Normal for burr formation at this time? St.Louis, MO

[BaylessBrewer]

So both of my second year cascades are at the top of my 12' trellis and have now started throwing side arms and covering themselves in burrs. Seems like they didn't start this till a little later last year. My centennial plant is only about 8-10' tall and it has no side arms or burrs.

 

[BaylessBrewer]

Looking back at pictures it appears that my plants are 3-4 weeks ahead of where they were at this time last year. Not sure what to make of that? I cut them back the first week of April and then trained the new growth 2 weeks later.
This year current day View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1496064524.839807.jpg
Last year June 20th View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1496064594.832589.jpg
Pictures are a bit different but you get the drift.

 

[PapaBearJay]

Daylength (or photoperiod) will significantly impact when your plants begin to flower. Since we are still 3 weeks from the summer solstice, the plants are tall enough to respond to the "short" daylength and thus they've begun to flower.

If you had trained them a couple of weeks later they would be smaller now but they would begin to flower at approximately the same time as last year, if not later. Working out when to train your plants so they begin to flower past the solstice is key to optimizing your overall plant yield.

 

[BaylessBrewer]

What you say makes sense. The weather here has been great for plants this spring. Nice temperatures, plenty of rain and sunshine. I know my grass, landscape and garden look better than ever currently.
I ordered some FoxFarms Big Bloom fert and I plan on using that weekly until harvest.
I wonder if harvest time will be early as well this year? 🤔

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

What you say makes sense. The weather here has been great for plants this spring. Nice temperatures, plenty of rain and sunshine. I know my grass, landscape and garden look better than ever currently.
I ordered some FoxFarms Big Bloom fert and I plan on using that weekly until harvest.
I wonder if harvest time will be early as well this year? 🤔

Great to see all that healthy growth. I'm really not an experienced hop grower, though I seem to recall something about not fertilizing at certain times to prevent grassyness in the harvested hops. Maybe someone with more knowledge will jump in here, if not perhaps you would want to check some online resources.

 

[BaylessBrewer]

Great to see all that healthy growth. I'm really not an experienced hop grower, though I seem to recall something about not fertilizing at certain times to prevent grassyness in the harvested hops. Maybe someone with more knowledge will jump in here, if not perhaps you would want to check some online resources.

This is the fert I ordered. I'm almost certain that it won't cause grassiness due to the low NPK values. Hopefully it will make the hops more hoppy if that makes sense. [emoji2]
Fox Farm Big Bloom Liquid Concentrate Fertilizer, 1-Pint https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BYG6P0I/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20