2013 Hop garden photo thread

[Brewmech]

Flowers on the Columbus!

 

[hungry4hops]

starting to get flowers on my second year cascades! yay

 

[sweetcell]

first pic is of my newport. she's insane. she's already topped the telephone pole and is looking for more.

second shot is of the centennial & cascade. the cascade has run out of balcony to climb, centennial will be there shortly.

the other plants (nugget, santiam, and sterling) are doing well but not quite as impressive. they don't get glamor pix posted until they step up like their big sisters

 

[basementbrewbrad]

 

[DisturbdChemist]

First year plants already has cones and lupulin is already forming! D

 

[whitehause]

A little story on how hearty hops can be.

I picked up 2 Centennial rhizomes last year on a whim since the LHBS was clearing them out. I have some room in my yard so I figured what the heck, for $5 if they grow great, if not, nothing really lost. I got home and grabbed a couple old 2 gal plastic pots, dumped in some miracle grow potting soil my wife had laying around, stuck them in, and sat them in the back yard. (way to late in mid June).
A couple weeks later I see some bines begin to emerge so I tie some twine to a post and start them around the twine. They grew ok, but never really got past about 3 feet. By this time it's mid September in PA, so the weather is cooling down and the bines begin to die off. Well there they sat....all winter, in the back yard, in 2 gal pots, in the freezing cold of PA.

Fast Forward to the end of march. I'm in the back cleaning up and grab the pots to get rid of them. I look down and there are 3 small shoots coming up out of each pot. OK, I thought, If you little buggers are still going to try after all that abuse, so will I. With that, I go in the house, grab the car keys, and head to the local Ace hardware to get some compost, twine, stakes, and advice. I get home and start digging a new home for my stubborn little friends. The wife comes out and asks "what are you doing?" I look back and growl " saving a life woman, leave me be" and continue digging to the sound of her laughing and walking back in the house.

Well....here it is 2 1/2 months later and I have the last laugh.

These are my 2nd year, 2 1/2 month old, left for dead Centennials.
For reference, the support wire at the top is 18Ft.

 

[FuzzeWuzze]

first pic is of my newport. she's insane. she's already topped the telephone pole and is looking for more.

Very cool im looking forward to my Newport taking off next year.

That said, isnt it illegal to have your plants growing on the city phone lines?
I know out here in theory if the city came by and saw plants on their power/phone/cable lines they could and probably would cut back all growth on the public lines, and likely wouldnt take much care doing so and manhandle the plant.

 

[tjpfeister]

This is my balco-garden. The rhizomes that I harvest off my two 3yo plants establish themselves here before going somewhere else. This year I am only collecting Centennial runners as I already have something like 9 cascade plants and 8 goldings over in my big yard (but only 1 centennial)

 

[drakerebel]

A little story on how hearty hops can be.

I picked up 2 Centennial rhizomes last year on a whim since the LHBS was clearing them out. I have some room in my yard so I figured what the heck, for $5 if they grow great, if not, nothing really lost. I got home and grabbed a couple old 2 gal plastic pots, dumped in some miracle grow potting soil my wife had laying around, stuck them in, and sat them in the back yard. (way to late in mid June).
A couple weeks later I see some bines begin to emerge so I tie some twine to a post and start them around the twine. They grew ok, but never really got past about 3 feet. By this time it's mid September in PA, so the weather is cooling down and the bines begin to die off. Well there they sat....all winter, in the back yard, in 2 gal pots, in the freezing cold of PA.

Fast Forward to the end of march. I'm in the back cleaning up and grab the pots to get rid of them. I look down and there are 3 small shoots coming up out of each pot. OK, I thought, If you little buggers are still going to try after all that abuse, so will I. With that, I go in the house, grab the car keys, and head to the local Ace hardware to get some compost, twine, stakes, and advice. I get home and start digging a new home for my stubborn little friends. The wife comes out and asks "what are you doing?" I look back and growl " saving a life woman, leave me be" and continue digging to the sound of her laughing and walking back in the house.

Well....here it is 2 1/2 months later and I have the last laugh.

These are my 2nd year, 2 1/2 month old, left for dead Centennials.
For reference, the support wire at the top is 18Ft.

Classic, love the line to SHMBO. I can envision the snarly look on your face as you reply/ sneer. Good story...glad the resurrection was a success!

 

[gbarnes]

So I got out my tape to measure how long I was...

Turns out my baby is doing pretty well for a first year rhizome in mid-June.

 

[whitehause]

Classic, love the line to SHMBO. I can envision the snarly look on your face as you reply/ sneer. Good story...glad the resurrection was a success!

hehe, It's kind of an inside joke between the wife and I. She always busts my stones about my gardening. All I ever plant is hot peppers which she can't eat, and now it's hops and she hates beer.

 

[sweetcell]

That said, isnt it illegal to have your plants growing on the city phone lines?
I know out here in theory if the city came by and saw plants on their power/phone/cable lines they could and probably would cut back all growth on the public lines, and likely wouldnt take much care doing so and manhandle the plant.

i don't think it's illegal per se - they're not going to arrest me or fine me, at least i sure hope they don't.

but i am aware that the city could come by and hack her down at any moment since she is growing on public property. i'm willing to run that risk. the newport was a "lucky dog" - great lake hops sometimes throws in a freebie when you order several crowns. i wasn't expecting the newport, so i didn't have a spot set up for her. the telephone pole was just about the only spot i could think of. while i'd be pissed off if the city cut her down she's a bonus so i couldn't complain. she was able to grow all last growing season with no interference from the city. fingers crossed that we get away with it again this year.

 

[bottlebomber]

It would be kind of cool to see it grow 10 feet out the line.

 

[whitehause]

It would be kind of cool to see it grow 10 feet out the line.

Would be cooler to sit back with a beer and watch him try to harvest them.:cross:

 

[FuzzeWuzze]

Well, finally broke down and watered my ailing Newport and Columbus hops with some 24/8/16 Miracle Grow...i realize they are first year but they were growing fine and then just sort of stunted and started turning a pale yellow green color, i hoped it was just because we had a week of straight rain but now that we have had another week or two of sun and neither has really grown more than MAYBE an inch in the last 2-3 weeks if that i realized i had to do something.

Meanwhile the center plant my Cascade has taken off, its nearly 18 feet with 2-3' side arms.

Someone mentioned to me that wood in the soil could cause this as it leeches nitrogen...this actually makes sense as both the Cascade and Newport plants are on top of spots where we ripped out giant bushes by the root this year, and the cascade is in the area in the middle that had some bulb flowers that came back every year. There were some roots that were just too deep and spread out that we just hacked them off with a saw to get the root of the bush out. Anyone know if there is truth to this wood thing? All 3 plants were planted in the same Compost/Topsoil mix, approx 33% compost, 33% steer manure, 33% topsoil.

 

[jethro55]

Don't know about the wood benefits. It might be that the variety is a slow starter.
I started 8 different varieties this year and the Columbus and US Goldings have been just dog gone slow.... way behind the others. Some frost might have caused it early on. They finally reached the string 3 weeks ago and have climbed to about 3 feet since then. The Cascade was one of the faster movers at about 8 ft now. The rest are 6-8 ft with exception of Chinook - it is 10 ft and climbing fastest.

 

[jay_mack1]

Does anyone have a good, how to harvest Rhizomes page to look at.. for future reference?

 

[NuclearRich]

A little story on how hearty hops can be.

I picked up 2 Centennial rhizomes last year on a whim since the LHBS was clearing them out. I have some room in my yard so I figured what the heck, for $5 if they grow great, if not, nothing really lost. I got home and grabbed a couple old 2 gal plastic pots, dumped in some miracle grow potting soil my wife had laying around, stuck them in, and sat them in the back yard. (way to late in mid June).
A couple weeks later I see some bines begin to emerge so I tie some twine to a post and start them around the twine. They grew ok, but never really got past about 3 feet. By this time it's mid September in PA, so the weather is cooling down and the bines begin to die off. Well there they sat....all winter, in the back yard, in 2 gal pots, in the freezing cold of PA.

Fast Forward to the end of march. I'm in the back cleaning up and grab the pots to get rid of them. I look down and there are 3 small shoots coming up out of each pot. OK, I thought, If you little buggers are still going to try after all that abuse, so will I. With that, I go in the house, grab the car keys, and head to the local Ace hardware to get some compost, twine, stakes, and advice. I get home and start digging a new home for my stubborn little friends. The wife comes out and asks "what are you doing?" I look back and growl " saving a life woman, leave me be" and continue digging to the sound of her laughing and walking back in the house.

Well....here it is 2 1/2 months later and I have the last laugh.

These are my 2nd year, 2 1/2 month old, left for dead Centennials.
For reference, the support wire at the top is 18Ft.

Good story!

Just to let ya know, hops actually require the cold season. I read somewhere that the northeast was originally a large hop center, pre-prohibition; also the pacific northwest is the big hop area in the US, thanks to the cold winters.

So you didn't abuse em all that bad!

 

[half_whit]

My Nugget Fuggles and Centennial are makin the climb...lost my two Cascades though. Guess I didn't get them in the ground soon enough coz I dug up the two lifeless spongy rhizomes a week ago

 

[johnsnownw]

Anybody's Golding looking like this? This is just one bine, and it has stopped moving up the rope, just starting to spread out. This is a first year.



Thanks!

 

[jethro55]

Anybody's Golding looking like this? This is just one bine, and it has stopped moving up the rope, just starting to spread out. This is a first year.



Thanks!

Yep. My US Goldings, Centennial, and Columbus are well behind the others. I am not discouraged though since it is first year.

 

[mhurst111]

All of these are first year from rhizomes. Planted in mid-march in the Denver area.


Cascade




It outgrew its string. Do I just let it fall over at the gutter, trim up the bottom and wait for the hops to grow?

Centennial




Runt of the litter. Only about 4 foot tall. Letting all the growth go in the pot... I don't expect to be getting much from this one.

Chinook




Around 7 foot tall, but missing leaves between 3-5 foot. Wonder if a deer had a snack?

 

[roxbob]

Four hops plants, two at far left, two at far right. One pair is 5th year Cascade and Brewer's Gold, one pair is 2nd year Kent Goldings and Sterling. Can anyone guess which is which?

 

[mbowen024]

 

[mbowen024]

Cascade and Centennial

 

[hungry4hops]

Cascade and Centennial

Lookin goodq how old are they?

 

[jeepinjeepin]

Does anyone have a good, how to harvest Rhizomes page to look at.. for future reference?

I just start digging around the crown and when I find one I pull it up and follow it back and cut it 6-12" from the crown. Just today I pulled a late shoot out of the ground. They usually break near the surface but this one came out whole so I "planted" it in a pot that I had some grass growing in. I bet it will take right off. They are pretty tough.

 

[jethro55]

Four hops plants, two at far left, two at far right. One pair is 5th year Cascade and Brewer's Gold, one pair is 2nd year Kent Goldings and Sterling. Can anyone guess which is which?

I'm gonna guess that there is purdue roaster chicken on the rotisserie !

 

[mbowen024]

Lookin goodq how old are they?

They are 1st year. Started indoor in march

 

[jeepinjeepin]

Jack and the hop stalk.