Charlotte NC Autumn Harvest

[ForerunnerBrewer]

I recently planted a Northern Brewer Hop. I didn't expect much but due to growth (4 ft/month) I'm wondering if I might actually get a harvest.

Main question: I have looked through the forums but I haven't seen a well defined 'cutoff' period when hop production definitely stops. So I'm asking do I have a chance at a harvest in late Autumn when highs are 60's-70's and lows are 50's? I realize that everywhere is different so general answers are ok!

Here's the story with the most important data in the second paragraph.

Late June/early July I planted a Northern Brewer rhizome and it has seriously jumped out of the ground! It was a bottom of the barrel, medium small one to start with that I got at Alternative Beverage(.com) (I worked there one day a week to talk beer and get paid supplies instead of $ !)

-So now that it is 5-6 weeks old it has 2 4-footers and two other good ones. I'm just wondering what everyones thoughts are as to if I may have time for a harvest. Northern Brewer hops are supposed to be susceptible to heat, and instead they are thriving in 10 hours of blistering sun. Because of this I think it may get much bigger than I planned. According to the temperature trend almanac on Weather.com it may not be likely to get below freezing until November.

 

[beerloaf]

If your NB are a few ft in height and you recently planted them, I wouldn't expect much from them this year. Let them go as far as they will go and fertilize them often and let the roots develop. This will get you good results for next year. If you're lucky you may have a minimal harvest this year but it's unlikely this late in the season. I have a 1st yr NB plant as well that's around 9 ft and it looks like it's not even going to flower this year. Now this is next to my Cascade's which is popping cones left and right. I also have a Chinook plant which is around 23 ft and is still going nuts with cones and was planted a month later than the NB. I planted 7 varieties of rhysomes in April and early May and all but the NB are doing well and most have cones or at least flowers on them now. All hops are different so you never really know. There are many other variables which are all important as well, soil quality, weather, temps, water regimen etc.

beerloaf