advice on planting hops

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mjm76

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 21, 2006
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Location
Collinsville, IL
I wanted to grow my own hops. Any suggestions on varieties that would do best in the midwest, trellis design, etc.
 
I have a book that covers various support structures and trellis work for hops. I will loan it to you the next time I'm in your neck of the woods or likewise. I think your yard/lot would be more suited to hop farming than my new place (once you see it I think you'd agree).

That said, you get a good hop crop up and going in the spring, I'll invest in some.
 
WATER! My hops have done poorly the last two years. Everything says "Water deeply infrequently". I finally found a source that says 25-30 inches of water during the six weeks of the prime growing season. This may not be a problem for most people, but I had 0.00 inches of rain all summer and the weekly irrigations were not enough.

The other thing most sources don't mention: side roots. They talk about the root ball, but during the main stretch hop plants put out shallow roots for absorbing more water. I was drip irrigating the main root.

If you plant in a grass lawn & the lawn is staying green, that's about right. And FULL SUN.

I'd go with earlier varieties in the mid-west: fuggle, Hallertau, Tettnang, nuggett

http://www.freshops.com/usda_hop_desc2.html
 
Cascades will grow just about anywhere, although it is a medium-late harvester.

I was raised in Crete, IL & from what I remember of the summers, Cascades' resistance to Downy mildew will be a plus.
 
I grew cascade first year from seedlings I bought this spring. Didn't get them in the ground until mid-june due to late shipping of the plants, and still harvested a small crop (1 oz dried) from 2 plants.

I think you'll do fine with them in IL. The weather you guys get has to better than that I get, stuck out here in the North Atlantic.
 
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