2010 Hops Gardens

[brewingkitty]

4 of my 5 ~2 week rhizomes have FINALLY broken ground!

 

[david_42]

Global warming to the rescue!

A pox on you and your hops! Just took a look at mine, all 4 & 5 year plants. Only the Nugget is beyond the sprout stage and three hops haven't even broken the surface. Another ten days of cold and rainy on the slate and frost in the morning.

My neighbor, who has been farming here for 70 years, told me the weather we've had the last five, "Just ain't right."

 

[Rick500]

My cascades are doing very well, but my Chinook is going nuts. I culled down to four bines per plant, and a couple of the Chinook bines are already better than five feet tall.

(It looks taller than six feet in the pic, but they're growing in ~18" tall containers.)

 

[Gridlocked]

Can you experienced growers offer any suggestions as to what rope/twine to use?

 

[Rick500]

http://www.lowes.com/ProductDisplay...321&catalogId=10051&cmRelshp=sim&rel=nofollow

 

[Gridlocked]

Thanks Rick500! I figured that pretty much anything would work, but it would need to be fairly UV stable and fibrous.

 

[Rick500]

I'm not sure that's the absolute best thing to use, but I used it last year and I'm using it this year, and there were no problems at all. And it's cheap.

Also biodegrades pretty quickly. I just tossed it into the compost along with the spent bines last year.

 

[zuesy]

Where do you guys buy these and what would grow best in Kansas?

I'm in Lawrence. Last year I was able to grow both Cascade, Nugget, EKG, and Fuggles no problem. However, my Northern Brewer did not do so well. That isn't to say they can't, but the wet weather gave them the mildew something bad.

One note: When you make a trellis, be sure to secure them properly. A lovely Kansas thunderstorm blew mine over the first year.

As for a place, I always order from freshops.com.

 

[david_42]

if you live in a windy area, make certain your twine is multi-strand. Single strand twine has a tendency to pull apart, if it isn't kept tight.

 

[Scooby_Brew]

Today I'm turning some off-shoots into rhizomes by burring them in the ground. I plan to dig them out later and use them as rhizomes for new plants.

 

[humann_brewing]

My cascades are doing very well, but my Chinook is going nuts. I culled down to four bines per plant, and a couple of the Chinook bines are already better than five feet tall.

(It looks taller than six feet in the pic, but they're growing in ~18" tall containers.)

time to start chopping. my cascade is doing very well but unlike you my chinook hasn't even broken ground yet

 

[DoctorHops]

Both the Centennial and Hallertauer have started to sprout here. Some of the Centennial shoots are 4 to 6 inches tall and the Hallertauer are about 2 inches. This is the second year in containers. I got growth to 6 ft or so on the Centennial last year and about 3 on the Hallertauer last year, but no cones. I am at 7000 ft asl on the east slopes of the Sandia Mountains. Last Freeze is still a month away, but if these shoots freeze, new ones will be sent up. After all that is what perennials are all about.

The soil has settled in the containers, so I need to fill in with some potting soil and it is time to fertilize. I use Ozomocote, just scratch it into the surface.

I watered heavily last night as we hadn't had moisture, either snow or rain, in the last week or so.

I have high hopes for the hops this year.

 

[Synovia]

Today I'm turning some off-shoots into rhizomes by burring them in the ground. I plan to dig them out later and use as rhizomes for new plants.

You can do that? Awesome. Much more productive than just chopping them.

 

[Randar]

You can do that? Awesome. Much more productive than just chopping them.

After 2 years you don't have to do anything but dig a foot or 2 (in just about any direction) from the top of the mound.

 

[quincannon]

i checked my hops today and have a couple that are about a foot and a half or 2 feet tall i was shocked actually because i wasn't suspecting anything more than a couple of inches out of the ground like somebody mentioned earlier must be the global warming. somebody asked about neighbors when my dad and i put up my trellis i had a neighbor staring at us so i started to say things like "this will sure look nice on fire" just to mess with them, but they had no problems once it was up they asked me if i was growing grapes.

 

[coastwx]

Cascades went from 2 ft last weekend to 7 ft this morning.

 

[svengoat]

Ahhh they look beautiful.... I have to string up my twine this weekend as mine are almost a foot long and growing like weeds..

 

[wfeddern]

Here are what my 6 cascade plants (second year) look like today:

http://picasaweb.google.com/115403162512025165417/HopsApril102010?feat=directlink

 

[SteveM]

I have one Cascade, one Mount Hood - last year, just from those two plants, I ended up with a couple of pounds. A week ago, they broke the surface. Today, there are shoots three and four feet tall. Wow!

 

[Retrofit]

Aurora IL, here. My 2nd year hops are between 2' and 2.5' tall. My brain tells me to cut them down, but my heart says let them grow.

My 1st year hop bed has numerous hops 'peeking' through the ground.

I just cleared a new section of my yard. I could probably add 4 to 6 more hop beds. Next year???

 

[RhodyRed]

The existing plants just broke ground last week in our area. We put in over 200 more plants this year! The new poles are going up next weekend:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/hopfarmer/sets/72157623714494169/

 

[Reno_eNVy]

This is a great thread as I'm getting ideas for my own grow. I haven't started just yet because Reno weather is ridiculous. It was 65* the last two days and snowing today. End of April should be a good time to get them planted as there will be less chance of a frost then... I mean it's still likely. It usually snows at least once in May/June

And based on pictures I've seen it's nice to know I'll be able to use a container (i.e. halfed wine barrel, big-ass-bucket, etc)

 

[david_42]

Three weeks after they sprouted, my Cascades are still only 2" tall. This is a 5 year-old plant. Doesn't help that it was 27F last week and snowed twice. Both the Nuggett and Mt. Hood are doing better, which is odd.

Speaking of odd, the rhubarb is going for sex this year:

 

[slomo]

https://cdn.homebrewtalk.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=35558
Glacier, Tett., and Will.

 

[Grimtas]

My hops are on order, hopefully they come in soon. I plan on growing them on this arbor I build last year.

If all goes well, I will post more pics of the arbor covered in hops.

Great Carndog,
SWMBO saw your pics so now I'm having to build one similar this weekend and she has plans for two more My plans are 8'X16'X8'H should be interesting.

 

[humann_brewing]

The existing plants just broke ground last week in our area. We put in over 200 more plants this year! The new poles are going up next weekend:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/hopfarmer/sets/72157623714494169/

so what varieties did you plant?

 

[carndog]

Great Carndog,
SWMBO saw your pics so now I'm having to build one similar this weekend and she has plans for two more My plans are 8'X16'X8'H should be interesting.

I would like to see pics when your done... Post them up!

 

[Rick500]

One of my Chinook bines has reached 8 feet! It's the one closest to the camera on the left... not the best pic...

 

[extra_medium]

i tried planting 2 rhizomes centennial hops and nothing happened. they put up some initial shoots, but then quickly died off. I almost gave up on them but still mulched and was about to mow ever them this spring when i went over I saw that they has come up!so I put some fresh mulch on them and am gonna hope for the best this year. just thought it was weird that a plant that went all summer with no visible sign of life came back the following spring.

 

[david_42]

My "ten days of sunshine" is down to 4, ground temperature is still only 47F and there was frost. But the Mt. Hood got happy in the last three days. I think the front two will end up at the HoV hop exchange.