1st Year Hop Experience

[Senormac]

Looks great Beerisgud. You are on your way

 

[Beerisgud]

Thanks! This is proving to be a great learning experience. My Chinooks and extra cascade rhizomes came in yesterday. They were all suffering from rot on several shoots on each rhizome. I would imagine shipment of plant material for 7 days in relatively warm weather lately has been rough on them but damn, they were looking sad! I clipped off any slimy dead shoots and hoping for the best. Nuggets lookin good, still only one bine but 3ft+ now. Cascades showing some more vigor now and climbing. Struggling with keeping my strings/rope taut. Trying to train the shoots away from the crown back to the strings. I’ve noticed they take off fast (1-3” day) once on the string. Added ugly pipe insulation to protect twine/bine from getting cut on rough edges of wire fencing. I’m keeping the chinook planter in my best sun until they have any trainable shoots then I’ll move it next to the lattice arbor. Working out the kinks as I go here!

 

[Kaz15]

The beasts have awoken! Your plants look great for first year. If you eventually extend your twine to the garage roof, they should have no trouble reaching.

Cascades are seriously monsters. Have fun watching them grow!

 

[Beerisgud]

Hell yeah thanks man! I’m inspecting them everyday haha I’m getting pretty excited now that they are starting to take off. I picked cascades for this spot because of that! They are very interesting plants.

 

[Beerisgud]

Update! I’m getting ready for an onslaught of pests, so far the worst of them are chipmunks. I had one void in my fencing I couldn’t find until I noticed scratches on the wood! Bastards dug around the nugget twice and in my unprotected chinook planter. The nugget lost some roots and a young rhizome but I buried it back in. I stapled the crap outta my fencing. So far the nugget seems okay. 9 days later and quite a jump in growth. Cascades left to right have 6 bines/1 baby shoot/3 bines. Nugget is now training on the horizontal rope.

Chinooks

 

[CodeSection]

Update! I’m getting ready for an onslaught of pests, so far the worst of them are chipmunks. I had one void in my fencing I couldn’t find until I noticed scratches on the wood! Bastards dug around the nugget twice and in my unprotected chinook planter. The nugget lost some roots and a young rhizome but I buried it back in. I stapled the crap outta my fencing. So far the nugget seems okay. 9 days later and quite a jump in growth. Cascades left to right have 6 bines/1 baby shoot/3 bines. Nugget is now training on the horizontal rope.

View attachment 682693
Chinooks
View attachment 682694

This will take care of the chipmunk problem..... Havahart Small 2-Door Professional Live Animal Cage Trap for Rat, Squirrel, Chipmunk, and Weasel-1025 - The Home Depot

 

[Transamguy77]

I got an email that my hop rhizomes are on there way from Adventures in Homebrewing, I’ll post some pics once they are here and in the ground. @Beerisgud Glad you started this thread, I’m excited to see your Hops and looking forward to showing off mine.

 

[Beerisgud]

@CodeSection trapping would be better (more humane) than my plan of a 5 gallon bucket of water and a plank with some peanut butter! I was frustrated at the time lol Hoping that once I get fencing around the chinooks I’ll be okay. Next year I plan to have a vegetable garden, I might need a few of those traps!

@Transamguy77 hope your rhizomes arrive soon. I look forward to seeing others first years. Despite the slimy look of my more recent plantings from AIH they all came up. Post em if you got em guys!

 

[CodeSection]

@CodeSection trapping would be better (more humane) than my plan of a 5 gallon bucket of water and a plank with some peanut butter! I was frustrated at the time lol Hoping that once I get fencing around the chinooks I’ll be okay. Next year I plan to have a vegetable garden, I might need a few of those traps!.....

I've trapped 21 pack rats in the past several weeks. Truth be told, I'm finding out I'm a poor swim instructor.....

 

[Beerisgud]

Time for an update! only 2 weeks later and everything is gaining length and growing sidearms except the young chinooks. The 2 newly planted cascades in the center box are not showing much else than a small shoot with a few leaves. Fortunately I have 7 bines on the left and 3 on the right so I can attempt to fill in the canopy a little this year. Also realizing that this setup will need some seriously reinforcing for next year. I imagine it will look really nice once it’s symmetrical, full, and secure from wind.

nugget

Cascades

Chinooks

 

[CodeSection]

@Beerisgud, Yikes!!!

 

[redarmy990]

Here’s my magnum that I planted on April 16. I planted 5 different varieties. The other 4 were planted mid may

 

[Beerisgud]

@redarmy990 pop those suckers in the ground next year when you get the ibex system up!

 

[501irishred]

Looking great! Are you having any trouble getting the nugget to run horizontal?

 

[Beerisgud]

@501irishred the nugget is doing just fine horizontally as long as I train it along every couple days

 

[Beerisgud]

So a few things I’ve learned so far...
The damage that a single Japanese beetle or oriental beetle can do Is pretty devastating. I’m out there daily tending and doing my best to crush any I find. I Fortunately I can reach all areas of my plants pretty easily with the 8ft ladder. Using neem oil/Murphy’s oil soap mix has helped with other pests like aphids. A white fluffy substance forms from planthoppers on the stems and under leaves. This made me think I had mildew at first but noticed the bugs hop away and the spray has helped. I’m maintaining a healthy population of ladybugs and placing them on my hops when I find them around the area. They lay Bunches of Small yellow/orange eggs under leaves so I use caution with the spray. When doing a small scale grow like this it’s important to be vigilant not having excess plants to make up for loss.
When training of the nugget horizontally, I noticed when the plant took the turn back In end of May it slowed its main bine growth and started to focus energy on lateral growth. These arms began to grow as long as 8/9 ft needing more support. That spread allowed more area for cone production now despite having only one bine from this plant.
The chinook looks okay, the late planting definitely took a toll on its growth but it’s growing. I can see why many say no cones the first year. Planting in early March gave the nugget and cascades one heck of a head start.
The cascades have surpassed my expectations and are vigorous, reaching my max height of 18-20 feet. I am now training some downward diagonally on the slack lines attached to the garage. Also noticed my first burrs forming! I may have a decent harvest this year

 

[Beerisgud]

 

[Kaz15]

Looking great! Cascades are seriously monsters. You’ll probably have 5+ lbs of dried cascade next year.

 

[Beerisgud]

@Kaz15 I hope they turn out and make it thru the rest of the season. One change I would’ve done is use the 1/4” stuff for the angled lines up to the roof. I may have to wrap n tie em up with it if they stretch any more from these unexpected cones

 

[Kaz15]

I’d be absolutely shocked if they don’t survive at this point. They all look very healthy and cascades are resistant to mildews.

I switched to the white, nylon twine this year because it doesn’t degrade and seems sturdier to me. Hoping to reuse it next year as well. Admittedly, it’s not as attractive as the brown twine.

 

[Kaz15]

Cascade anyone? Lol.

 

[Abejazon]

Nice cones!
My Comet and Tahoma just started showing signs of flowering burrs at the top. About how long is the flowering phase?

 

[Kaz15]

That’s a great question. I honestly don’t have a great answer. It does appear to depend on the variety. My 3 other plants are all throwing burrs as well, but far behind my cascade. Even though the Cascade is well ahead, I know from experience that the cones take at least a month to ripen. I’ve brewed my wet hop cascade ale the 3rd weekend in August for 3 years in a row, like clockwork.

This year, one bine seems to be ahead of the others. My tentative plan is to harvest and dry those hops once they’re ready, first or second week of August. And then do the wet hop ale once the rest of the flowers are ripe. Nice benefit of not needing to chop the whole thing down at once.

 

[Abejazon]

Comets

Tahomas

3 month mark observations

The 2 Comet and 2 Tahoma have all made their way to the top, 8 and 10 feet respectively. They are thickening up with the side-arms I have also been training up the twine. Flower burrs are appearing more and more each day. I’ve started to add a blooming fertilizer to the feeding regimen. I know it’s been said not to prune the lower foliage of first year rhizomes, but my instincts are telling me I should...at least the first 8-12 inches. Any advice?

The two best things since the 2 month mark are: 1) I installed an automatic watering valve timer and drip lines. This has made life for me and the plants immensely better. All spring I was having to make judgement calls on whether to water or not. I made sure the soil was never dry, but I’m thinking my irregular watering was a big contributor to the hops that eventually died. 2) The companion plants I added from seed to the containers have taken off and actually seem beneficial. The best growers have been the Calendula, Borage, and French Marigold. The Calendula has been the target of some kind of moth that leaves green caterpillars behind. Before the companions were planted, I would find them on the hops, but they seem to prefer the Calendula’s low, broad, juicy leaves. Those caterpillars can really strip a leaf.

Not long after the 2 month mark, I accidentally snapped off the lone, tiny, brittle Hallertauer shoot that looked like it might make it. It did not come back. Ugh. But a funny thing also started to happen with my other Hallertauer that I thought was dead. I think it’s putting out another shoot, but it does not look like a normal hops bine nor have normal hops leaves. It is still small and having to fight with the borage for light. The Cascade has also produced very thin bines with irregular leaves from its damaged brittle original bine. It also has to compete with the french marigold, but al least it has something better to climb.

Hallertauer with Borage

Cascade with French Marigold

 

[Beerisgud]

@Abejazon glad your getting some cones on the first year too! Companion plants like marigolds have been seemingly beneficial. It is good to get the low bushier varieties of any plants you put around the base to prevent crowding young shoots like the cascade and hallertauer. To promote airflow at the base, at their current amount of growth, go ahead and trim anything that is touching the soil, clean up like a foot from the base. The extra greenery is needed this year.

 

[Beerisgud]

Really in love with these plants. I enjoy the frequent inspecting of a plant that I’ve never seen in real life. During cone formation you can see the relation to cannabis. The white pistils form on the burrs similar to young buds. As they mature to familiar cone shape the white pistils are pushed out by newly forming cone leaves and the hairs turn red orange. I have many more cones forming than I expected this year! Here’s a panoramic inside the “spider web” that’s what I’m calling it now @CodeSection

I do have some spiders and other things hanging around

 

[Beerisgud]

Items that have been very helpful to me that I thought I would share.

Precision pruners, honestly a must-have for me

Tinner’s snips 12” fits gloved hands, makes quick work of wire fencing

Plastic plant clips that grip twine and keep growth where you want it to go

Small hand sprayer, handy, safer on ladders, very fine mist for aphids, stream for stunning beetles so I can crush em, a must-have for me

Lastly, a quality extension sprayer, great for precision watering tight areas, avoids spraying foliage. I like the multi settings for misting my head to stay cool, jet for mixing fertilizer watering cans, shower for gentle washing off foliage of aphids infestation. Another must-have.

 

[Beerisgud]

Happy with my design up to the garage. I can pick quite a bit without a ladder. My recycled drying rack with old window screens and a pvc storage rack.

 

[B-Hoppy]

"During cone formation you can see the relation to cannabis. The white pistils form on the burrs similar to young buds. As they mature to familiar cone shape the white pistils are pushed out by newly forming cone leaves and the hairs turn red orange."

Right on, even the male inflorescence! And just like with cannabis and other dioecious types of plants, the male (staminate) and female (pistillate) reproductive organs develop on separate plants. Good shot of my boy 'Tatoo' and this one showing the characteristic 'burrs' (stigmas = pollen catchers) forming on one of the experimentals from a few years ago:

 

[Beerisgud]

After some insane wind from the Tropical Storm Isaias I couldn’t believe my plants are still standing. I’ve never seen such a concentration of trees and limbs down from a storm in all my life. I’ve been without power since and it’s not looking like it will be back up for a couple more days. It’s huge mess of limbs and debris everywhere! Fortunately my garage, fence, and crop were saved from our one red maple in the yard. It’s currently grappled with a massive leaner and now we’ve got a big job on our hands. Hope everyone’s safe out there and hope some of your crops survived!