SteveM
Well-Known Member
MagNJ - I think those are ready, by the look of them. Try picking one and giving it a squeeze. If you are blown away by the hops smell, you could probably go for it.
2010 Hops Gardens
- Thread starter sethful
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Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:
how is it possible to be harvesting hops now? mine are growing like crazy but barely a sign of a cone yet. This is BS right?
SteveM
Well-Known Member
Go back a page and look at my picture links - mine are already huge and there are hundreds of them. No BS.
millsware
Well-Known Member
Is it too late to plant this year? I'd love to get some plants in the ground, so that next year I have a good crop.
How is that possible? Big green thumbs?
I have always read that harvest is August or September. I live in Michigan's UP. Summer weather is brief here and really not even expected in July. My hops are at least 20 feet tall now and really filling out but few signs of flowers even yet.
I planted mine 3 weeks ago. I have pictures from the second week on this thread, post #231. I'm new to this as well, but from how mine are doing, I'd guess you have a good shot at getting them going this season. Worth a shot, IMO.
SteveM
Well-Known Member
I have no idea. Mine are now three years old and they grow like weeds. I have a perfect location for them - right in the sun from dawn until about 1:00 PM, at the top of an incline. But my Mount Hood are not flowering, only the Cascade.
magnj
Well-Known Member
No BS. Second year Chinook in NJ. 10ft trellis, then horizontal lines. It probably has something to do with that. As soon as they feel like there is no where to go up they will start flowering hard and put out side shoots.
I suspect that if I had not cut down my hops I would likely have cones, possibly hops ready to be picked. I went with the advice of others and cut back my plants and currently have nothing to pick right now.
The premise of cutting back is (correct me if I'm wrong), you create a single picking time (good for large growers), and they develop later in the season.
It's possible a person who didn't cut back their bines could have a hops ready to pick right now (obviously they do) and may even have a 2nd growth to pick later in the year. A small grower can handle the 2 rounds of picking/drying/packaging, a large grower considers it a pain in the butt.
I'm glad I cut back my hops, my garden is so large, I can barely keep up. If I had to harvest hops right now in addition to all my other honey-do tasks, I wouldn't have time to write at this board or enjoy a beer.
The premise of cutting back is (correct me if I'm wrong), you create a single picking time (good for large growers), and they develop later in the season.
It's possible a person who didn't cut back their bines could have a hops ready to pick right now (obviously they do) and may even have a 2nd growth to pick later in the year. A small grower can handle the 2 rounds of picking/drying/packaging, a large grower considers it a pain in the butt.
I'm glad I cut back my hops, my garden is so large, I can barely keep up. If I had to harvest hops right now in addition to all my other honey-do tasks, I wouldn't have time to write at this board or enjoy a beer.
Growth varies a great deal with location. My plants are only 3-4' tall, but over in Wheatland (about 30 miles east), they are pushing 15'.
The weather guessers are predicting 80F this weekend. If it happens, it will be the first time this year. It's only hit 70F four times so far.
The weather guessers are predicting 80F this weekend. If it happens, it will be the first time this year. It's only hit 70F four times so far.
JeffHops
Member
Yo David. That's us! We own the double picker in the big yellow building about 1 1/2 miles South of the Ferry. Our Hop yards start right across from the Willamette Mission State Park and continue along most of Wheatland Rd. then East along Brooklake headed to the freeway. Stop by and say Howdy during the harvest season.
BassettWrangler
Active Member
These are 100% Wild they grow all over near my home. Its almost ridiculous at picking time. I plan on transplanting when I build an arbor over our patio these are very agressive and won't die. Before I brewed i tried killing all the WEEDS near my property. these never died off. ( If you look close you can see a snake that was sunning itself)
cuinrearview
Well-Known Member
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These are 100% Wild they grow all over near my home. Its almost ridiculous at picking time. I plan on transplanting when I build an arbor over our patio these are very agressive and won't die. Before I brewed i tried killing all the WEEDS near my property. these never died off. ( If you look close you can see a snake that was sunning itself)
I'd be interested in harvesting an ounce or two of these basset to try if you have enough. There are a couple of wild plants out my way that I'm experimenting with currently. They're few and far between around here but out there if you keep an eye out.
Scooby_Brew
Well-Known Member
These are my 2nd year Cascades, in SE MI.
They have reached the roof, but they stay off it, maybe it's too hot for them
Some of the flowers are turning into cones:
They have reached the roof, but they stay off it, maybe it's too hot for them
Some of the flowers are turning into cones:
uechikid
Well-Known Member
Lookin good!!!
brewyourown4life
Well-Known Member
Last edited by a moderator:
Of the five varietes I planted a month or so ago, only the Willamette's have really taken off. I know I planted a little late, and they are first year plants, but I hope the other's grow a bit.
First pic is when I initially planted them, the second pic is from 6-13-10.
Willamette is on the far right
From a few day's ago
This is the other Willamette that I bought at the same time as the others, and finally transplanted it yesterday.
First pic is when I initially planted them, the second pic is from 6-13-10.
Willamette is on the far right
From a few day's ago
This is the other Willamette that I bought at the same time as the others, and finally transplanted it yesterday.
Capro
Member
I built this in the spring this year. I've got Cascade, Centennial, and Chinook growing on it.
uechikid
Well-Known Member
I built this in the spring this year. I've got Cascade, Centennial, and Chinook growing on it.
How tall is that structure?
Capro
Member
It is only 10-feet tall. Each string is attached to a hook at the top, so I can stand on top of a ladder and unhook each bine.
uechikid
Well-Known Member
I'm thinking (in the future) it might need to be taller. Maybe five or six feet.
HoppyDaze
Well-Known Member
nothing to see here
Capro
Member
Since I'm a newbie, I didn't want to invest in the cost of a structure to support 15-20 feet of growth. There is also the consideration that while my location is excellent for sun exposure, that means every inch I go above the fence I'm casting more of a shadow over my neighbor's garden.
Any advice for when the hops reach the top? Will they naturally not grow further, should I clip them?
I'm a newbie as well, but many people on this forum have suggested that once the bines grow above and beyond your structure, you pull the top of the bine down and retrain it back up your structure.
Another option, which may require some structure modifications is to design your twine system so that once the bines reach the top, you can lower the twine to give more room for the bine to climb. Though, I'm not sure if it's fine to just leave the bottom of the plant chilling on the ground or not. I'd probably want to lower the twine but be able to keep the existing growth strung up via some sort of hook system.
brewingkitty
Well-Known Member
i noticed yesterday my cascade is flowering out the ass, with nugget and santiam pretty close behind. galena has minimal flowers to date.
SteveM
Well-Known Member
I have a truly low budget trellis - sort of looks like an old style football goal post, about eight or nine feet tall. When the vines (bines, whatever) reach the top, I just train them back down. The plants don't seem to be fussy about this at all.
Looks awesome! My first year hops aren't growing near that well. My Willamette's took off, but the others are slow goin'. I'm not to worried, as I know they got in the ground a few weeks late, and I'm not expecting a lot from my first years growth.
Mine are about 2 months old and just started shooting 'buds' as pictured above.
I have read that first year hops you don't get much yield, but I think I'm going to have plenty more hops then I can deal with from the Magnum and hopefully just as much from the Cascades.
I have read that first year hops you don't get much yield, but I think I'm going to have plenty more hops then I can deal with from the Magnum and hopefully just as much from the Cascades.
uechikid
Well-Known Member
It always seems like it the first year, but the amount that you actually get when it's all dry is a lot less than it seems when you pick them.
nate4g63
Well-Known Member
Here's an updated pic of my first year plants in pots. They were planted aprox. 2 months ago. I'm pretty happy with my results so far. From the left they are Zeus, Willamette, and Centennial.
My first year plants produced between 1 and 3 OUNCES of DRIED hops. Which is 1 to 3 ounces more than my buddy, so I considered myself the victor. This year, my 2nd year hops will be... interesting.
uechikid
Well-Known Member
Last year I got about the same as you (first year). This year both plants are so much bigger with so many more burs and cones. I can't even imagine what third year plants will do.
third year is mental... You thought second year was amazing, then the 3rd year happens. After 3rd year is also when they need annual or biennial root pruning. I have shoots all over the place and need to re-space much of my hop yard, probably going to take 2 out of my 14 plants out and will have rhizomes galore to sell next spring I imagine. Also need to extend the trellis to 20 feet. This year with the early spring made my trellis look like it was only half as high as needed... at 14 feet!
knightbeer39
Well-Known Member
Here are my third years on the arbor I built. All cascades. These are growing in the chihuahuan desert with temps over 100 degrees daily. You can grow these suckers anywhere!
HoppyDaze
Well-Known Member
Here are my third years on the arbor I built. All cascades. These are growing in the chihuahuan desert with temps over 100 degrees daily. You can grow these suckers anywhere!
sweet pic man...
HoppyDaze
Well-Known Member
second year Saaz. No cones yet
