2011 Hop Garden Picture Thread

[benmoore]

It's not too late, I ordered some new rhizomes yesterday. You can plant them anytime this spring. They will grow and be established by next year.

I second that.

I planted mine last year late May up here in New England. I didn't get a harvest, but I'm glade I got them in the ground so they could establish a root system for this year. They are sprouting nicely now, looking strong. I might plant some others this May too if I can't get to it right away.

 

[jerkstore]

Agreed on the 'its not too late' point.
I got my rhizomes in early April last year, and got about 6 ozs from the single Cascade. If you buy them now, they could potentially be sprouting before the end of April.

 

[Atvar]

I planted 2 centennial in late May last year and ended up with 7.5 oz wet, 1.25 oz dried. There's plenty of time left to plant.

 

[rollinred]

I wouldn't consider it late until end of May or early June. I got my rhizomes 3 years ago at the end of May. I didn't plant until the first week in June and everything was fine. Even had some cones that year.

 

[Paulasaurus]

2nd year Centennials and 2nd year Columbus. 3rd year Cascades are slow starters this year, pics to come.

 

[binkman]

My Santiam is about a week and a half old and growing like a weed. My hallertauer only has two stems, but seems to be plugging along. Should I prune any stems? When should I move them outside?

 

[Mustangj]

Hallertau

Last week

 

[twigboy2000]

Here's what I've got going so far. I'm starting to lean them out away from the deck since last year they all wove up in the trellis work and got mixed up.

These are 2nd year.



-chuck

 

[Hebby]

Mine are starting a bit slow but are picking up some steam.

They are cascade, centennial, and chinook. 2nd year plants. I have another place on the other side of my house that I just planted a Mt. Hood, and Zeus. The Zeus had 2 white shoots coming out of it which I left the tops of exposed and they are green and starting to grow. The Mt. Hood hasn't come out of the dirt yet. I just planted them on Saturday 4/16.

 

[ssf]

here is my recently transplanted (pot->soil) cascade crown. just trimmed back all but 3-4 shoots.

 

[tchuklobrau]

my hops garden/beergarden

 

[rollinred]

I have been waiting to take pictures of my hop garden to show you guys for the last couple weeks.

In fact I promised to make a youtube video showing how to dig up rhizomes and how to make rhizomes.

Well last night while watching the Stanley Cup playoff games I walked to the window to see the couple inches of snow they thought we would get.

4/19/2011

F-ING AWESOME!

Now the title of the thread is "2011 Hop Gardens" so this is my garden right now!

In total we got over 8 inches of snow. I had already taken the snow blower off of the Kubota and this snow was far too wet and heavy to drag with the back blade.

Both my Centennials and Cascades were above ground and temps got well bellow freezing.

I have not one single concern about my hops making it through this. In fact this post right here is one I hope people reference others to when they as "will the frost hurt my hops?". Just send them here and show them the complete snow covered hops that were actually completely frozen. Even though it is still snowing today, 2-3 more inches, and the temps have been completely frozen for 2 days, I know for sure the hops are fine. There is no doubt in my mind.

Anyway, I wish we had snow all year round. I can not stand the heat and wish every day I walked out to fresh snow like this but the world doesn't work that way. So to have a snowfall in late April like this is awesome. I can't wait until winter starts again!

 

[kbuzz]

sorry...was supposed to be a PM...deleted.

 

[Looper]

Anyway, I wish we had snow all year round. I can not stand the heat and wish every day I walked out to fresh snow like this but the world doesn't work that way. So to have a snowfall in late April like this is awesome. I can't wait until winter starts again!

you better be sarcastic! i'm in chicago, and the damn winter just refuses to go away !

 

[NuclearRich]

My first attempt at growing hops, or anything for that matter. Planted on 4/12. On the left is a Willamette rhizome that will grow up the trellace further from the fence and I will string them across to the other side. On that right side is a Nuggett rhizome on the trellace cloer to the fence and I will do the same to that and string it across. I doubt it will reach all the way across, this being its first year.
I haven't seen any sprouts yet, but there has been tons of rain so I am hoping that they will shoot out soon. Could really use some sun too...

 

[OlieNH]

I have a first-year hop garden planted. My Cascade, Centennial and Nugget have just poked through the soil. The Fuggle has not poked its head up yet. I will get some pictures tomorrow.

 

[DrJerryrigger]

 

[Jaysus]

I am going to have to do something about these soon... that shepard's hook does not stand a chance.

 

[olsond]

Here is my 1st year Garden. Just planted on April 9th.

In order:

Cascade
Centennial
Chinook
Willamette

Plenty of fresh soil and mushroom compost. Plus some worm compost for good measure! It got real cold and rainy just after planting. The weather has turned around now and they've started to move a little faster.

Can't wait to see how it goes. 1st year here we come!!!

 

[rollinred]

you better be sarcastic! i'm in chicago, and the damn winter just refuses to go away !

Sarcastic about wanting winter year round?

No, I really do wish we had winter year round. I have a lot more fun when the ground is covered in snow.

Plus summer means that you can't even go for a walk because it feels like heat stroke is setting in after a minute.

 

[Option]

Here is a picture of the beginning of my hop garden. 3 strains so far: Willamette, Nugget, & Sunbeam...enjoy!

 

[brewmcq]

This appears to be the perfect thread for me to get my feet wet around here...

We (the girlfriend and I) are first time hop growers and have spent the last 3 months reading up on everything we can find about growing these magical little beasts.

To start off our happy hoppy journey, we preordered 6 different rhizomes from MoreBeer.com (I've been doing business with them since I got back into brewing and really like them).. at the beginning of this month, they shipped us our rhizomes: nugget, cascade, centennial, Northern Brewer and fuggle. The horizons didn't come in this year for them, so I was left with an odd number of plants, which is really screwing with my OCD.

So, because I'm a full time student, work full time, and have 3 home businesses that equate to another full time job, the rhizomes were forgotten.. and promptly lost. About a week later, I found them in the bathroom (??) and we made the hurried trip to the local big box for some quality potting soil. The little bugger had already started sprouting, seemingly content in their little baggies. The fuggle "rhizome" was more like a fuggle "root ball", really. The thing was huge... the size of a Maine potato (not one of those wimpy little ID potatoes.. lol)

I know nothing about growing anything. I have a blackish-brown thumb. I can kill weeds just by looking at them. I am the evil Chuck Norris of the plant kingdom. So at this point, I am 100% relying on my greenery-gifted girlfriend.

We got the potting soil all nice and moist and planted our bittersweet babies per the best directions I've read online: "Dig a hole, throw them in and cover them up. They will grow." (that came from another user on this forum, but I've forgotten who, so credit goes to him,regardless). We placed the pots in our Pub (click for the Facebook page. Yes, we're dorks like that) and got swept up in the hellish non-stop that is our life.

But... the next DAY there was action.

Over the next week, the Cascade exploded, shooting up probably 10", seemingly overnight... click for bad cellphone pic.... I've been at work since 5am Monday morning (I work a 36 hour shift), and haven't actually been back in The Pub since Sunday morning, so there is no telling what those little critters are doing at this point. I figure since I'm not home to kill them with my evil anti-plant vibes, they should be flourishing nicely.

We have probably another 3 weeks before we can even think of putting them in the ground, so the past 20 or so hours here at work, I've been researching trellis design and orientation. We live in town, but it's a tiny little town, and we have a reasonably-sized back yard. We are also surrounded by trees and hedges and more trees, so the hops are going to be placed in the center of our east-facing sloped yard, in a north/south orientation and they will have sun pretty much from sunrise to sunset. Raised beds will be involved. I'm still working on trellis design.. there's been too many options to choose from.

I'm especially interested in hearing from other folks around the 46th parallel and their success stories, ideas and suggestions for a better hop yield from more northern climates.

Sorry for the rambling. Cheers!

 

[benmoore]

Question:

I have two Mt. Hood hop plants in their second year. The first year they were planted a little late and didn't have a harvest but did relatively well. Plus I live in NE. This year, one of them is doing awesome, with about 20 sprouts (tallest is about 1 foot tall now). The other is doing ok with about 5 sprouts.

Should I cut back and let new growth come in for the one that's doing well? or just go with what's coming up now since it's almost May? Should I only allow 3 or 4 sprouts to grow considering they're 2nd year? With the other one that isn't doing as well yet, I was thinking of giving it another year without doing any pruning.

 

[humann_brewing]

here are some trimmings from 10 days worth for a zues and cascade

the beast of a cascade ready to cause some havoc

 

[StittsvilleJames]

I planted a Nugget plant today. I am super excited to see how it grows this year, never done hops before, although I have experience with other veggies. (Actually super excited about my tomatoes this year too, bought a bunch of different heirloom varieties, and they're starting to overtake my grow area downstairs!!)

Not sure when I will start to see new growth on it, as our last frost date isn't for another week and a half, and I would assume it depends on soil temps to trigger new growth. The plant I bought was in a 1 gallon pot, and the lady at the nursery said it should be fine even though it was from last year.

When I planted it, I dug a hole about 2 feet deep, and 2 feet around. I filled it up halfway with compost and peat, and mixed it with the native soil (really sandy) that I had dug out.

I then used a giant pot I had lying around from an apple tree I am trying to espalier against a fence (search my garden videos on youtube -look for 'MrKanataMan'. No hops vids yet, but will be once I can get out there and showcase it!). Anyways, took that big pot, cut the bottom off of it, and stuck it in the hole, to act as a barrier from it trying to take over my yard. Will a barrier about 12 inches deep into the ground all around the hop plant prevent it from spreading? It can still grow down all it wants and get under the barrier if it wants to.

I seem to be rambling here, but I love looking at everyone elses pics here ( I love watching gardening video's on youtube too, so go ahead, make movies of your hops, and I will watch them!)

 

[JustMrWill]

Question:

I have two Mt. Hood hop plants in their second year. The first year they were planted a little late and didn't have a harvest but did relatively well. Plus I live in NE. This year, one of them is doing awesome, with about 20 sprouts (tallest is about 1 foot tall now). The other is doing ok with about 5 sprouts.

Should I cut back and let new growth come in for the one that's doing well? or just go with what's coming up now since it's almost May? Should I only allow 3 or 4 sprouts to grow considering they're 2nd year? With the other one that isn't doing as well yet, I was thinking of giving it another year without doing any pruning.

I base how much I cut back by how many ropes there are to climb. On my 2nd year plants, I kept 3 per rope (3 ropes per plant) and I still had a good harvest. I may have had more/bigger if I cut back more ... not sure.

You really cant do wrong.

On the differece in growth rates - plants are just different sometimes. Try to give the smaller some fertilizer (organic). If it continues to do poorly in the years to come..you could just split the hardier one.

 

[shipreck]

nugget hop in planter moved from my greenhouse to deck. top is ~ 7' tall.

http://shipreck.imgur.com/2011_hops#alr7Z

 

[TheDirtyV]

I've been posting in EdWort's stickied thread about TX hops growers because I live in Houston, but I thought I would share my first hops growing experience with y'all too.

Nugget < 1 month

Cascade < 1 month

It's not that hot here yet (91 right now) so I'm worried when we start hitting 105+ they won't be able to handle it. We shall see I guess.

Good luck to the other hops growers out there!

 

[GatorDad]

Cascade. ~2.5 weeks old.

 

[jphebbie2]

Mine are starting a bit slow but are picking up some steam.

They are cascade, centennial, and chinook. 2nd year plants. I have another place on the other side of my house that I just planted a Mt. Hood, and Zeus. The Zeus had 2 white shoots coming out of it which I left the tops of exposed and they are green and starting to grow. The Mt. Hood hasn't come out of the dirt yet. I just planted them on Saturday 4/16.

Hey bro,
fancy seeing you here! Glad to hear yours sprouted. I just got a 20gallon pot with a chinook rhizome in it so it should be sprouted by the time you get here hopefully.