basementbrew, I think we're all excited to see how your project develops over the summer
LabRatBrewer said:Cones are out... also, an pic of some potatoes grown in bags to allow multiple levels of underground potatoes as the plant grows.
8 first-year varieties on the flag pole that were planted in early April. Cascade, Centennial, Chinook, Columbus, US Goldings, Magnum, Nugget, and Williamette.
Put a ring of Mammoth Sunflowers around the outer border.
Tallest so far is the Williamette at about 5 ft and the others are catching up fast. Have begun to fertilize with Miracle Grow 18-18-21.
Will I be able to tell them apart by the cone shape/size?
Or can I trim off those side shoots?
So im a bit flabbergasted why some of my plants are doing so well and others, not so much. I guess just based on how strong the rhizome i got was? I planted two rhizomes of each this year at the same time, Newport, Cascade and Columbus, each mound had two rhizomes about 6 inches apart. The Cascade is taking off, the Newport is slow but steady but the Columbus is really dwarf looking...everything about it small, the leaves, the bines everything.
The plant on the left is the Columbus, the right is my Cascade which is probably 12-14 feet high now. The Newport not shown is maybe another foot taller than the Columbus. Im heasitant to use fertilizer, i was hoping to use some of our compost but its going slow and not going to be ready for a while ...i may just go pick a bag up and put it down around the slow plants.
Flynz said:These are my second year hop plants, spaced 3' apart and they are now up to 18' and climbing. Some plant side arms are about to reach their neighbor plants and I'm about to have a big tangled mess. Any thought on what to do about it?
Nope, theres no real way to tell the difference other than untangling them which honestly because they are so prickly would be like untangling blackberry bushes.
As mentioned the size shoots are where the hops actually grow, so cutting those defeats the purpose. You may need to rethink your design before they get too high.
For decoration your setup would create a beautiful hop teepee of sorts, but for functionality of actually getting hops off those 8 varieties its not going to work.
Left to right, Fuggles, Willamette, Magnum, Glacier and Mt. Hood. The Willamette and Mt. Hood I grew from rhizomes last year and dug them up when we moved. The rest were crowns from Great Lakes Hops ordered this year. Or rather, the Magnum and Glacier were ordered from GLH and they threw in a bonus Fuggles!
Am I hooped here too? These are second year. From L to R: Goldings, Cascade, Mt Hood. I dont care if there's a bit of a tangle at the top. I am going to try and keep my eye on things and try and tag vines with different colour twist ties.
Flynz said:These are my second year hop plants, spaced 3' apart and they are now up to 18' and climbing. Some plant side arms are about to reach their neighbor plants and I'm about to have a big tangled mess. Any thought on what to do about it?
Sadly probably, and at this point your pretty committed since your vines are so long.
Your going to likely end up with something like this
That big bundle of stuff up at the top is more or less a lost cause for determining what is what if its made up of different plants as you wont be able to tell the difference. Most people who do the Teepee design use the same variety for their multiple mounds so that it doesnt matter if they clump together, since you know all the plants are Cascade for example.
The bad news is a majority of your cones are going to be forming in this top area.
That said you can pick those bunches of tangled hops separately and keep them as a mixed variety and use them in certain experimental beers for dry hopping...it could end up making an amazing beer!
jmich24 said:Growing pretty well here in Michigan. They grow vertically for 4 feet then climb on an incline for 16 more feet. Stawberries growing underneath.
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