Concensus

[GilaMinumBeer]

It's April 6. Average last frost for OKC is April 15.

It's that time of year where I always debate myself on whether I should make a selection from the bines that are reaching for the sun now, or decapitate themn all until after the 15th.

Last year I rolled and lost. I let them grow and we had a late frost and freezing rain. The plants withered down and took until about May to re-emerge.

This coming weekend we have a prediction for frost but only a low of 39*F.

so, what say you HBT Hop bretheren? Should they stay, or should they go?

I will, however, be harvesting some shoots for a weekend cook out.

 

[beerocd]

Could you pile up some mulch around it for another week? Or cover them with a bucket overnight, like an individual greenhouse per plant? Or both?

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

Nope.

Imagine a medusa head with the serpents writhing in every direction aimlessly.

Now imagine it with hundreds of serpents all 2 to 3 foot long and standing over a foot tall.

Now imagine 13 of those in a row.

I had considered last year devising some sort of cold frame for this raised garden but do not have the materials or time to implement that now.

It's either the chop or ride it out.

 

[bob1852]

I have no opinion other than you spelled consensus wrong

my first year rhizomes didn't do crap last year. I hope it's better this year.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

I have no opinion other than you spelled consensus wrong

my first year rhizomes didn't do crap last year. I hope it's better this year.

I spelled it just the way I typoed it.

Most of these are 3rd year and are insane with vogour. The first 3 years has been tough. Oklahoma is NOT ideal for these plants.

 

[beerocd]

Seems, like you'll be chopping. You probably don't have a roll of plastic or anything for the support hoops either.

Whack Every other plant - play the odds. Spread out the harvest.

 

[Randar]

This coming weekend we have a prediction for frost but only a low of 39*F.

Our average last frost date north of Chicago is May 7-10th... and I have bines that are 2 feet long already.

If you roll the dice be prepared to cover them with buckets or whathaveyou.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

Seems, like you'll be chopping. You probably don't have a roll of plastic or anything for the support hoops either.

Whack Every other plant - play the odds. Spread out the harvest.

I do have plastic. But nothing for the hoops. Have looked at materials but nothing seems sturdy enough to combat the possibilities of wind, snow, and ice. all possible this late in the year.

And, it's a raised bed (18 inches), 50 foot long, with a 4x dead center.

the only saving grace is that the garden is protected on 3 sides by either the house or a fence.

 

[frazier]

SWMBO's plan is to toss old bedsheets over them on those risky nights. Do you have anything like that on hand?

 

[B-Hoppy]

just a few thoughts:

as the plants mature, each year you will notice more and more shoots coming up. you could roll the dice and string up the first growth, hoping they don't get frosted. if they do get frosted, you know more will come and take their place. remove all of the first growth (common practice at my little yard) then a couple weeks later string up what has come up since then. generally, by removing all of the first few weeks of growth, maturity at harvest time will be more uniform resulting in a better crop. remember, once they've been in the ground a couple of years, they are pretty hardy and difficult to kill.

here are a couple sources for growing info:


http://www.freshops.com/hop-growing/hop-gardening

http://www.oregonhops.org/culture2.html

 

[jgourd]

I do have plastic. But nothing for the hoops. Have looked at materials but nothing seems sturdy enough to combat the possibilities of wind, snow, and ice. all possible this late in the year.

And, it's a raised bed (18 inches), 50 foot long, with a 4x dead center.

the only saving grace is that the garden is protected on 3 sides by either the house or a fence.

Simple PVC (maybe 3/4" to 1" schedule 160) with re-bar securing it to the ground. I do it all the time. Wind rides right over it.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

Yup. I chopped em.

Was mucking about yesterday in teh yards and noticed I had no bines short enough to harvest for eating. So, chop chop and it's done.

With this weather coming in and some work I need to do to restring my trellis line I decided it's best to force out the deeper growth than try to train what was there already.

 

[HoppyDaze]

Im going to experiment with this....I have a three big half barrels that have good growth already. On my nugget plant, the one that started the earliest but has the weakest looking bines, Im going to cut all of the shoots down and let it start over. Im not concerned with them dying due to frost or anything I just want to note any differences in the way the plants grow

 

[Randar]

With this weather coming in and some work I need to do to restring my trellis line I decided it's best to force out the deeper growth than try to train what was there already.

I have overnight lows of 37 and 34 the next 2 nights so I imagine the weather is gonna be doing my pruning for me.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

sucks donit?

 

[HoppyDaze]

I have overnight lows of 37 and 34 the next 2 nights so I imagine the weather is gonna be doing my pruning for me.

Those temperatures will not harm your hops. Thats not even freezing! and, small amounts of frost likely won't do any harm either

 

[Randar]

Those temperatures will not harm your hops. Thats not even freezing! and, small amounts of frost likely won't do any harm either

You may be right, but where I am is usually a couple degrees cooler than the forecast. Luckily the ground is quite warm. Not out of the woods yet. I have a full month before the almanac says I am clear!

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

Yeah. Low temps I don;t worry about. Heavy frost I do.

 

[Retrofit]

Simple PVC (maybe 3/4" to 1" schedule 160) with re-bar securing it to the ground. I do it all the time. Wind rides right over it.

Beat me to it. I've done this. I've used 1/2" pvc, it doesn't need to be sturdy, this isn't a trellis. On top, I used a painter's plastic tarp. Maybe $5 for a 10'*50' run. Cut holes in it so the water doesn't make the whole thing collapse.

It's a cheap, it works, it's cheap and it works.

 

[beerocd]

I put buckets over 3 plants (3 C's), the other 3 (fuggles, sterling, willamette) haven't popped out yet. Did painter's plastic over the lettuce. Letting the garlic fend for itself.

 

[HopBlooded]

We get frost in Yakima at least through late April and often into May. It shouldn't hurt the plant if your crowns are big enough (i.e., putting out lots of shoots). Commercial hop growers burn back the current shoots and we won't start training shoots up the twine until May. The further south you go, the earlier this will happen (day length and whatnot), but I wouldn't worry a ton about frost. Hop shoots aren't like fruit blossoms. You get more than one shot at it.

That leads me to another question. How many rhizomes are you using per hill? One is probably not enough to get an adequate number of shoots.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

We get frost in Yakima at least through late April and often into May. It shouldn't hurt the plant if your crowns are big enough (i.e., putting out lots of shoots). Commercial hop growers burn back the current shoots and we won't start training shoots up the twine until May. The further south you go, the earlier this will happen (day length and whatnot), but I wouldn't worry a ton about frost. Hop shoots aren't like fruit blossoms. You get more than one shot at it.

That leads me to another question. How many rhizomes are you using per hill? One is probably not enough to get an adequate number of shoots.

Most of mine started life as a single rhisome.

You'd be surprised how much one of those buggers grows in a year under the surface.

 

[buzzkill]

mine are all as tall as I am right now. and I am letting them grow. but I may just crap out on this roll.

 

[HopBlooded]

Most of mine started life as a single rhisome.

You'd be surprised how much one of those buggers grows in a year under the surface.

I know how big of a root system they can put out, but imagine how many more shoots you'd get with 4 rhizomes per hill...

 

[Randar]

That leads me to another question. How many rhizomes are you using per hill? One is probably not enough to get an adequate number of shoots.

One is plenty if you're willing to wait and also willing to roll the dice that the one little twig you stuck in the ground will survive. I have started my mounds with one or 2 rhizomes per mound at the start, but I really only used 2 in order to mitigate the risk of failure for the first year and ensure my second year is a fully established mound.

But, once the mound is 2-3 years old, you would never be able to tell if it was 1 or 2 rhizomes at the start as it is one big tangled mess.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

I know how big of a root system they can put out, but imagine how many more shoots you'd get with 4 rhizomes per hill...

Meh. My 3 year old crown are putting off 100's of shoots.

I only need 6.

 

[Randar]

Meh. My 3 year old crown are putting off 100's of shoots.

Yep. I couldn't even tell the difference between 2nd year crowns that had one or 2 rhizomes except sometimes the shoots start coming up farther from the top of the crown earlier on the 2 rhizome crowns as I planted them off-center from the top of the crown compared to the 1-rhizome crowns. Wow, that's a lot of crowns for one sentence!

Anyways, I think as long as you can get them started and have a good first year with one per mound, that's all you need. I had 30-40% of my rhizomes never take hold my first year so in subsequent plantings I went with 2 rhizomes per mound (or 1 jumbo) to ensure at least one took hold properly.