2013 Hop garden photo thread

[NivekD]

Here's my first attempt at growing Hops. Willamette poking through. Cascade on the other side is starting to show as well.

And here's what they will grown on.

 

[Looper]

These are my second year hop plants, spaced 3' apart and they are now up to 18' and climbing. Some plant side arms are about to reach their neighbor plants and I'm about to have a big tangled mess. Any thought on what to do about it?

Nice sidearms!! That should amount to a high yield.

What kind of fertilizer are you feeding the plants right now?

 

[HopHeadGrady]

Nope, theres no real way to tell the difference other than untangling them which honestly because they are so prickly would be like untangling blackberry bushes.

As mentioned the size shoots are where the hops actually grow, so cutting those defeats the purpose. You may need to rethink your design before they get too high.
For decoration your setup would create a beautiful hop teepee of sorts, but for functionality of actually getting hops off those 8 varieties its not going to work.

Am I hooped here too? These are second year. From L to R: Goldings, Cascade, Mt Hood. I dont care if there's a bit of a tangle at the top. I am going to try and keep my eye on things and try and tag vines with different colour twist ties.

 

[FuzzeWuzze]

Left to right, Fuggles, Willamette, Magnum, Glacier and Mt. Hood. The Willamette and Mt. Hood I grew from rhizomes last year and dug them up when we moved. The rest were crowns from Great Lakes Hops ordered this year. Or rather, the Magnum and Glacier were ordered from GLH and they threw in a bonus Fuggles!

Looks great, wish we had better access here in Oregon to crowns to get a good first year like that.

Since we cant buy/import hop rhizomes or crowns from outside the state, its pretty much just rhizomes you can get.

 

[FuzzeWuzze]

Am I hooped here too? These are second year. From L to R: Goldings, Cascade, Mt Hood. I dont care if there's a bit of a tangle at the top. I am going to try and keep my eye on things and try and tag vines with different colour twist ties.

Sadly probably, and at this point your pretty committed since your vines are so long.

Your going to likely end up with something like this

That big bundle of stuff up at the top is more or less a lost cause for determining what is what if its made up of different plants as you wont be able to tell the difference. Most people who do the Teepee design use the same variety for their multiple mounds so that it doesnt matter if they clump together, since you know all the plants are Cascade for example.

The bad news is a majority of your cones are going to be forming in this top area.

That said you can pick those bunches of tangled hops separately and keep them as a mixed variety and use them in certain experimental beers for dry hopping...it could end up making an amazing beer!

 

[dmelsh]

Hey guys, first post in awhile. Lost my old login so created this one. Here is my hop garden / privacy fence. I have two sets. One crawling up the side of the garage and the other by the fence.

They are a couple of Cascade and Saaz plants. I just bought this house last year and planted them this spring. I clipped a couple rhizomes off and they are growing great.

IMAG0291 by DMelsh


IMAG0293 by DMelsh

IMAG0290 by DMelsh

 

[Stevo2569]

These are my second year hop plants, spaced 3' apart and they are now up to 18' and climbing. Some plant side arms are about to reach their neighbor plants and I'm about to have a big tangled mess. Any thought on what to do about it?

Nice looking plants. I'd say get a ladder and keep em trained away from each other. Or maybe come harvest cut the base bine and wait tik the leaves start to wilt then pick that variety before cutting another. Just an idea.

 

[HopHeadGrady]

Sadly probably, and at this point your pretty committed since your vines are so long.

Your going to likely end up with something like this

That big bundle of stuff up at the top is more or less a lost cause for determining what is what if its made up of different plants as you wont be able to tell the difference. Most people who do the Teepee design use the same variety for their multiple mounds so that it doesnt matter if they clump together, since you know all the plants are Cascade for example.

The bad news is a majority of your cones are going to be forming in this top area.

That said you can pick those bunches of tangled hops separately and keep them as a mixed variety and use them in certain experimental beers for dry hopping...it could end up making an amazing beer!

Sounds reasonable. I will do the best I can to keep things organized this year, and next year I will put another 4*4 across the top of the post to form a "T". I will not toss a fresh hop and will most likely use whatever mixed up hops for dry hopping.

The pics actually make em look a little more cramped than what they are too, but I was certainly expecting a clump at the top. What I wasn't expecting was how difficult it will be to tell the hops apart. Wouldn't they smell a bit different ect too?

 

[jmich24]

Growing pretty well here in Michigan. They grow vertically for 4 feet then climb on an incline for 16 more feet. Stawberries growing underneath.

 

[Looper]

Growing pretty well here in Michigan. They grow vertically for 4 feet then climb on an incline for 16 more feet. Stawberries growing underneath.

That's a cool setup..

How old are your plants? How did they look last year?

 

[FuzzeWuzze]

Sounds reasonable. I will do the best I can to keep things organized this year, and next year I will put another 4*4 across the top of the post to form a "T". I will not toss a fresh hop and will most likely use whatever mixed up hops for dry hopping.

The pics actually make em look a little more cramped than what they are too, but I was certainly expecting a clump at the top. What I wasn't expecting was how difficult it will be to tell the hops apart. Wouldn't they smell a bit different ect too?

You MAY be able to tell them apart, at least the plants that look significantly different than the others.

Like my Columbus as of now looks nothing like my other 2 plants, its a lighter shade of green. Still when they clump together it is literally like a blackberry bush, everything tangled into a big giant mess that will scratch the hell out of your hands trying to get the hops out from inside. You may be able to disceren what some of them are, but i get a feeling like most you would get frustrated after an hour of this and just start ripping them off en mass.

 

[gbx]

You MAY be able to tell them apart, at least the plants that look significantly different than the others.

Like my Columbus as of now looks nothing like my other 2 plants, its a lighter shade of green. Still when they clump together it is literally like a blackberry bush, everything tangled into a big giant mess that will scratch the hell out of your hands trying to get the hops out from inside. You may be able to disceren what some of them are, but i get a feeling like most you would get frustrated after an hour of this and just start ripping them off en mass.

Even if they look and smell completely different it is still a pain to harvest if 2 varieties are tangled unless you want to stand on a ladder and inspect them cone by cone. The easiest way to harvest is to cut down the bines (or at least cut sections off so you can work on the ground but hop varieties do not rippen at the same time. Last year my willamette and cascade got crossed and I harvested a section that was primarily willamette but there were lots of grassy underripe cascades. 2 weeks later when I harvested the section that was primarily cascade, there were lots of cheezy over ripe willamette cones mixed in.

 

[jmich24]

That's a cool setup..

How old are your plants? How did they look last year?

2nd year plants. I started with Great Lakes Crowns and got a great yield last year. They didn't quite make it to the top of the trellis last year but I expect they will this year. I have Centennial, Cascade, Zues and Chinook (IPA guy here).

 

[HopHeadGrady]

You MAY be able to tell them apart, at least the plants that look significantly different than the others.

Like my Columbus as of now looks nothing like my other 2 plants, its a lighter shade of green. Still when they clump together it is literally like a blackberry bush, everything tangled into a big giant mess that will scratch the hell out of your hands trying to get the hops out from inside. You may be able to disceren what some of them are, but i get a feeling like most you would get frustrated after an hour of this and just start ripping them off en mass.

Im expecting it to be what you describe, and thats playing in a blackberry bush.

If I get 30-40% of them sorted I will be happy. They are very easy to tell apart at this point. Especially the MT Hood which is much darker. I may tag some bines too. Its just a hobby at this point so whatever I get, I get. I worked in a garden center for years and like gardening so this was just something to do to add shade to the yard. The rhizomes and post were both free. I bought the rope though

Next year I will fix up my trellis. I had no idea they would take off like this on their second year. Never grown these before. So far it's a lot of fun.

 

[FuzzeWuzze]

Im expecting it to be what you describe, and thats playing in a blackberry bush.

If I get 30-40% of them sorted I will be happy. They are very easy to tell apart at this point. Especially the MT Hood which is much darker. I may tag some bines too. Its just a hobby at this point so whatever I get, I get. I worked in a garden center for years and like gardening so this was just something to do to add shade to the yard. The rhizomes and post were both free. I bought the rope though

Next year I will fix up my trellis. I had no idea they would take off like this on their second year. Never grown these before. So far it's a lot of fun.

They can go super crazy for sure, even my first year Cascade rhizome thats only been in the ground 60 days is nearly 15 feet now and has like 18 inch side arms grabbing everything it can.

 

[HopHeadGrady]

What does a side arm look like? Is it like another shoot?

 

[part16john]

Cant believe I'm getting hops on my 2nd year centennial already.

 

[Chamuco]

What does a side arm look like? Is it like another shoot?

Like so....



And they produce hops!

 

[Matteo57]

Had a quick question. My vine is getting a bit reddish and harder recently. It's been hotter lately but I've been watering and keeping the soil moist. Is it usual for the vine to get reddish and harder... almost feels like it is drying out but all of the leaves are still completely green and healthy looking. It's still growing, just growing slowly. In full sun in so cal. Watering every day.

Thanks!

 

[Looper]

Yep, completely normal. The vines turn into more of a "stalk" after they are strong enough.

 

[nextgenxx]

Artichoke Hops!

 

[doctormiah]

Here is where my first year plants are, Centennials on side of house, and a potted Magnum. Upstate NY, very rainy weather as of late.

 

[HopHeadGrady]

View attachment 126932

Like so....

View attachment 126933

And they produce hops!

Thanks! Yeah. I'm gonna have a tangled mess....

 

[jangelj]

My cascade plant in Jacksonville FL. already a bunch of cones.

 

[Nomad]

Here is where my first year plants are, Centennials on side of house, and a potted Magnum. Upstate NY, very rainy weather as of late.

Yep, cold start to the year here in Cleveland, too. My first year Willamette and Cascades are maybe that tall as well. Posting pics this weekend.

 

[DerCribben]

I've been trying to get around to taking an update pic for a little bit now. Finally got one. Try and figure out which one is my second year Centennial lol...

 

[johnsnownw]

Just came out to find my tettnanger bines laying on the ground. They were only 8" tall.

Anyway, they were bit clean through, same kind of bite that took out one of our young eggplants a few days ago. I'm pretty sure it wasn't an animal, as the eggplant was in a chicken wire cage (due to our rampant squirrel problem).

Anyway, anyone familiar with a bug that chews through a plant about 1/2" above the soil, without consuming it? Thanks.

 

[DerCribben]

Thaats prolly going to be a cutworm and that sucks! Luckily you're likely to still get some new growth and a harvest out of that plant.

 

[WildHopHunter]

My hops are getting some good growth this year. We have been getting plenty of rain here in Massachusetts.

Trellis 1 (3rd Year): Centennial, EKG, Magnum, Wild Cluster
Trellis 2 (2nd Year): Columbus, Nugget, Chinook, Mt. Hood, Fuggle
Trellis 3 (1st Year): Tettnang, Willamette, Cascade, Wild (???), Sterling

 

[basementbrewbrad]

Just like to update in here as well as my thread... here is one of the pics for today. Seeing a lot of burs where cones are about to start forming.