2009 Hop garden picture thread.

[RhodyRed]

Yeah I would call that some good first year growth. Better than I have had. I don't have any pics right now but 5 of my 8 came up and they haven't grown too much.

I think the lack of sunlight this summer is contributing to their lack of growth. I am just hoping the ones that grew survive the winter and come back next year with a vengeance.

I posted some pictures from May also: Flickr: Hop Farmer's Photostream. It's amazing how much they grow in one season!

 

[SOB]

I harvested my first year Hallertau today. I picked about 80% of the hops, the rest were still pretty young. SWMBO helped...

Got about 2 1/2 quarts full which only worked out to be 4.5oz!

Drying in the garage. According to my calcs this will only yield about 1oz. Can't wait til next year!

 

[hungrymonkey]

some of mine are ready for picking.

I have some pics, but its going to take a bit to load them.
I am pretty happy with my yield so far.

Only the magnum did not take, but I dug it up and put it in a pot and watered it constantly until it sprouted. I then transplanted it and it was doing pretty good. Until my dog played tug O war with the twine I had it running up. She broke the top off of it and stunted its growth.

 

[johnnyc]

These are first year cascade and fuggle. I'm trying the method from byo where you let out rope from a short post as the bines grow. You'll notice the damn caterpillars got to the cascade but I think I got the little f*ckers.

 

[wfeddern]

Here are some pictures of my first year cascade plants. I am in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada, and these plants came from Richters. I planted 6 plants in this corner, and they all seem to be doing well, with one doing better then the others and climbing to 10 feet or so (though the stakes I have in for them this year are only about 6 feet high. I plan to build a better trellis of some sort for next year.

Am I correct that what I am seeing in the bottom picture is the start of some hop cones? Should they still have time to develop this late in the year? (picture was taken Aug 6)

 

[adamjab19]

Yeah those are hop burrs forming which will turn into cones. It took my plant about 5 weeks or so from that point to picking the actual hop but I think weather plays a role into that.

 

[PSmurf78]

From Seattle

These are the best ones I've got so far. My nugget and others seem to be behind my Cents and Wills. I'm hoping to do the first harvest in a week or two (but the stupid weather isn't cooperating, first too hot, now too cold).

 

[Odawg]

wfeddern, my hops look just like yours, with the burrs just starting very small like that. My hops are growing in the U.P. of Mich, so quite a bit further north than yours. Last year it was mid Sept before I could pick them.

 

[Saint Aardvark]

Just like wfeddern, my hops are just starting to come out in burrs:

http://saintaardvarkthecarpeted.com/images/luppolo_002.jpg

This is my first year growing hops; I've got four rhizomes in my father-in-law's garden. The Cascades, natch, are taking off like gangbusters (they're the ones in the picture). The Willamettes are coming along despite a slow start. Sterling is slow -- I doubt I'm going to get any cones from it this year -- and the Mount Hood is looking positively anemic.

 

[JustMrWill]

I know...worthless without pictures...but...

Cascade harvest 2+ lbs wet...12.3oz dried. I REALLY have to brew soon...no room in the freezer!.


-Will

 

[LarryC]

Here's a few from the left coast. My Chinook's are just about all harvested now and I should start picking the Cascades later this week. I also have a Centennial but so far it has only grown about a foot.

I'm jealous of some of the setups you folks are using but for my first attempt at growing hops, I'm pretty satisfied. Since these are first year plants I didn't expect to get much but so far I have about 6 ounces of the Chinooks. Looks like I'll have about the same amount of Cascades if they keep it up.

And the Cascade

 

[Nostrildamus]

This is the view from my balcony down to where the hops were planted 20 feet below:

Some of the Nugget cones developing nicely:

And some of the larger Willamettes:

 

[PSmurf78]

First hops of 2009

 

[Pez]

This is the King cone of my first year glaciers!

 

[SOB]

That's odd looking...not only the redness but the long leaves coming out of the middle of the cone.

 

[Mosa]

Here are a couple pics from my 1st year hop plants!! I got a late start on the season, but hopefully the cones will mature soon.

Willamette on the left, Cascade on the right:

Cascade cones forming:

 

[TimBrewz]

Hey Pez, my Glaciers are red too...first time growing them. They are doing very well for first years. https://cdn.homebrewtalk.com/gallery/data/1/medium/Glacier.jpg

 

[sethful]

Here are my year 0 hops. I'm not sure if I should leave them on the vine or harvest them. What say you internets?

Cascades:

Chinook:

 

[cuinrearview]

Your cascade look exactly like mine Seth, and will need another week or two before they should be harvested.

 

[uechikid]

Man. I really love this thread.:rockin:

 

[sethful]

Thanks for the info cu....

and Uechi, I totally agree!

 

[summersolstice]

I harvested my 3rd year cascades yesterday. The upright rope I had them growing on broke and I tied them horizontally. That resulted in uneven ripening but I was still able to pick a huge amount of ripe hops from two plants.

 

[RhodyRed]

We harvested the Cascades over the weekend. It looks like we'll have about 10 to 12 pounds (dried). Not bad considering most of them were first years. I put a few pictures up on Flickr: 8/16/09 Cascade Harvest - a set on Flickr.

 

[TimBrewz]

We harvested the Cascades over the weekend. It looks like we'll have about 10 to 12 pounds (dried). Not bad considering most of them were first years. I put a few pictures up on Flickr: 8/16/09 Cascade Harvest - a set on Flickr.

Holy crap! Good for you! Mostly first year plants?!

 

[RhodyRed]

Holy crap! Good for you! Mostly first year plants?!

Yeah, we had about 5 third year plants and the rest were first years. I'd guess we got about a pound off of each third year plant and another 5-7 pounds off all the first years.

It was a loooooong day of picking, but a good time. Two more rows to go and then we'll be done for the year...

 

[uechikid]

Yeah, we had about 5 third year plants and the rest were first years. I'd guess we got about a pound off of each third year plant and another 5-7 pounds off all the first years.

It was a loooooong day of picking, but a good time. Two more rows to go and then we'll be done for the year...

How many plants do you have and how many varieties do you have?

 

[RhodyRed]

How many plants do you have and how many varieties do you have?

We have 200 plants and 7 varieties (Cascade, Nugget, Chinook, Sterling, Newport, Centennial, and Magnum). The Sterlings and Magnums didn't do very well so we're going to be adding a few hundred more of the other 4 varieties next year.

Also, we're drying and vacuum sealing these in 1, 2, and 5 oz. and 1 lb packages (even though I wish I could, I could never brew often enough to use all of these hops!). If anyone is interested in any, let me know. We're hoping to get a website up and running for next year but didn't get around to it this year.

 

[uechikid]

You should post prices when you are ready to sell.

 

[RhodyRed]

You should post prices when you are ready to sell.

Will do! We'll figure out prices and I'll start a new thread in the next day or so. Feel free to PM me also.

 

[GVH_Dan]

Yeah, we had about 5 third year plants and the rest were first years. I'd guess we got about a pound off of each third year plant and another 5-7 pounds off all the first years.

It was a loooooong day of picking, but a good time. Two more rows to go and then we'll be done for the year...

Nooooooo kidding. We just picked our smaller cascade field. Our experimental pickers didn't work out as well as we wanted, so we ended up picking all weekend by hand. (Of course it was the hottest/muggiest weekend of the year.) As soon as those leave the oast, we have to start on the big fields.

Not to scare you Rhody, but think about 2 years from now when those are all 3rd year plants and you're getting about 200 to 300 pounds. That's why this winter, I'm spending all my spare time building different pickers to try out.