2014 Hop garden photo thread

[Renoun]

My hops will have something tall to climb. Now that the three Cascades on the right have sprouted I need to climb the tree myself and hang some twine for them. The mound on the left has Yakima Goldings that I just got in the ground this week.

 

[bristela]

Wait....

Can I ask what the horizontal twine is for?

 

[kirbcheck]

A hop vine will grow 20' easy. It's a way to allow full growth without rigging a 20' tall trellis.

 

[TrickyDick]

My plants only about 3' tall now. Year two for most, but my cascade died and has been replaced with a centennial rhizome.
Chinook was a strong producer for me in the first year, providing 2oz dried weight cones.

Of course photo stream isn't working, so I can't post a pic.

I never had much issue with pests last year. This year I also have a small garden going, so I expect to have more problems potentially. I have heard from a local gardener about a concoction he uses to spray his pick-your-own plants. He does all sorts, including berries here in Florida.

The recipe is for 1 gallon of spray. 3/4 mouthwash, 1/4 cup dish soap, 1/4 cup hot sauce. Dilute to 1 gallon. He says to buy the cheapest stuff you can find. I haven't tried it yet, but I plan to begin some pre-emptive sprays on the tomatoes once the fruit has set. Will try on hops if I see issues. "Luckily" we have some wasps / mud daubers (not sure how to tell the difference) who live nearby that seems to perhaps kill off some of the nuisance pests.

TD


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[Spartan1979]

CRUD, I need to move to a different part of the state!!

But, did you do any trimming? I am still on the fence about whether it is really worth it for a home grower.

There's three or four bines growing up the wire. I haven't trimmed any of those. I have cut a lot off the ground. They're trying to take over.

 

[Scubadude918]

Well, these are my first year (centennial or nugget(accidentally got mixed up)) hops. They're now growing 2-3" a day.

Note: 5gal bucket for size reference.

____________________________
Primary: Cider
Primary: Kölsch

 

[bristela]

A hop vine will grow 20' easy. It's a way to allow full growth without rigging a 20' tall trellis.

Presumably this means spending time making sure they wind around the horizontal twine rather than growing straight up. Have to similar with mine, at least to start with.

 

[ontum]

I originally wasn't ever going to try and grow hops because I hear that they need a ton of sunlight, and my backyard it covered by towering pine trees.

But hop rhizomes went on sale and I thought I would give it a try anyways. I suspended an old Warn winch line between two large pine trees about 90 feet apart to support 7 rhizomes with two bines per plant. I planted Chinook, Willamette, Zeus, Cascade, and Mt. Hood. I think the hop choices are fun being that I live in the Willamette Valley, near the Cascade Mountain Range, which is also home to Mt. Hood.

I just planted 5/17/14 and I my hops will only be in constant direct sunlight 5 hours a day.

So, do you think they will take off and produce anything this year or in the future?

Sorry for the not so great photo.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=200420&stc=1&d=1400529827

 

[thaymond]

Presumably this means spending time making sure they wind around the horizontal twine rather than growing straight up. Have to similar with mine, at least to start with.

Yup. The rigging I have allows for 36 feet of growth. It also allows room for me to climb in if needed.

 

[bristela]

Yup. The rigging I have allows for 36 feet of growth. It also allows room for me to climb in if needed.

Looks like it's nice and easy to manage, none of it getting too high. I'm still hoping that mine will start providing some shade soon. If they don't I might well consider something more convenient like yours.

 

[bristela]

I originally wasn't ever going to try and grow hops because I hear that they need a ton of sunlight, and my backyard it covered by towering pine trees.

But hop rhizomes went on sale and I thought I would give it a try anyways. I suspended an old Warn winch line between two large pine trees about 90 feet apart to support 7 rhizomes with two bines per plant. I planted Chinook, Willamette, Zeus, Cascade, and Mt. Hood. I think the hop choices are fun being that I live in the Willamette Valley, near the Cascade Mountain Range, which is also home to Mt. Hood.

I just planted 5/17/14 and I my hops will only be in constant direct sunlight 5 hours a day.

So, do you think they will take off and produce anything this year or in the future?

Sorry for the not so great photo.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=200420&stc=1&d=1400529827

Very nice setup. Can't say for sure you'll get any cones this year, but mine last year (their first) didn't get much more than 5 hours direct sunlight. Same's probably true this year (I've moved them since). I got about 1lb (wet weight) from my Columbus and 2oz (wet weight) from my Cascade and three whole cones from my Willamette. This will vary depending on a large number of factors though, I imagine. Things like varietal, climate (I'm on the East coast), latitude, pests, etc. will all probably have an influence.

Best of luck

 

[corkybstewart]

Not tying to be an a**hat but I'll get my first Cascade harvest today. I broke open a cone yesterday figuring the first cones of the year won't be any good, but there's lots of yellow lupulin and a great smell coming off them. I'll probably get a quart or 2 this time, but they should produce continuously from now until November.

 

[bristela]

Not tying to be an a**hat but I'll get my first Cascade harvest today. I broke open a cone yesterday figuring the first cones of the year won't be any good, but there's lots of yellow lupulin and a great smell coming off them. I'll probably get a quart or 2 this time, but they should produce continuously from now until November.

Highest levels of asshattery achieved! Very nice. I'm just jealous. Only got the vaguest hints of cones here in Maryland. Are you going to dry them or just throw them in the freezer?

 

[thaymond]

Highest levels of asshattery achieved! Very nice. I'm just jealous. Only got the vaguest hints of cones here in Maryland. Are you going to dry them or just throw them in the freezer?

On my 4 plants, I have exactly one sidearm. One. Its pretty awesome.

 

[FreshSafari]

Here's my one and only (this year).
Cascade was given to me by the owner at my LHBS and I couldn't say no, had no clue how to plant or grow hops, I'm a month in from when I planted em, they get 5ish hours of direct sunlight from sunrise to 1.
Don't plan on having any cones this season but I am trying to get a well established root for em, so next season they can take off and be monsters!

Oh yeah there in a pickle bucket..

 

[kirbcheck]

Update on my little guys. Sorry, my phone won't let me rotate a couple pictures.

 

[corkybstewart]

Highest levels of asshattery achieved! Very nice. I'm just jealous. Only got the vaguest hints of cones here in Maryland. Are you going to dry them or just throw them in the freezer?

They're drying in the garage right now. Not much, a little less than a quart, but they do smell great and there are lots of burrs on my 12 mature bines. Plus they are starting to put out laterals now, some of them have crossed the ground and taken hold of the chain link fence so by mid summer I should be wallowing in Cascades.

 

[coldcrash]

Enjoyed a Dirt Wolf last night while pruning my second-year Centennials

 

[dfess1]

Looking good! Do you have a pic of the rest of your trellis system? What do you have the other end of horizontal lines tied to?

 

[501irishred]

Great idea! I'd like to see it again when mature. Should give you plenty of welcome shade during the dog days of summer!


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[bristela]

They're drying in the garage right now. Not much, a little less than a quart, but they do smell great and there are lots of burrs on my 12 mature bines. Plus they are starting to put out laterals now, some of them have crossed the ground and taken hold of the chain link fence so by mid summer I should be wallowing in Cascades.

I bet they do smell great. Having said that, this is why I've always preferred the freezer option: I want that smell in my beer. Entirely dependent on having enough freezer space though. Lots of worse things to have than lots of dried Cascade cones.

 

[dfess1]

Great idea! I'd like to see it again when mature. Should give you plenty of welcome shade during the dog days of summer!

yeah, that was the plan. they are starting to run across horizontally.

 

[basementbrewbrad]

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[thaymond]

View attachment 200592


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^This is so awesome.

 

[sablesurfer]

Up dates from the midwest, where I am still learning about nutrient needs, and we had a couple cold spells stop the crops totally for days.

Centennial, one of my runners!


Another one running for sky is my Cascade, I hear they like the midwest. (The one to left of Cascade is my Willamette and it is nice and bushy with bines, but not tall yet.


And you can see it wants to cause trouble, "Haha, I laugh at your orderly lines to keep us separated!"


This is my magnum, not a happy camper at all around here. Got trimmed back, then took forever to start second shoots which died mysteriously, then cold weather. Only now have the ONLY two bines reached the twine.


Here we have some Chinook and Columbus, doing their thing, but middle of the growth pack. I guess I do need to remind my self that we still have, what, four months before harvest and they really only been going at this for little over a month now..

 

[sablesurfer]

I also have a second set of plants growing too, I think I mentioned my cuttings took root so I had to actually plant them. These are in smaller pots, hopefully to grow into some sunlight screening for the deck when the weather heats up. (Two different plants in each container.)

 

[corkybstewart]

I bet they do smell great. Having said that, this is why I've always preferred the freezer option: I want that smell in my beer. Entirely dependent on having enough freezer space though. Lots of worse things to have than lots of dried Cascade cones.

Later this year when they really start to produce I'll do some wet hop IPA's but right now my 1/2 oz just won't do much. I've never frozen wet hops, maybe I'll try that with the next batch.

 

[hnycrk]

Lookin nice everyone!

 

[hnycrk]

Can someone please fix my pictures. I don't know, why every picture i post comes out sideways.

 

[501irishred]

Can someone please fix my pictures. I don't know, why every picture i post comes out sideways.

Did you by chance take the pics with an iPhone? If so, they can show up "correct" on your device but sideways on any other computer etc if you take the picture with the phone upright (like you normally use it). At least the old iOS forced you to take pictures with the phone sideways with the home key to your right. PITA.....


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