2016 Hop Growing Thread

[JackCity63]

This is the plants when I got them a few weeks ago:

Here is the garden:

Another angle all strung up:

Zeus:

Nugget:

and Cascade:

 

[BobOki]

I just planted some centennial and magnum... and I used blood meal when I planted.. but what kind of nutrients should I be feeding these as I water them?

 

[kev211]

Yeeee! Ctz shoots!

View attachment 1461301729374.jpg

 

[schiersteinbrewing]

2nd year starting out good lost one Cascade and one Liberty over the winter/transplant. Still trying to decide on a trellis system.

 

[Hopphead]

3rd yr CascadeView attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1461594221.598911.jpgView attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1461594267.259292.jpg

 

[kev211]

3rd yr CascadeView attachment 351793View attachment 351794

Thats a beautiful trellis!!! How tall is it? Do you trim the bines when they reach the top? Or let them grow along the top of the trellis system?

 

[Yeastieboy]

I just planted some centennial. How long until I should expect these babies to poke through?

 

[WilliamSlayer]

Are 'Bull Shoots' something the plant puts off every year? I have checked my plan this past day, and I don't seem to have any that I can tell!

 

[BrandonMH]

Bull shoots are the first shoots to appear. They are using up the rhizomes stores from the previous year. The big farmers cut then to get the plants all growing at the same time. I think the consensus here is for first year, don't cut them, let it grow so it can establish roots. That is the goal for a first year rhizome, get a good root system.

 

[DurtyChemist]

Are 'Bull Shoots' something the plant puts off every year? I have checked my plan this past day, and I don't seem to have any that I can tell!

Yes. Typically they're the first to come out of the ground and depending on where you live you can trim them back early. I wait until at least April personally because we typically have a late frost, like last night, so I try and cut back as much growth as possible.

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

So I have one planter which I filled with a Crown of Cascade I received from someone. Should I consider trimming the first shoots since it was a crown that I transplanted???

The rhizomes I planted aren't coming up nearly as quick as the crown, and I was just going to let those go and not even bother with trimming them up. The crown has a ton of growth already though.

 

[FewestKitten896]

Something nibbled the top of a couple of my shoots popping up. Operation hop intruder commencing. Been getting tons of rain here but I have a few shoots on each variety. Still need to build out some sort of trellis for each variety.

 

[BlackIce]

Update Pics. Pics taken 4/26/16.
Cascade, Centennial, Columbia and Chinook

 

[thaymond]

Are 'Bull Shoots' something the plant puts off every year? I have checked my plan this past day, and I don't seem to have any that I can tell!

Yes. Typically they're the first to come out of the ground and depending on where you live you can trim them back early. I wait until at least April personally because we typically have a late frost, like last night, so I try and cut back as much growth as possible.

In my limited experience with hop growing over the past few years, I have been identifying "bulls" by gently pinching them to see if there's any give, or if they're firm. If it "feels" hollow, I'll trim it, and just about every time, the interior is very hollow. These are the bull shoots. They come out aggressively after winter as Durty said. They're typically hollow, grow very quickly, and have long spacing between nodes. Be careful, as you'll want to let those grow since they seem to be the strongest bines. They also kink and break easily, where a strong bine won't. I'll usually allow some of the secondary growth to be my training candidates.

 

[BrandonMH]

What about first year trimming? Another thread I read a while back had some debate over whether or not to trim freshly planted first shoots.

 

[sablesurfer]

What about first year trimming? Another thread I read a while back had some debate over whether or not to trim freshly planted first shoots.

The only reason I would trim is to reduce the number of bines. No need to cut everything to the ground, but you could trim down to 2-3 per string.

 

[HarborTownBrewing]

you could trim down to 2-3 per string.

That makes me think: how many bines are you guys trying to send up each string? Hadn't thought about that.

 

[lzrdkng14]

That makes me think: how many bines are you guys trying to send up each string? Hadn't thought about that.

I was wondering the same thing. Always assumed it was 1:1 ratio.

 

[ffaoe]

First year plants, let them all grow so they can build a healthy root system. 2+ years, train 4-6 total bines up lines. I do 3 bines each up tow lines in a V.

 

[Natdavis777]

Have 5-6 vines about 12-15" tall and on the twine already for my second year cascade. As for my second year centennial, still straggling along like it did last year. Maybe 6" tall...maybe

 

[BrandonMH]

Weird, my cascade is half the size of my centennial. Others seem to be the opposite. I planted then within minutes of each other and both were started in pots from rhysomes. Gotta go out and cover them, getting low and I think frost warning. Centennial is a few inches...leaves won't work.

 

[cekramer]

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1461811705.989205.jpgView attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1461811723.353924.jpgView attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1461811737.052475.jpg
Hops are really starting to take off! Got nugget, cascade and mt hood.

 

[applescrap]

Finally all strung up. New location this year. Hoping that there will be just enough sun to keep them happy, but in this location there is a giant old maple that blocks over half the sky for them...oh well.
Four plants this year. Got rid of Willamatte. Seem to have lost track of (???) my Magnum. So have Cascade, Centennial, Columbus and Chinook. So far Chinook is happiest of the bunch in these here square states.

View attachment 350108

Wow! I have major trellis envy. I could grow beans up that puppy too.how do you get them down. I'm thinking about using this sprinkler I made for the kids that cracked and keeping it low and just going up and down around and or whatever do you think that will work

 

[sablesurfer]

That makes me think: how many bines are you guys trying to send up each string? Hadn't thought about that.

I do three to four per string because things happen and you can easily lose a top to bugs or birds. If you were a farmer, you have so many plants, but as a home grower there is no back up if I lose the only bine running up a string.

Also, in a farm since there are SOOO many plants they do have to limit bines to keep air moving and avoid mildew/fungus. At home with just a couple of plants I am figuring there is plenty of air movement as long as there isn't a bush of plant at the bottom.

 

[sablesurfer]

Weird, my cascade is half the size of my centennial. Others seem to be the opposite. I planted then within minutes of each other and both were started in pots from rhysomes. Gotta go out and cover them, getting low and I think frost warning. Centennial is a few inches...leaves won't work.

Mine are same to yours. Cascade has these wimpy little bines. Everything else up over 7ft now but Cascade at maybe a 1ft on one bine with others only just making to twine.

I think my cascade pot stayed colder than the others because it was further behind the protective wall. So the other pots got more early spring sun on them by a couple hours...that is my only guess so far.

 

[sablesurfer]

Wow! I have major trellis envy. I could grow beans up that puppy too.how do you get them down. I'm thinking about using this sprinkler I made for the kids that cracked and keeping it low and just going up and down around and or whatever do you think that will work

That is my tallest structure so far. Two years against the house, last year was a structure similar but very small because I was basically ignoring them last year but wanted them to have some fun.

I run my string from pot over bar and back to pot. The string for bines are located to the front, the return to the pot is tied off in back. The 'plan' is to be able to cut the back string and just drop them down. (You know as long as the plants don't go crazy and just clog up everything at the top where strings come close together....LOL!)

I am a bit worried that I won't be able to do multiple harvests if they do tangle up across the strings. Now, now that you make me think this through, I wonder how I will test the hops for picking if they are all produced higher up....hmmm.

Now you ruined my plans! Curses!

 

[DurtyChemist]

All of mine are still underground from me covering them when I built the boxes. I'm confident they'll pop through shortly. I'm just jealous of everyone's hops showing already.

 

[applescrap]

That is my tallest structure so far. Two years against the house, last year was a structure similar but very small because I was basically ignoring them last year but wanted them to have some fun.

I run my string from pot over bar and back to pot. The string for bines are located to the front, the return to the pot is tied off in back. The 'plan' is to be able to cut the back string and just drop them down. (You know as long as the plants don't go crazy and just clog up everything at the top where strings come close together....LOL!)

I am a bit worried that I won't be able to do multiple harvests if they do tangle up across the strings. Now, now that you make me think this through, I wonder how I will test the hops for picking if they are all produced higher up....hmmm.

Now you ruined my plans! Curses!

Man sorry Seems like a good enough idea though. A huge ladder?

I think I had a talk with Bobby once and he said pulleys to drop them down?

What about a small structure that wound them up down up down up down all around do you think that would work. This is my plan

 

[BrandonMH]

Sablesurfer, how high is your trellis? That seems much easier than a 4x4 and could basically drive that pipe into the ground without digging...until I would hit rocks/roots which are where I was going to dig the hole for the T post trellis. I'll have to get some pics of my zomes growing up here. We are getting some rain so they will probably grow pretty good. I purposely didn't water then for a bit since I knew it was going to be a fairly wet few days and cooler too.

 

[BlackIce]

If anyone wants to take a look I just put up my hop update video.
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zATkYrSaSak[/ame]