1st Home Grown Hops

[BrewChem]

Won't be too much longer and the nugget bine will be ready to start on the rope... the fuggles will be a little behind. The growth pattern looks a little different... the nugget has one bine that's shot up with three really small ones just now starting to sprout leaves while the fuggles grew several shoots but aren't as tall as the nugget. Dunno if this is typical for these types of hops, just an observation. I'm just tickled to have green-age..!

Also noticed that the leaves are quite different. The fuggles is more of an oval, single leaf while the nugget has a tri-lobed (mapleleaf-like) look...

Fuggles....

Nugget...

 

[BBL_Brewer]

Is that spot you've done up for one plant or both? That's kind of close to be planting two varieties. They will tangle together something awful, which makes keeping them seperate during harvest a bit of a pain. Besides, once they reach maturity, you want two strings per crown with 2-3 bines per string.

 

[BrewChem]

Yeah... things I've thought about but I'm sorta short on space with access to sunlight so... I'll jump the hurdles as I get to them. Thanks tho..!

 

[SaevaVeritas]

I wanted to share some picks o my set up.

I built an adjustable trellis out of some planks twine and eye hooks. I have three varieties cascade (1st year rhizome) Hallertau (2nd year crown) and fuggles (2nd year crown).

The Hallertau is taking off well, the fuggles alittle slower and the cascade just has a single small sprout.

I am anxious to see how well these bad boys take off. I just gave them some dilute fertilizer.

 

[SaevaVeritas]

Sorry iPhone double post

 

[BrewChem]

NICE..!! Wish I had a spot with more sun exposure like yours. My fuggles is the slow-poke too... got your brews planned out for your harvest..?

 

[BrewChem]

The Nugget went on the rope today..! The Fuggles isn't quite there yet.

 

[AgingHopster]

Looking healthy! I'm hoping you cut the bottoms out of those tubs...

 

[SaevaVeritas]

Cut the bottoms out? Naw, I drilled a bunch of holes in the bottom and side. I am in medical school so when I move to residency I'd like to take my plants with me. I figure I should get a few good years out of the tubs as they are 40 gallons. If I have too I can always cut the roots back for rhizomes.

 

[BrewChem]

Took a peek at the plot this morning... the Fuggles reached the rope and is starting to climb..!

And the Nugget has gained about 5 inches since I last looked...

 

[SaevaVeritas]

My fuggles are really crawling the hallertau and cascade are doing respectably. Any hints for getting fuggles to take off. I only have two bines and they are about 2-3 inches and really are not taking off.

 

[lafolielapper]

I was fortunate enough to get my rhizomes from a generous member in my brew club. Got 3 Centennials and 1 Brewers Gold to add to my 3 4th season Cascades growing up in Minnesota.

I planted the new rhizomes into pots, separating the two varieties. Within a couple days, I saw little buds poking out.

1 month later, and the tallest bine is roughly a meter up the twine now! Now I am about to head from my place here in Colorado and plant them in my garden in Minnesota. Hopefully they make the voyage. I leave in 3 hours.

 

[BrewChem]

My fuggles are really crawling the hallertau and cascade are doing respectably. Any hints for getting fuggles to take off. I only have two bines and they are about 2-3 inches and really are not taking off.

My fuggles is the slow-poke of the garden too. Might just be the nature of the beast.....!?

 

[BrewChem]

Cool..! My nugget bine has hit 5'...!

 

[BrewChem]

Damn..! Those buggers grow quick..! Over the past two weeks the nugget has more than doubled it's height to 11' and starting to send out side-shoots... the fuggles is around 5'... not easy to see in the pic against the growth in the background

 

[BrewChem]

The nugget reached the top of the trellis (17') and is sending out side shoots everywhere..! The fuggles is about 10' now and has some side shoots too...

 

[AgingHopster]

Looking very healthy! Great job!

 

[BrewChem]

The nugget bine topped the trellis, looped down about 5', grabbed the rope again and is going back up. The fuggles has slowed its climb but is really getting bushy..! But ... no signs of burrs or cones yet :-/

 

[shotputman]

My cascades have taken off here in SC. Here is a picture, not a great shot, but they are close to 20ft high. Just starting to bud and flower, but the hops don't start any lower than about 8-10 ft.

 

[BrewChem]

Got a ladder up and took a look at the top of the nugget bine... there are burrs everywhere up there..! Not the best pic but t'was shot with a phone...

 

[Hoppopotomus]

Very nice! Of my 8 rhizomes planted, 4 are doing very well, 2 are mediocre, and 2 are slow. I have 2 that have produced bines up to 15' and one up to 12'. I have one at about 9', two at 3 to 4', and two that don't seem to want to climb beyond 2' depite a ton of bines popping through the ground. I just posted a few pics on my thread. Like yourself, I'm getting some burrs forming. One of the cascades is absolutely loaded with burrs, one of the chinooks has a fair amount, andthe other cascade is just starting to form a few. I had an issue with the natural fiber twine that I used for climbing lines rotting at the bottom with the ends being staked slightly below grade. My hallertau was the fastest out of the gaits and was up to 6' very quickly when I came home from a weekend out of town and there had been storms. Several of my ropes had rotted and the high winds snapped the climbing bines on those plants, so I have been struggling to retrain the later developing bines that have emerged to climb. I have since fixed my rope rotting problem and added more slack to my cables to allow sufficient tree sway, so now it's a waiting game. The slow pokes in my garden are my centennial and glacier. I also had some early issues with aphids, but an organic vegetable spray has solved that issue. Keep us posted on the progress, but it looks like you and I both should have little first year harvest!

 

[BrewChem]

Considering that these are 1st year plants, I'm so impressed with the Nugget... it's topped the 17' trellis and has climbed the tree above another 6'..! The fuggle is about 10' or so but getting really bushy. I used plain 'ole nylon rope and the bines had no problem grabbing on and climbing. The only maintenance I do is add a tablespoon of miracle grow tomato food dissolved in a gallon of water to each plant every weekend and water occasionally if there's been no rain. Other than that, no fuss..!

 

[BrewChem]

SWMBO took some nice pix with her fancy-schmancy camera...

 

[BrewChem]

Went to feed the plants and noticed some cones starting to take shape on the Nugget bine..!

 

[BrewChem]

Nothing on the Fuggles... looks like I'll get some Nuggets though

 

[BrewChem]

Harvest time..!! The fuggles did not produce any cones this year but the Nugget bine did really well..!

Should be more than enough for a brew or two..!

 

[Hoppopotomus]

Nice work!!!! Looks like your 1st years did a little better than mine. I ended up with something like .3 oz. of columbus, 1.5 oz. of cascades, and 2.5 oz. of chinooks, so just slighly over 4 oz. total in dried weight.

I'm going to brew up a pale ale with and use 'em all in it. Not enough to do a big IPA like I wanted, but what the hell....a little is better than none at all. Congrats on a respectable harvest!

 

[BrewChem]

Thanks..! I'm thinking about a SMaSH with Golden Promise... I would call it "Golden Nugget"... haha..!