Cascades in Key West

[KeyWestBrewing]

I picked mine at different times from green to yellowish and slightly brown to brown to see when they were "ready"..... And I get a grassy aroma from them no matter what. The Cascade smell is there, but still grassy too. I'm thinking one way not to worry about the grassiness to em is to use em in a Brett beer. I feel like grassy and barnyard would go together. That or pair em with a hop that's piney. I'm also debating using them as mash hops for some sort of sour. I feel like its kind of a waste of homegrown aroma hops, but it's better then a grass IPA.

 

[Curtis2010]

KeyWest, have you tried brewing with your hops yet? If so, how did it turn out?

I live even further south and might try them here just for grins.

 

[KeyWestBrewing]

I haven't yet but plan to soon. I had some trouble figuring out when to pick them so unfortunately most of the yield smells grassy. I figure I'll use them to mash hop some Berliners or Lambics and harvest at the right time next year for better flavoring/aroma hops. Definitely give growing em a try... Hops have got to be one of the easiest and hardy plants I've ever grown.

 

[BrokenArmBrewing]

What are your plants doing now? My magnum is about 15 feet while fuggles is still fighting what ever is eating its leaves. That one is only 2 to 3 feet. No side arms, no burs. Not much of any other action other then just getting bigger.

 

[KeyWestBrewing]

Mine is starting to slowly die back to the crown. Is your magnum putting out buds yet? At that length I know mine started coning off the main bines and putting out sidearms with burs. Is your fuggle getting good nutes and what are you using to keep the bugs away?

 

[BrokenArmBrewing]

No ,no buds yet. Growing has slowed way down....have the shoot going horizontally cause I reached the top of the screen frame.

Fuggles is growing.g in the same soil make up ad mags....I think some of the bines got broken ( kids?) And the plant had to regroup every time. The pls.t give 2 new shoots for every break. That's a lot of rework for the plant. I don't think fug likes as much water as mag either. Cutting back.for fug seems to be helping.

 

[KeyWestBrewing]

No ,no buds yet. Growing has slowed way down....have the shoot going horizontally cause I reached the top of the screen frame.

Fuggles is growing.g in the same soil make up ad mags....I think some of the bines got broken ( kids?) And the plant had to regroup every time. The pls.t give 2 new shoots for every break. That's a lot of rework for the plant. I don't think fug likes as much water as mag either. Cutting back.for fug seems to be helping.

That's actually something I want to experiment with next year. If I can cut the tips before they cone and get bigger yields out of less bines. Be sure to update if you start getting burs and cones.

 

[kcross13]

Nice. The heat didn't kill them? I want to start growing as well but the heat kills all my veggies that I try. I am attempting winter veggy growing right now.

 

[KeyWestBrewing]

Nice. The heat didn't kill them? I want to start growing as well but the heat kills all my veggies that I try. I am attempting winter veggy growing right now.

Hey man I deleted my messages in my inbox and couldn't remember your user name to get ahold of you!!! How you been?? The hops grew just fine, yielded a whole gallon bag full of cones. They stopped coning now but a still have 2 bines hanging out till whenever they die back. As for the veggies, this is usually the best time to grow em down here if you can get em enough sun.

I'm president of the Homebrew club now you gotta try and make it by a meeting if you ever get a chance. And I got some IPAs and other stuff I'd love to shoot your way if we can work out a beer swap or something. Good to hear from you!!

 

[stirge]

I am in Key Largo, you guys are too far away!

 

[testingapril]

Hops have got to be one of the easiest and hardy plants I've ever grown.

I wish this were true for me. I live west of Atlanta Georgia and have had hops in the ground for 2 years and I've never seen a single cone. I'm going to relocate them this year and go with drip irrigation and take your suggestion of turtle tank water, which I have.

My columbus bine is the hardiest I would say as it's grown to a total of 8 ft on about 2 bines at it's largest, but no buds or cones.

Did you have yours in direct sunlight, or did you use netting or anything?

 

[KeyWestBrewing]

I wish this were true for me. I live west of Atlanta Georgia and have had hops in the ground for 2 years and I've never seen a single cone. I'm going to relocate them this year and go with drip irrigation and take your suggestion of turtle tank water, which I have.

My columbus bine is the hardiest I would say as it's grown to a total of 8 ft on about 2 bines at it's largest, but no buds or cones.

Did you have yours in direct sunlight, or did you use netting or anything?

The turtle water helps like you won't believe. Tons of stuff in there plants love and hops definitely burn through some nutes. My bines get partial sun until 10-11am then get direct sun until 6ish. After that its partial sum until the sun sets. Moving them somewhere with good sun, air flow, and giving them a steady supply of turtle water/ occasional fish emulsion should make them happy.

 

[KeyWestBrewing]

I am in Key Largo, you guys are too far away!

You should of made the trip down. I've got plenty of tasty homebrew and great cigars to share!

 

[HoppedupDad]

Im starting this thread to document my 1st season of growing hops. I started them from a crown that I planted in early March. Im looking forward to drinking a homebrew made with organic homegrown hops!!!!

Nice I am jealous!
I had hops in our backyard at our old house and we had a serious problem with aphids. Have you had any problems with bugs n it. If so what did you do?

 

[KeyWestBrewing]

I use Organicide and it worked like a charm. No aphids, mites, or anything. You can get it at Home Depot and u highly recommend it.

 

[BrokenArmBrewing]

I'll be replanting mine in the ground in the next few weeks. I think one problem I had was not cutting back the smaller not stronger bines. I let them all grow. Maybe just let 3 grow?

 

[KeyWestBrewing]

I let the 4 strongest grow and cut the others back. I think 3-4 bines is the way to go. It focuses the plants energy on those bines instead of spreading it out to a bunch and any new sprouts.

 

[Brewmech]

I just planted some crowns from Great Lakes Hops. Any advice?

Those pots have 1 bag of black gold at the bottom and 2 bags of potting soil on top. The plants are taking off already and the teamaker is just about to reach the chord.

What should I do about pruning? Should I try and separate the crown and replant the shorter bits?

 

[BlakeL]

I just planted some crowns from Great Lakes Hops. Any advice?

Those pots have 1 bag of black gold at the bottom and 2 bags of potting soil on top. The plants are taking off already and the teamaker is just about to reach the chord.

What should I do about pruning? Should I try and separate the crown and replant the shorter bits?

Which hops did you get? I'm thinking of ordering some crowns from them too.

 

[Brewmech]

Which hops did you get? I'm thinking of ordering some crowns from them too.

I got Columbus and they sent me Teamaker for free, so I planted it anyway.

The crowns were in great shape and were shooting up green within a day of planting them. The only thing I am worried about is getting a frost for a couple nights in the next few months. I'll just have to be watchful and cover the plants if it looks like it's gonna get too cold.

 

[BlakeL]

I got Columbus and they sent me Teamaker for free, so I planted it anyway.

The crowns were in great shape and were shooting up green within a day of planting them. The only thing I am worried about is getting a frost for a couple nights in the next few months. I'll just have to be watchful and cover the plants if it looks like it's gonna get too cold.

I've never heard of Teamaker hops... interesting. I'll probably order them in the next few weeks. Is the soil you used what people mostly recommend?

 

[KeyWestBrewing]

I'd go with a mix of potting soil, perlite, and compost. They burn through nitrogen so foliar feed with a fish emulsion mix unless you have a fish or turtle tank. Then just use that water. You don't need to prune anything. Just let the best 3-4 bines grow and clip any new sprouts that pop out. If a bine tip breaks it just starts regrowing from the last leaf set before the break. I posted pics of all the nutes and stuff I used in the beginning of the thread if you wanna see what I used.

 

[BrokenArmBrewing]

I'm looking to move mine out of the pot this weekend. KegErator, Any action in yours yet. I think we may have one more cold snap but should be mild the rest of our winter

 

[BlakeL]

I'd go with a mix of potting soil, perlite, and compost. They burn through nitrogen so foliar feed with a fish emulsion mix unless you have a fish or turtle tank. Then just use that water. You don't need to prune anything. Just let the best 3-4 bines grow and clip any new sprouts that pop out. If a bine tip breaks it just starts regrowing from the last leaf set before the break. I posted pics of all the nutes and stuff I used in the beginning of the thread if you wanna see what I used.

Thanks for the info. I just ordered a Columbus crown and it should arrive sometime next week.

 

[KeyWestBrewing]

Thanks for the info. I just ordered a Columbus crown and it should arrive sometime next week.

More than welcome.

 

[Ddubduder]

I've got Centennial, Willamette and Galena crowns in their pots now. Thanks for all the good advice in the thread, it's given me ample push to give growing a try myself. If they can grown in South Florida, mid Florida should be not too different.

 

[KeyWestBrewing]

I've got Centennial, Willamette and Galena crowns in their pots now. Thanks for all the good advice in the thread, it's given me ample push to give growing a try myself. If they can grown in South Florida, mid Florida should be not too different.

Good to see, it can be done!! Just make sure the pots are big enough for the crowns to grow. That's one thing I'm changing for this hop season.

 

[Ddubduder]

I've got them in plastic half barrels now, I think they should be big enough. The only thing I'm thinking is the holes I drilled might not be big enough. I drilled probably about 12-15 but I only used a 1/4in drill bit, probably should have gone for a 1in hole but fewer of them. Oh we'll, all part of the process of learning.

 

[KeyWestBrewing]

I've got them in plastic half barrels now, I think they should be big enough. The only thing I'm thinking is the holes I drilled might not be big enough. I drilled probably about 12-15 but I only used a 1/4in drill bit, probably should have gone for a 1in hole but fewer of them. Oh we'll, all part of the process of learning.

If you used a good amount of perlite in the potting mix you should be fine.

 

[CDGoin]

Sorry if this has been mentioned in the 10+ pages..

But where would you recommend buying the "saplings"

Thinking of doing this as well..

Want to try a pure home brew.. all local products fresh from my backyard or farm.