2010 Hops Gardens

[santacruzbob]

my willamette 'zome never even broke ground!

my mt hood, hallertau, and one of my cascades just broke ground in the last two days in northern california. centennial has been up for a couple weeks. still waiting on a columbus, chinook, cascade and centennial.

 

[SAMPLER]

Hree are the first pictures of my first ever Hop Garden. The plants are in ther ground and some are growing quite well other are a little slow. My trellis (modelled after Bobby M video and advise) has yet to make into the final assembly stages but hopefully by the end of the weekend it will be in place and looking good.

(from left to right: Willamettes, Fuggles, Cascades, Nugget)

Cascades

Nugget

Here is most of my time was spent the last few days. The fmaily's new outdoor sitting area. Looking good and pretty darn enjoyable.

Cheers

 

[Crazytwoknobs]

My second year Chinook are going crazy here in Central Jersey...

Those are cones right?

They look like cones to me! What kind of fertilizer are you using?

 

[magnj]

No fertilizer, just water, sun, and compost...but not a lot of compost really. Just a scoop every once in a while near the bines.

 

[SAMPLER]

What is the purpose of the tomato cages? Some regular and some up side down. Should I be adding these to my garden?

 

[brewingkitty]

my mt hood, hallertau, and one of my cascades just broke ground in the last two days in northern california. centennial has been up for a couple weeks. still waiting on a columbus, chinook, cascade and centennial.

for the last 2 months my nugget, cascade, galena, and santium have gone from 'zomes to some 3'. i think my willamette is dead...

 

[sethful]

i saw someone else mention that their willamette died earlier in the thread, in addition to brewkitty. I'm one for 2 with the willamette... got one coming up and the other died due to a sudden frost. but the way that my year 2 chinook and cascade are doing now, i'm not worried about the willamette output next year.

i'll eventually get some more pix of mine... just been lazy and working on my keggle conversions.

 

[chrislehr]

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.

LOVE THIS. Now, I want one!

 

[SteveM]

Crazy - I have dozens, maybe a a couple hundred flowers showing up on my Cascades (from which I got a pound or two last year) already. The Mount Hood, which gave me maybe an ounce last year, shows no flowers yet.

 

[carndog]

LOVE THIS. Now, I want one!

I would love it more if my hops came up. I planted them April 11 and they still haven't come up yet. I am getting impatient. I am watering them every other day. Hopefully they will come up soon. Anyone in the Boston / Providence area have their hops break ground yet?

 

[Moose777]

I have like 10 in the ground and none have come up. Planted all on 4-19, almost a month now. Hope you see some shoots soon.

 

[ursus]

I have 2 that I planted at the end of March, and they have not showed up yet. Maybe this makes you feel better...

 

[FishinHank]

I planted a few rhizomes a few weeks ago, they are just starting to take off.

 

[roostra]

My low-rent hop trellis - three shafts of bamboo cut from the side yard, lashed together with polypro twine, sunk in pvc pipe, strung with Coir Twine. Hopefully soon to be supporting some strapping Centennial, Cascade, Nugget, and Zeus hops.

Dang, can't figure out images. Hopefully can post a pic soon.

 

[Jaysus]

My low-rent hop trellis - three shafts of bamboo cut from the side yard, lashed together with polypro twine, sunk in pvc pipe, strung with Coir Twine. Hopefully soon to be supporting some strapping Centennial, Cascade, Nugget, and Zeus hops.

Dang, can't figure out images. Hopefully can post a pic soon.

Here you go:

 

[roostra]

Thank you!

 

[santacruzbob]

I would love it more if my hops came up. I planted them April 11 and they still haven't come up yet. I am getting impatient. I am watering them every other day. Hopefully they will come up soon. Anyone in the Boston / Providence area have their hops break ground yet?

quit watering them so much. give them a really good soak every 3-5 days depending on weather

 

[1nitrous]

quit watering them so much. give them a really good soak every 3-5 days depending on weather

What? I water lightly every day, sometimes twice a day depending on if the soil is getting dry or not. first year rhizomes should never be allowed to dry out, then again they should never be soaked either as it may cause root rot

 

[santacruzbob]

What? I water lightly every day, sometimes twice a day depending on if the soil is getting dry or not. first year rhizomes should never be allowed to dry out, then again they should never be soaked either as it may cause root rot

you shouldn't need to water that often. if you're just lightly watering every day you might not be doing any harm but you're wasting time. good deep soaks are ideal so the roots begin reaching for water as the top of the soil dries out. the plants really can't use a lot of water until there is substantial growth above ground

 

[jiggs_casey]

I'm so stoked about this! I've got Cascade, Willamette and Fuggles all in pots and all have sprouted! Cascade poked through a couple of weeks ago, then the Willamette and today I saw the Fuggles.

I rent, so I didn't want to do anything in the ground. I'm planning a three trellis 'tee-pee' with a 15' centerpiece and braided steel down to each pot.

Actually, with as fast as the Cascade is growing, I'm considering transferring them to 5 gallon buckets instead of using large pots. I'm thinking the depth of the buckets will give the roots LOTS of room to grow.

 

[extra_medium]

my centenial have been out for a month and have only grown a bout 3~4 feet. when is the "fast" growing start? end of may beginning of june? or maybe i don't have them in a sunny enough spot?

 

[brewingkitty]

my santiam and cascades are growing about a shoot per day.. they're on the back of the house so they get full sun until 1400ish but as summer comes along they get more per day.

 

[david_42]

What is the ground temperature about 4" down? Mine don't get going until the dirt hits 55F. Right now, I don't have anything much over a foot and these are 4-5 year plants.

 

[nepatsfan1]

My bored old lady neighbor called the village on mine. When I told the inspectors (a couple of 50 year old guys) that they were hops, the one guy says "he grows his own hops... he makes his own beer... it must be awesome!"

However, they still had to get utilities and planning commission to approve. It was all fine int he end but it was a non-trivial amount of tax dollars spent because my neighbor is a *****.

Man that sucks. I will never live in a neighborhood thats an association. It's like living in a communist state. If i put a large amount of money down for a house I will do as I damned well want to....

 

[FxdGrMind]

What is the ground temperature about 4" down? Mine don't get going until the dirt hits 55F. Right now, I don't have anything much over a foot and these are 4-5 year plants.

Hmmmm...
I'm well north of you, maybe it's my southern exposure, but it was 84deg here in the Sun Saturday. The last time it froze here over night was only a few weeks ago though. I think the wood chips have helped my hops tremendously this year though. I have fertilized more, as the experienced growers indicated in my questions that the wood chips would steel nitrogen.. So I've given them fertilizer sticks and miricle grow every 10 days.

The Hallertauer, Cascade are 10' + (well over my head and reach) some of the leaves are stuck between the bine and the twine but far far to high to reach.
Centenial and Nugget are catching up nicely as it warms up. Cent's are 4' and the Nug are 6'+.

Are you east of the cascade range? Friends in Bend have indicated it's been a cold cold spring there.

 

[brewer44]

my centenial have been out for a month and have only grown a bout 3~4 feet. when is the "fast" growing start? end of may beginning of june? or maybe i don't have them in a sunny enough spot?

I live in Michigan and mine are about 7 feet now. Started coming up around April 10th. I did not plant them last year till June so don't sweat it. They turned out great last year and reached about 12 feet to the top. Just a hint, I use miracle grow and it works magic.

Brewer44

 

[benmoore]

First time poster here. Helpful thread, thanks.

I'm just about to plant 2 Mt Hood rhizomes this week, my first ever. Late start, I know. I almost didn't. That's my 2010 garden update

Two Questions:

1) We have a small arbor leading up to our front door. about 4'x7'x4' in dimension. Do you think 2 plants would work there, one on each side? My concern is that there would be too much growth on it in a few years, so I'm debating doing just one. (pictures to come later)

2) With the late planting, do you think there's a chance they'll break ground? I live in New England. I'd love to get a harvest next year.

 

[petep1980]

I got mine out of some horrible infertile soil on the side of my house and into planters for now. I didn't realize how serious these bines get. I guess my tomato cages in 8" planters won't be sufficient.

 

[Scooby_Brew]

First time poster here. Helpful thread, thanks.

I'm just about to plant 2 Mt Hood rhizomes this week, my first ever. Late start, I know. I almost didn't. That's my 2010 garden update

Two Questions:

1) We have a small arbor leading up to our front door. about 4'x7'x4' in dimension. Do you think 2 plants would work there, one on each side? My concern is that there would be too much growth on it in a few years, so I'm debating doing just one. (pictures to come later)

2) With the late planting, do you think there's a chance they'll break ground? I live in New England. I'd love to get a harvest next year.

I think you have enough space for 2 plants. I'm sure you'll get a harvest next year.

From my experience, I would say a raised bed garden or a good size hill is essential for new hop rhizomes.
In past I tried to plant hops without a raised bed garden and I wasn't very successful. Today I think my hills weren't big enough and my rhizomes simply drowned after a bigger rain. Later I planted hops in a raised bed garden, and they grow here like crazy.

 

[benmoore]

I think you have enough space for 2 plants. I'm sure you'll get a harvest next year.

From my experience, I would say a raised bed garden or a good size hill is essential for new hop rhizomes.
In past I tried to plant hops without a raised bed garden and I wasn't very successful. Today I think my hills weren't big enough and my rhizomes simply drowned after a bigger rain. Later I planted hops in a raised bed garden, and they grow here like crazy.

Thanks, I think I'll go with both plants on the arbor this year. If things go well, a variety in the back yard next year.