2016 Hop Growing Thread

[cas3439]

I was worried about remembering what plant is where - so I planted mine in alphabetical order. lol

Ditto on this ^^^^. The only thing you have to remember is what types you planted!

 

[RockyMountainCraftBrewing]

I harvested my Cascade today.In hindsight I should have lowered the trellis and selectively picked the largest cones and then let the rest keep growing.Instead I cut the plant down and took it into the kitchen the pluck it clean.All told I got 10 ounces of wet hop cones from a 2nd year plant.My Centennial is smaller due to having all the bines just suddenly die back in June but it cam back with 2 new bines and grew to 7 feet.Would have been a lot better if we actually got some decent sunshine this summer but it has been the wettest summer I have ever seen in Calgary.

I am going to make a SMASH wet hopped IPA with all 10 ounces this weekend.I will do a 50/50 split for bittering and aroma.

RMCB

 

[Rypcord]

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These are my Cascades and Centennials first year harvest!
Cascades did awesome with 9.1oz total after drying in their oasts. Centennials only got 2.4 oz
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My Chinooks didn't come through as early than the other two but they're almost there. Here's one split open. They're still soft to the touch and don't have that papery bounce back feel/sound/look.

And those are first year? Wow, their huge. My first year Chinooks are no where near that big.

 

[sfish]

I was worried about remembering what plant is where - so I planted mine in alphabetical order. lol

I did this as well

 

[signpost]

Just about ready to harvest. It won't be much, since we had such a hot and dry summer. If I have a quarter ounce after it's dried, I'll be surprised. I'll probably use it all to dry hop something.

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[KennyRedman]

And those are first year? Wow, their huge. My first year Chinooks are no where near that big.

My first-year Chinooks are growing huge!
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showpost.php?p=7682123&postcount=652

 

[rtracer]

10 oz dried off my 1st year cascade. Not too pungent smelling though...

Centennial and Columbus harvest next

 

[Rypcord]

My first-year Chinooks are growing huge!
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showpost.php?p=7682123&postcount=652

My plant is huge, but the cones are smaller, maybe 1-2".

 

[corkybstewart]

I'm embarrassed to post pics of my hop garden this year. a month of temps over 105F and a total of 1 inch of rain all year (before this week) devastated my bines. But they are coming back, I'm collecting ripe cones every day, and with another 2 or 3 months of growing season they should make a full recovery. I've gotten a couple of ounces already, mostly from one Cascade, but I'm also starting to pick Neomexicanus and Centennial.

 

[416Brewer]

Hi all,

I've got a couple of first year Mt. Hood hops in containers growing in Ontario. I planted the rhizomes in late May and my plants started flowering this week. The stalks are about 18- 20 feet high and going, which I wasn't expecting for first year plants (but I'm a newb, so what do I know).

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1472338424.867888.jpgView attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1472338491.584038.jpg

 

[thunderwagn]

Started harvesting some of my 1st yr Cascades today. 7.5 oz so far. Hope to start picking some Chinook tomorrow.

 

[BrandonMH]

What temp and how long do you guys that use a dehydrator set it at? I have heard a few temps/times...one in a book said 125-135 overnight...I thought it sounded too hot and long, I did that with the first few that came off...they were like dust in the am. I bought a new 10 tray dehydrator today instead of the ancient one I got 2nd hand.

 

[WilliamSlayer]

Lupulin just a bit too "sunshine yellow " this weekend and a subdued aroma. Guess I'll have to wait till next weekend...

 

[thaymond]

Harvest on Chinook and Cascade may take place sometime this week. Chinook tossed another round of 4 foot sidearms in what seems to be over night. They're lower on the plant, so I may just cut apart the top canopy and harvest the bottoms later. The difference might be and extra oz of hops, so it will likely be a game-time decision. Zeus and Nugget are still forming their cones. The Zeus cones are super tight and heavy. Nugget just began forming and will likely be the last plant to make it to harvest.

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[thunderwagn]

What temp and how long do you guys that use a dehydrator set it at? I have heard a few temps/times...one in a book said 125-135 overnight...I thought it sounded too hot and long, I did that with the first few that came off...they were like dust in the am. I bought a new 10 tray dehydrator today instead of the ancient one I got 2nd hand.

My rookie year with hops, but I set my dehydrator to its lowest setting which is 95. I checked that temp over several hours and seemed pretty steady. Mine have been in for about 15 hrs and they're close. The spine is just a tad moist still.

 

[EagleScout]

My favorite beer I've made so far takes 1.5oz Mt. Hood and 1oz Centennial. Will those grow well in southern PA and how many plants would I need to make it a couple times a year?

Edit: I'm guessing from looking at some of the pics in this thread that one plant of each is more than enough for the little bit I need.

 

[copper2hopper]

Hey Rypcord. Yeah these are all my first years

 

[ryanryates]

2016 hops harvested and in the dehydrator!

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[cram]

Dropped the Centennial and Cascade lines today and fired up the dehydrators. The garage smells lovely.
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[DemonsRun]

Left about as much on the vine

 

[DemonsRun]

Anyone know what this might be?

 

[BaylessBrewer]

The last of my hops from my first year!
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After all said and done I harvested a total of 2.5lbs wet off 3 plants this year. Can't wait for next hear and especially the 3rd year!! [emoji482]

 

[cavman22]

I run my dehydrator at 95 degrees for about 14 hours and that gets me down to about 18% moisture content.

I've done over 5 lbs of cascades over the lady week. I pick a pound a night and package the following day

 

[eelgerg]

Picked my first variety of 9 today (9 different plants) - Chinook. Smells great. Ended up with 14.2 oz wet from a 1.5 year rhizome. Should be perfect for 2 brews worth this year. Each of the other plants should have this amount as well - if I can figure out what the faded labels are.
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[corkybstewart]

Anyone know what this might be?

Probably some species of moth, I hope you don't have many of those.

 

[BrandonMH]

I've used neem oil for pests, it is organic, but I think there are special times to spray. Like you have cones now, but I think since organic, it may be ok.

 

[Johntodd]

I know I'm not recognized here, but please let me chime in on general gardening.

Healthy plants are very resistant to, and even repulsive to, pests of all kinds.

Tons of bag ferts won't get you there. You must have high quality, very rich soil that runs very deep.

So, for new plantings, this is easy: Double dig your beds and use lots of organic matter to fill it up. I use a mixture of native topsoil and hay. Lots of hay. Mostly hay. More hay than soil, actually. Put a solid layer of hay down in the hole. Then some poop. Preferably not your own. Then your soil mixture. Make a mound of it, because it'll compact down over time. Double dig, make a mound, and let it sit for 2 months before planting. So get out there very early next spring and get at it.

For existing plantings, one must be careful. Just do the same digging and filling AROUND your established plants, being careful not to get so close you start hurting roots. A few root cuts won't do anything but set the plant back a bit. Year after that you'll never know it was set back. The roots will grow towards the enriched areas.

DOUBLE DIGGING: This is the hard part. Dig your hole twice as deep as the planting instructions say. I dig mine 4 feet deep and in a very large circle! Put a solid flake of hay, about 4-6" thick, at the very bottom, then some manure. Then the soil mixture, and mound it up!

And always keep everything mulched over with 6" of hay. Your plants should appear to be growing right out of the hay. Might have to rake the hay back a little in springtime until the plants are big enough above ground to clear that hay.

All this back-breaking soil prep will really pay of over the next, oh, century! You'll be so glad you did it. A sore back now = great hops yield forever.

Hope this helps!
-Johntodd

PS: The first year I sometimes *do* add nitrogen to offset all that carbon from the hay. Just make a judgement call and you'll be OK.

 

[DemonsRun]

Probably some species of moth, I hope you don't have many of those.

That's what I thought, I tossed about 10 cones because I saw similar holes in them.

 

[KennyRedman]

I picked about 2-1/2 pounds wet from 2 of my first-year Chinooks. They smell great, and I'm sure they'll be even better next year.

My winch makes easy work of accessing the top of the 15 footers no problem.

 

[KennyRedman]

Having trouble attaching more than one pic on my phone for some reason. Here's the trellis system lowered for easy picking.