brewyourown4life, nice set up! you have any issues lowering that down? It looks like you have a pretty good span at the top. This really is a pretty good set up.
Starsailor, agreed. I have four plants on each side of the patio (all same type) and by mid season they have reached out and easy 6 feet to grab the one next to it. Or at least for the larger plants.
I start a few each year in pots, I try putting some in the ground but after a few months and about six feet of growth they seem to die. I am guessing its a lack of water but I can't seem to get them to grow in the ground here. every couple years I up the size of the pot they are in to give them room to grow. My large pots I can hardly move around. I think this year I might try to find some taller ones to see how that works out.
The death of all your hops planted in the ground seems a bit unusual. I've got some thoughs and ideas on this to share with you.
In my experience hop live up to their "hummus lupis" classification. They seem harder to kill than to grow. Although, growing them really well is a bit or work.
Your problem could be rooted (pun intended) in a few things, sun, watering, soil, varietal suitability, or handling when you transplant. Here's what I'd look at and suggest to address it.
1. Are the transplants in the same area and sun conditions as the ones in pots? The amount of sun matters alot to hops, generally more is better unless they get so much they get all dried out regularly.
2. Are the transplants watered more or less than the ones in pots? I'd try watering them the same amount. I use a drip system on a timer because forgeting to water one or two really hot days can really matter when they get big.
3. What's your soil like? Is it very different than what you putting in the pots? Hops are really heavy feeders. It takes a lot to grow from ground to 15 feet tall every year. They seem to love compost rich well draining soil more than chemical fertilizers or compact clay rich soil that doesn't drain. Look for root rot when they die which means the soil stays too wet. Also, get your soil tested so you know what you've got to work with and how to amend it. When I plant I dig a hole the size of 5gal pail and mix it 50%/40%/10% with the soil from the hole, compost from my compost pile, and commercial cow or chicken manure to feed them well quickly. I feed with a compost tea every couple of weeks up until harvest along with my dogs peeing on them every couple of days too. Every fall I then top off each crown with half a bucket of compost to feed the roots and protect the crown from winter.
4. Are the transplants only one or two varieties? I've got 8 varieties growing in my hop yard. A couple do really well and yield a lot, a couple just OK and yield less, but all grow into big plants. On the other hand, I've found a couple of varieties that just won't grow in my conditions and die within a couple of months or planting every time. So, try as many varieties as you can that suit your brewing until you find which ones like your conditions.
5. Are the young bines getting damaged when you transplant? Anything but the most gentle handling can damage a young tender bines such that it won't grow any more. Damaging young bines on established root crowns in the ground usually isn't a problem because the root system has enough reserves to repair the bine or send up new shoots, but damaging the few bines from a newly planted rhizome is different and can be fatal because it has limited reserves to to grow roots to take up water and nutrients and limited buds send up new shoots, all at the same time. I'd try directly planting a couple rhizomes in the ground to see if that works better.
Good luck with the up comming season and please be sure to share your results.
