2014 Hop garden photo thread

[sablesurfer]

Second week of June in the midwest and things are still going well. Cascade definitely likes it here the best. Centennial showing a lot of promise. Chinook and Columbus middle of pack. Willamette is kinda not paying attention and Magnum is probably in the slow class.... Just like kids.

Cascade already showing lots of hop cones.


Centennial with a million hop flowers.


FYI - I did actually pick a Cascade hop a few days back, just to check on progress. It is still very grassy/plant aroma and the places where lupulin will be were white not yellow. Interesting data point for me.

 

[Hop_Head_from_Connecticut]

Great hop pics everyone. cheerz

 

[basementbrewbrad]

the cascades are looking good
Whole yard view

6.6 lbs harvested off of the Columbus plants that were ready... We will have another much bigger harvest off of those later in the year.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[Hop_Head_from_Connecticut]

Wow basement brew, that is impressive, nice garden.

 

[basementbrewbrad]

Hoping that all in total we will have 100 lbs this year


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[sablesurfer]

View attachment 205730
6.6 lbs harvested off of the Columbus plants that were ready... We will have another much bigger harvest off of those later in the year.

The discussions about two harvests confuse me. Do people seriously get two sets of paper dry cones will full out lupulin in a year? Why aren't the professional farms doing this if you could get a bigger harvest?

Every book I have read talks about one harvest around Aug or Sept. It's almost like some homegrowers have broken mother nature somehow.

I have cones on my Cascade, they look wonderful, but when I picked on, it was just grassy and plant aromas, there were no yellow/orange lupulin glands they were just little white dots. The cones on my plant now would not make a good beer.

 

[basementbrewbrad]

Lupulin is in every one of the cones I picked yesterday. Also commercial growers can't pick without tearing down/tearing up the plant so it isn't possible to do two harvests. It just isn't feasible for them from a time constraint standpoint.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[basementbrewbrad]

Our 100 plants is small enough to hand pick but is probably the most you would want


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[mhurst111]

From left to right, cascade, centennial and chinook. All second year plants. The cascade and centennial are looking good. The chinook, not so much


I've been treating them all the same, water, fertilizer, etc. any ideas on how to get the chinook to do better, or is it just the runt of the litter?

 

[sablesurfer]

I've been treating them all the same, water, fertilizer, etc. any ideas on how to get the chinook to do better, or is it just the runt of the litter?

Chinook was my third plant to the roofline, it was by fifth (out of six) to finally kick off this summer after the spring trim. Just seems to take a long time in cold weather, and if you anything like us two states away, it as been way cool this summer.

(LOL, just reread your post, and yes the two that beat it to the roof line were Cascade first, Centennial second, Chinook third. Columbus is fourth and Willamette will be there tomorrow. Magnum just not sure it wants to live here.)

 

[Hop_Head_from_Connecticut]

I started this outside late. It's only been in the ground for 2 weeks. I had it in a 1 gallon pot for to long, it became root bound. This is my first year ever growing hops so I'm not expecting to much.

 

[kirbcheck]

Found tons of these guys on my hops today. Can anybody tell me what they are and if they're something I need to manage.

 

[temple240]

The first pic is a lady bug which are great to have around your hops. Not sure what the second pic is.

 

[TrickyDick]

I can't tell either. Looks sort of like a love bug, but not exactly. Is it a firefly? Are they eating the leaves?

Ladybugs are good to have. They eat aphids, and other pests.


Sent from my iPad using Home Brew

 

[kirbcheck]

I was 99% sure on the lady bug, just not sure I've seen the reverse coloring (black w/ red spots). Some leaves have been munched but nothing that I'm concerned about. They're not fireflies. I guess I'll let it be until I see signs that they're eating my hops to death.

 

[theck]

Mine got a late start and I planted them too deep, pulled them and replanted but going fast now, the largest is about 5 foot.

 

[FuzzeWuzze]

The discussions about two harvests confuse me. Do people seriously get two sets of paper dry cones will full out lupulin in a year? Why aren't the professional farms doing this if you could get a bigger harvest?

Every book I have read talks about one harvest around Aug or Sept. It's almost like some homegrowers have broken mother nature somehow.

I have cones on my Cascade, they look wonderful, but when I picked on, it was just grassy and plant aromas, there were no yellow/orange lupulin glands they were just little white dots. The cones on my plant now would not make a good beer.

I think its more a question of where you live and your weather than anything.

I know that my cascade plant that gave me nearly a pound of hops dry last year still hasnt even budded a single flower yet, its 20+ feet and still growing.

I havent seen any hop plants here in Oregon that have cones yet really, let alone are harvest ready...as you said that is late august early september before the rains start.

 

[WayFrae]

Found tons of these guys on my hops today. Can anybody tell me what they are and if they're something I need to manage.

I think the second pic is a lady bug larva.

 

[poptarts]

Hydroponic Garden

 

[kirbcheck]

I think the second pic is a lady bug larva.

No, it's hard to tell but these are skinny with wings. Don't look much like the pictures when I Google that...

 

[FourSeasonAngler]

Mine are not doing so well...

 

[WayFrae]

No, it's hard to tell but these are skinny with wings. Don't look much like the pictures when I Google that...

Oh, well the coloring is similar haha. I thought maybe you had a skinny one. I couldn't see the wings.

 

[sablesurfer]

Mine are not doing so well...

Neem oil has become very important to me during the starting stages of the plants. It is the only thing, in the midwest, that allowed all my starting shoots to get established, both on second year and first year plants.

Get neem oil, mix it with water and one drop clear dish detergent. I use full size spray bottle, fill that very bottom lip area with neem oil (This is actually about double strength if you do the math.) The one drop dish detergent is because you are mixing an oil and water to spray. It also helps it stick to the plant from what I have read.

Once my hop plants got up over 10ft, where I could no longer spray, they have so much plant that the bugs do not seem to be a problem. They take five leaves out of five hundred, plant fine. (When younger and only have five leaves...well.)

 

[sablesurfer]

Mini'est hops ever?!?!?! LOL. This is NOT how the other plants started, the base of the cone was pretty much full size, they just added more leaves.

These are starting out super tiny on the Magnum.

 

[Hop_Head_from_Connecticut]

Hydroponic Garden

Good stuff, do you have to flip the lights to 12 12? I do a lot of hydroponics, indoor and outside. Might want to get another fluorescent light above the plant. Plant looks very healthy good job

 

[poptarts]

Never done hydro hops before, but just today we switched to 12 12 and switched to 3000k bulbs and changed up the nutrients a bit, hoping to see some flowering action here soon.

 

[Stevo2569]

Anyone harvesting yet? I know it's still early but I have mature hops all over.

 

[McRoth]

I don't even have burrs yet in northern Ohio . I've got 1st and 2nd year plants.

 

[ChefRex]

My Saaz is producing lots of cones, Willamette is covered with burrs but no cones yet.
I have a couple "C" hops in the first year and moving slow but steady.

 

[kirbcheck]

My Columbus has some cones and a ton of burrs. I have a Chinook and Zeus with burrs. My Santiam and Centennial are still growing, but they're new this year.

 

[MrNic]

My Centennial and Columbus. The Centennial has about 5 shoots growing, but only 2 are really going strong.

 

[poptarts]

nice those are doing better than mine, mine pretty much stopped growing when I planted them, think they went into shock or somthing.

 

[michaeltrego]

Here is my single Cascade plant - 3rd year plant, looking good with sidearms sprouting all over the top. This pic is with the trellis lowered to train the long ends horizontally.

And here's a full shot. The trellis line is 15' high, and the longest shoots are another 5' extending to the right.

 

[BikeAndBrew]

Came home from vacation today to find some really nicely developed Cascade cones. Should be ready for harvest very soon!




Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[Hopphead]

What's eating Gilbert?
I don't think it's the lady bug:



Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[Hopphead]

So, according to this, my 2nd year hops are very low on phosphorous, ok on potash, low to very low on nitrogen and neutral to alkaline. Hmmm.

I just put blood meal down two months ago for nitrogen, I hear that vinegar can work for lowering pH and not sure how to do phosphorous as bone meal takes months to break down.

View attachment 196497

My centennial pot on the left and my chinook pot on the right.

A soil test kit? Home Depot?

 

[jethro55]

Had a decent early crop from a few second year plants. About 10 oz wet Chinook and another 10 oz mixed bag of Nugget/Magnum/Chinook. Made for a fun brew day !

 

[PapaBearJay]

What's eating Gilbert?View attachment 207235View attachment 207236
I don't think it's the lady bug:
View attachment 207237


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

That looks like aphid or leafhopper damage, but others might have a better idea.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[sablesurfer]

A soil test kit? Home Depot?

Yep. There seems to be some debate about their effectiveness, but it gave me a place to start.

 

[fuzzy2133]

From the weekend. It has been training its self. All my in-laws have done is keep it watered.