Come on spring...helping the hops along with the Bobcat

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kilohertz

kilohertz

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Location
Slightly left of Vernon BC
Hi guys,

It's been warm and sunny for a week now and continuing on this week, with temps around 15C. Our valley is somewhat behind, and also gets much more snow so I decided to help the hops a little today. Fired up the Bobcat, removed about a foot of snow from the them and got out some old black shingles to cover the ground and get the ice melting. Should be down to dirt in a few days. :ban:

Anyone seeing shoots anywhere yet?

Cheers

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Down to the dirt on the ones I removed the snow from....the rest are about halfway....4" of snow to go...continued 15C here here with some precip in the forecast...should be down to dirt on the rest by the weekend, if not TIGER TORCH!!! :)

Cheers
 
Well the shingles worked great. Down to the dirt a few days ago and looky here...shoots on all of the plants. Glad to see everyone survived the winter.

Cheers

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I've got shoots on all my five plants, in Kelowna. But of course there's been no snow for a month or more and temps are 10-15c every day now!
 
I checked today and found nubs on all my crowns. Once the ground softens, I'll cut out some rhizomes. Super excited for this growing season!
 
Wow it is pretty bad weather wise that Canada is defrosting faster than Pennsylvania. Great idea with the shingles to help them along!
 
East Coast Canada is taking a beating. Record setting snowfalls last week. Brutal heavy wet snow.

Out West, though, totally different story, was a really mild winter, and done about three weeks earlier than it really should have, by the feel of things. Still a risk of hard cold, but every day gets less and less...:)

Pretty much every bine I have dug around at the base of, has a bunch of lovely shoots and buds. Should be some really strong growth on mine this year. I may live to regret planting the crowns so close, at ~4 feet. But I'll deal with that if it becomes an issue.

TeeJo
 
what will you do if the night temps dip below freezing? cover? ignore?
 
I think I'd like to have that problem.

On the up side, the snow pack atop my hop beds appears to have dropped below the four foot mark :drunk:

Cheers!
 
day_trippr said:
I think I'd like to have that problem.

On the up side, the snow pack atop my hop beds appears to have dropped below the four foot mark :drunk:

Cheers!
Click to expand...

I tried o get into the field today to dig rhizomes, I never knew PA had permafrost!

If the new shoots freeze no biggie the plant will send out more.
 
HALIFAXHOPS said:
If the new shoots freeze no biggie the plant will send out more.
Click to expand...

Yup, we had -3C here a few nights and no problems, 15-17C days. Hops are going great already. Everyone survived and is showing shoots.

I spread around 20 yards of sandy soil yesterday with the Bobcat and tilled it in with the rotovator on the JD710. Ready for this years rhyzomes. I have a few coming from various sources. Still need to auger 15 pole holes for the new rows and then ready to plant.

This will be a fun year.

Cheers
 
I found a little trick to make the poles last put some course gravel in the bottom for a place for the water to go and not wick up the pole. If you need some hardware I have some 3/16 clamps and 3/8 x 3" wood eye bolts left over I will sell for cost.
 
We have 9 feet of snow here in Downeast Maine with snow drifts as high as two stories. I've got a logger coming in soon to start popping 13 acres of scrub trees out so we can get started setting poles. We can't even see the fences or small out buildings. My neighbors entire sheep herd has died from the cold stress. This snow is killing us here to get ready to grow. If i didn't have my greenhouses for a backup i don't know what i'd do. As for warming the soil around the roots have you thought about a radiant heat pipe run using glycol instead of water? I Use a lot of it here in maine and use Taco pumps and a homemade wood fired water heater to warm the liquid up and pump it under my plant beds to get 2-1/2 months early growing time.
 
Rockhillfarmlubecmaine said:
We have 9 feet of snow here in Downeast Maine with snow drifts as high as two stories. I've got a logger coming in soon to start popping 13 acres of scrub trees out so we can get started setting poles. We can't even see the fences or small out buildings. My neighbors entire sheep herd has died from the cold stress. This snow is killing us here to get ready to grow. If i didn't have my greenhouses for a backup i don't know what i'd do. As for warming the soil around the roots have you thought about a radiant heat pipe run using glycerol instead of water? I Use a lot of it here in maine and use Taco pumps and a homemade wood fired water heater to warm the liquid up and pump it under my plant beds to get 2-1/2 months early growing time.
Click to expand...

That is a great idea to warm the soil up. For me it is not that important financially to get it going early. I have about a 1/4 acre so it is bigger than a hobby and to small for a real profitable business. It keeps me busy with something to do in the warmer months.
 

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