HBHoss]

I will have to get some pics when I get back home in a cpl. days. Mine are between 6' and 8' tall. The leaves on te Mt Hood are about 4" across!! They are HUGE

That's excellent Pol.
I got my rhizomes shipped to me late, it seems. I figured I wouldn't get much the first year anyway. Next year should be good though.

 

[cuinrearview]

I will have to get some pics when I get back home in a cpl. days. Mine are between 6' and 8' tall. The leaves on te Mt Hood are about 4" across!! They are HUGE

I'm starting to wonder if Mt. Hood is a great variety for us midwest growers. My MH has been my most prolific grower of the second years from the get go this year. It's about three feet up the rope and it sent up the most(20+) shoots.