2014 Hop garden photo thread

[dfess1]

These look great! I like the trellis idea too! There are a ton of cones up there!

I posted back a bunch of pages ago, but the top of each trellis has the name of the varietal routered into the header. Used a sign making setup and roundnose bit.

These hops are second year growth from a crown.

 

[Summerland]

Brewer's Gold. They should be much bigger by now but there was a huge freak hail storm a couple months ago. They are thriving now though and side shoots are popping out.

There was no freak hail storm where I live and that's about how mine are doing. Some of the plants on this page are growing HUGE compared to any of mine. I have mine in 5 gallon pots because I may be moving, think that would be the problem? Even my second year plants are hardly bigger than this and they've all been in the soil since April.

 

[1fast636]

Burrs on first year centennial

 

[WayFrae]

My first year cascades are looking good!

 

[bristela]

By the way. Here is that photoView attachment 208443View attachment 208444View attachment 208445View attachment 208446
Several actually. The first shows my bine lowered to the ground sort of. The next two show funny looking cones? Seeds? I don't know what they are. I left then on.

Last pic shows an old LME bucket from an AHS wheat kit (don't have an adjustable mill), it's filled with Columbus cones..

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I saw similar on my Columbus last year. They only appeared later on so I was hoping they were going to develop into more cones. I was disappointed.

Doing some reading this year I found out that these are actually male flowers (http://www.greatlakeshops.com/hops-blog/hop-identification). Seems that some hop varieties are triploid and thus can produce both. The link specifically mentions Columbus and Zeus. I didn't do anything with mine but it's possible that you could get some cross pollination with your other plants, they may even self-pollinate. No idea if this has any material effect on your hop production other than giving you hybrids and/or seeds.

 

[timmy7649]

Hop progression 2014



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[day_trippr]

So it's been six weeks since I had to butcher the roughly 5 foot long bines on all fifteen of my plants right down to grade so I could stain the deck railings. The plants are doing quite well considering that trauma, though I decided not to erect the ten foot tall risers on the upper deck this year.

There are four Centennial (with three potted Fuggles hiding behind them) to the right of four Chinook, then three Cascade at the other end of the deck. There's a newly cloned fourth Cascade hiding in the latter pic that replaced a crown that had some weird genetic or viral issue that caused strange growth patterns and only bear about 1/10th what the other three produced. Aside from the new-born the plants are all in their fourth year.

Everything's sprouting flowers, right on schedule per the past three years.
One good thing is I totally avoided the early season "hop worm" infestation, and aside from minor JB chompage the plants all look very strong...

Cheers!

 

[BaysideBrewer]

First year centennial and first attempt at growing in Wisconsin...seems to be going well, I think, given I wasn't expecting any yield year one. Any feedback on how things are looking would be appreciated.

It climbing to about 15 feet overall which is promising for first year but early buds just starting to show so not sure if thats too late.

Thanks!

 

[nextgenxx]

I love that I get to wake up each day to see how my hops are growing straight out my 2nd story window! They have hit the roofline+ 20foot or more. This week finally got some cones forming, about time!

 

[sablesurfer]

I was just about to start searching for flowers that look like this. I have one of my cuttings that is growing in back yard starting to put out flowers like this. All my other flowers are real individual burrs that are out on their own little stems. These flowers have like three of em with leaves around like this.

Is this a common way for female flowers or is this not female?

My first year cascades are looking good!

 

[sablesurfer]

OH...and DANG my centennial hops are smelling AMAZING! I went up the ladder today because the cones have been up there for months, but they are not ready to pick since they are not dry yet.

I got three to smell em, and wow, crushing them in my hands is pine, grapefruit, slight dank. I can tell these are going to be my flavor and aroma additions!!

 

[theck]

Went on vacation, came back and found a ton of these (first year cascasde), yeah!

 

[1fast636]

Couple days ago on first year cent, only one shooting burs so far

 

[Reno_eNVy]

One of the Brewers Gold is looking great and even has some burrs! The other one is still trying to catch up.

 

[bristela]

I was just about to start searching for flowers that look like this. I have one of my cuttings that is growing in back yard starting to put out flowers like this. All my other flowers are real individual burrs that are out on their own little stems. These flowers have like three of em with leaves around like this.

Is this a common way for female flowers or is this not female?

Those look like female flowers to me. Have a look at my previous post to see what male flowers look like.

 

[WoolyBooger]

This is round 2 on my Columbus this year! My first harvest was in mid June. I cut them back to ground level an they are now about 15' tall and have about half developed cones. We'll see how they turn out. Has anyone else gotten multiple harvests from the same plant in one growing season?

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[dtgrdn]

My first year Cascade

 

[MrNic]

My first year cascade is getting cones!

 

[bristela]

View attachment 214008View attachment 214009
This is round 2 on my Columbus this year! My first harvest was in mid June. I cut them back to ground level an they are now about 15' tall and have about half developed cones. We'll see how they turn out. Has anyone else gotten multiple harvests from the same plant in one growing season?

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Those are some nice looking cones. I've started harvesting my Columbus too. Hoping to do so several more times this year

Just wondering if you've noticed the male flowers you've got there. You can see them clearly on the second image (they're the much smaller ones). Apparently Columbus can produce male and female flowers (plant sex is weird). I've seen similar on mine too. I've been picking them off whenever I see them. I'm hoping to avoid getting seeds in my female cones, especially as I have two other varieties growing right beside the Columbus.

Hope this helps.

 

[WoolyBooger]

Good eye, I'll get to pickin'. Thanks for the heads up!


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[sablesurfer]

Fall colors showing up in the midwest? It seems that all my hop plants are showing yellow leaves, haven't seen anyone else post this yet. My cones are still not ready to pick, but leaves are starting to drop off lower down.

 

[Bamsdealer]

Hop Harvest 1

2nd year plants with plenty left on the vines. Cascades from two plants on the screen and Centennials on the cookie sheets. Got 5.5 gallons of Cascades. Any idea what weight this will amount to when dried? I'm guessing at least a half pound.

Notice the giant Cascade hop with leaves growing out of it. I got several like this.

 

[thaymond]

Notice the giant Cascade hop with leaves growing out of it. I got several like this.

I have a couple of big funky Chinook cones like this. I'm thinking it's because I probably fertilized after some of the initial burrs formed.

What was the initial weight of your cones? If your initial weight was 25oz, expect about 5 dry oz. Take your initial weight and divide by 5. That's about what you'd expect dry.

 

[theck]

Fall colors showing up in the midwest? It seems that all my hop plants are showing yellow leaves, haven't seen anyone else post this yet.

Mine are starting to yellow as well, in Cleveland Ohio. Mostly the ones lower and older. Does this mean anything specific?

 

[PapaBearJay]

Mine are starting to yellow as well, in Cleveland Ohio. Mostly the ones lower and older. Does this mean anything specific?

The plant is not actively taking up nutrients from the soil, instead it is utilizing resources already present in its tissues to account for the growth of the cones. It's been shown that additions of fertilizer once flowering begins isn't correlated to increased yields.


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[Bamsdealer]

I have a couple of big funky Chinook cones like this. I'm thinking it's because I probably fertilized after some of the initial burrs formed.

What was the initial weight of your cones? If your initial weight was 25oz, expect about 5 dry oz. Take your initial weight and divide by 5. That's about what you'd expect dry.

Not quite sure on the wet weight.. I'd guess 2 to 3 lbs so a half lb sounds about right.

 

[Oxbow]

I have a couple of big funky Chinook cones like this. I'm thinking it's because I probably fertilized after some of the initial burrs formed.

Curious if that would affect the quality of the hop or amount of lupulin? Or if it's just cosmetic?

 

[thaymond]

Curious if that would affect the quality of the hop or amount of lupulin? Or if it's just cosmetic?

It may add grassiness if I leave the Leaves on. I'll just rip them off. It shod be fine.

 

[day_trippr]

Those are commonly called "Hop Birds" and "Hop Angels", and they typically appear at the very ends of bines and long side-arms. Some strains are really prone to them - I get them on my Chinook and Cascade (these were Chinooks) but rarely on my Centennials and never on my Fuggles. I doubt there's anything anyone could do that would encourage their appearance.

They're considered a defect for obvious reasons and are likely a nuisance for the pro's. I thought they were kinda neat until I started picking out all the leaves...

Cheers!

 

[mattmmille]

I planted one Cascade rhizome this year that had a short, existing sprout with a couple of leaves on it, just to see how it would do. I have a small raised bed garden, 6x12, with an arch trellis in the back. The bines took off eventually and I got a few cones. I will definitely plant more next Spring...maybe some Nugget. I local friend saw me put something on Facebook about a brew I was doing and said she has a son that brews and they have several organic Cascade bines that are four years old and going crazy. She said I could come over and pick a bunch! Maybe next Spring she'll let me get some rhizome pieces too!(I'll have to read up on that before I try it, though. I don't want to damage her plants!