Early sprouts.

[Jako]

Any tips on maintaining early sprouts? I had my hops stored in my garage and I think they liked the warm temps and are starting to grow fast? Any tips or ideas to keep them healthy? How cold can it get before I should move them back into the garage?

 

[tellyho]

Hops are hardy AF. You do not need to worry about them. In fact, you mostly need to worry about how to keep them from taking over the world if they're in the ground (which it sounds like yours aren't).

If you need to, I am sure you could cut all of the current bines off and they would still grow fine this year (with sufficient water and fertilization, of course).

 

[Jako]

Hops are hardy AF. You do not need to worry about them. In fact, you mostly need to worry about how to keep them from taking over the world if they're in the ground (which it sounds like yours aren't).

If you need to, I am sure you could cut all of the current bines off and they would still grow fine this year (with sufficient water and fertilization, of course).

Thank you for the response, its a second year plant and i think this year i plan to start two more varieties in other big pots.

Any side effects of an early start? last year the plant started going late in the season and its growth stopped early also had lots of spider mites so i hope to do better this year.

 

[Northern_Brewer]

Remember they're temperate plants that benefit from a bit of frost and plants in the ground in Europe will certainly be seeing <-10C (15F) and surviving, although plants in pots will be less tolerant than in the ground. Heat is more of an issue, they start getting a bit stressed above 30C (85F) and properly miserable above 40C (105F).

 

[Jako]

Remember they're temperate plants that benefit from a bit of frost and plants in the ground in Europe will certainly be seeing <-10C (15F) and surviving, although plants in pots will be less tolerant than in the ground. Heat is more of an issue, they start getting a bit stressed above 30C (85F) and properly miserable above 40C (105F).

Thank you, excited for this year. I was planning on building trellis for the hops but I ran out of time dealing with my home builder and the issues with the build quality.

Unfortunately utah gets pretty toasty in the summer. Should I think of finding a different place for the hops to grow besides the side of my house to help with heat reflecting and roasting the hops?

I have an acre to work with and hope to get some healthy quality hops to help offset cost and having to travel an hour to the LHBS.

 

[Northern_Brewer]

If you search this board for Utah you'll find a couple of folks nearby who have probably more relevant experience, although from memory most of them seem to be up in the hills where temperature is a bit less of an issue.

But broadly, the main aim seems to be to shade them from the noonday sun, in Australia it seems quite common for commercial growers to mist them. Also water is an issue, they are thirsty, hungry plants. US varieties - particular those with neomexicanus heritage - should do better than European varieties.

 

[tellyho]

I think it all depends on how usable you want the flowers to be. My hops are planted at my foundation, grow up to the roof of my porch, and their main function is shade for the porch. I pick them all at the end of the summer and make one garbage pail ale out of them. AA presence is dicey, so I don't count on much bittering from them. I'm sure if I did more than fertilize in the spring I could probably get a more reliable product. It's not a priority for me. Mostly a novelty plant.

 

[Kent88]

I am going to start taking them out on warm days and putting them in the garage at night.

 

[RPh_Guy]

Remember they're temperate plants that benefit from a bit of frost and plants in the ground in Europe will certainly be seeing <-10C (15F) and surviving, although plants in pots will be less tolerant than in the ground. Heat is more of an issue, they start getting a bit stressed above 30C (85F) and properly miserable above 40C (105F).

May I ask where you're finding this kind of info? I haven't come across any good online guides for hop growing.

 

[Ruint]

That's cuz they want you to buy the books RPh...lol...I bought all kinds of them. Unless you have the means to time those events, and then be able to provide the maintenance applications of mold and mildew fungicide, I wouldn't worry about it. Powdery mildew is known to occur more on the west coast, where as downy is more prominent towards the east. I can attest to that, at least for downy. Wet conditions, like humidity, or frequent rain, is ideal for downy growth, at the correct temps. Those temps range from 45 degrees Fahrenheit to 86 or damn close to it. Downy does not do well if it is dry.

 

[mashpaddled]

Depending on your altitude and latitude in Utah you might not need to bring the hops in over the winter. I am in Denver and grow in half barrels and leave them out in the yard. Granted we are dry so they get warmed up in the day and they grow sheltered in a fairly small enclosed backyard so YMMV.

 

[Northern_Brewer]

May I ask where you're finding this kind of info? I haven't come across any good online guides for hop growing.

There are sources of information that aren't online!

 

[Sylvain]

what ?

 

[B-Hoppy]

May I ask where you're finding this kind of info? I haven't come across any good online guides for hop growing.

Most of what you see online is nonsense unless it comes from a reliable source. Now that some universities outside the PNW have had 10 or so years to perform a little research in conjunction with the folks from the PNW, some useful data is being produced.

The bug bit me in the late 80's when I found some wild hops growing in a hedgerow in Upstate NY. Having just started homebrewing a year or so earlier, I wanted to learn about them and possibly use my recently earned, shiny new BS Agronomy degree to grow and cut down on my ingredient expenses. At that point, Al Gore hadn't yet invented the internet so I knocked on doors, made phone calls and sent letters, one of which went to Vaclav Fric and low and behold, he sent me some Osvald clones and a few males, lol! Next was to visit the PNW and speak to folks at the USDA farm at Oregon State where Al Haunold was in the midst of breeding a replacement for Tettnang-type hops that could be grown in the Willamette Valley in order to get away from the potential inconsistencies in the supply chain due to the lack of irrigation infrastructure in Germany. Then, many summer vacations spent visiting the Oregon Brewers Festival throughout the 90's lead to a great relationship with the folks at Hopunion and others in the industry, and along with that came lots of small talk over some awesome beers about what was new and exciting in the industry.

In about 2010 I started a small company selling hop candy and decided to grouse around some homebrewing forums to see if anyone was talking about hops, maybe I could share some info and get the candy some exposure. To my surprise, what I found were a bunch of experts who, in a year or two, managed to accumulate more knowledge (from online sources) than I could have ever dreamed of, lolol... So, unless you see it first hand or know that it's coming from a reputable source . . . ? I'm about half ways to Pittsburgh from Cleveland, stop down after the scare is over and check out the freak show!!!

 

[CodeSection]

View attachment 672727

I am going to start taking them out on warm days and putting them in the garage at night.

How old are those plants? Do you plan on trimming them back to remove the bull bines?

 

[CodeSection]

....In about 2010 I started a small company selling hop candy and decided to grouse around some homebrewing forums to see if anyone was talking about hops, maybe I could share some info and get the candy some exposure....

Are you still selling hop candy? Is it anything like this? https://www.morebeer.com/products/hop-candy-4-oz.html

 

[Kent88]

How old are those plants? Do you plan on trimming them back to remove the bull bines?

I think this is their 4th season. I'll trim them, probably in a month.

 

[B-Hoppy]

Are you still selling hop candy? Is it anything like this? https://www.morebeer.com/products/hop-candy-4-oz.html

It's pretty much run it's course, but that's it. Here's another link from a while back: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/hop-candy-recipe.273942/

 

[CodeSection]

It's pretty much run it's course, but that's it. Here's another link from a while back: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/hop-candy-recipe.273942/

Thanks for the link! Very nice presentation. How did they taste?

 

[RPh_Guy]

Wow. I didn't expect these kinds of responses.

That's cuz they want you to buy the books RPh...lol...I bought all kinds of them.

So.... Which books are good?

There are sources of information that aren't online!

Says the random guy on the internet unable/unwilling to cite sources for his random information he posts to an online forum.

The implication that I don't know that there are off-line sources of information isn't appreciated.

To my surprise, what I found were a bunch of experts who, in a year or two, managed to accumulate more knowledge (from online sources) than I could have ever dreamed of, lolol...

That's sarcasm, right?

The only way to get reliable info to help grow my one hop plant is to travel the country forming a network with academics and professional hop growers?

 

[Ruint]

Lmao at that last part @RPh_Guy !! I learned basics from the books, like nutritional needs and recommendations. I learned the hard way that most were under estimated!! The Hop Grower's Handbook is probably one I would suggest. The Compendium of Diseases and Pests is good for helping identify maladies. Do not know if you have an agricultural help office near you, mine is teamed up with Cornell University Cooperative Extension, so not a great information source, but you may be able to get something worth the time of a phone call or email.

 

[CodeSection]

@RPh_Guy, I search and search, read everything I can, watch YouTube videos and as you well know, ask question after question. I would like more info from actual growers in my area. My problem is they are no longer active HBT members.

Perhaps it might be useful if they was a sticky that pertained to growing hops in different parts of the country or regions....Don't be discouraged!

 

[CodeSection]

Lmao at that last part @RPh_Guy !! I learned basics from the books, like nutritional needs and recommendations. I learned the hard way that most were under estimated!! The Hip Grower's Handbook is probably one I would suggest. The Compendium of Diseases and Pests is good for helping identify maladies. Do not know if you have an agricultural help office near you, mine is teamed up with Cornell University Cooperative Extension, so not a great information source, but you may be able to get something worth the time of a phone call or email.

https://www.amazon.com/Hop-Growers-Handbook-Sustainable-Small-Scale/dp/1603585559 Unfortunately, it doesn't show a table of contents, chapters or much of anything. Do you have a copy that you could see if there is any information about growing hops in different parts of the country?

 

[Ruint]

This is a picture of the table of contents from Hop Grower's

 

[B-Hoppy]

Thanks for the link! Very nice presentation. How did they taste?

Well, probably not as good as the folks who talked me into starting the business thought, lol! A product dealing with sensory is always a gamble as everyone tastes, smells, perceives etc differently. It's hard to describe but think of having your head buried in your boiler as you gather up all the spent hops after brewing a heavily late-hopped beer, if that smell could be transformed into a taste (without the bitterness), that's basically what they taste like. Folks seemed to love or hate them and I came to the conclusion that it was most likely a flavor that they weren't expecting, was actually very fun watching the reactions when I was at events like the homebrew conferences and such!

That's sarcasm, right?

The only way to get reliable info to help grow my one hop plant is to travel the country forming a network with academics and professional hop growers?

Sarcasm, I guess? I'm just very passionate about certain things like hops and the dislike of the ability to spread misinformation (especially with this vehicle called the internet). The candy happened by accident, but having a small biz that dealt with hops became my ticket to attend events like the international hop symposium in Yakima back in 2015 where I actually ran into the guy who took over for Dr Fric at the hop research center in Zatec. Too funny, he sternly corrected my few pronunciation mistakes and now I know the "c" in Fric and Zatec are 'soft' rather than 'hard' c's, (you had to be there).

The other issue is that a lot of people think like that bloomberg guy, "you just throw a seed in the ground and cover it with dirt" when it comes to plants. I recently came across the term "plant blindness", and have experienced it's ramifications since I left college and was thrust into dealing with the general public through my work, I just never knew there was an actual word for it. Don't get me wrong, gardening is an awesome hobby for folks to have, but there's quite a lot more that goes into growing plants than most folks could ever fathom. And hops, well they're probably one of the most difficult crops to do right being that they have all these different quirks that can be exacerbated through the impact of minor changes in cultural practices, soil types, abiotic stresses etc. Here's some info from a 'farmer': https://www.uvm.edu/sites/default/f...m/Presentations/jason-perrault-transcript.pdf

I would suggest keeping in touch with the Ohio Hop Growers Guild (their annual conference was in Cleveland two years ago), MSU Extension has a HOP information page that's loaded with good info, Cornell and the Northeast Hop Alliance: https://modernfarmer.com/2019/07/new-york-farmers-hope-to-discover-new-hops/. Also, it was announced last winter that the State Line Brewers Guild and The BrewKettle each are contracted for .5 acres of two of the selections that came out of my backyard breeding efforts. So the info is out there, you just have to dig for some of it, hope this helps.

 

[RPh_Guy]

dislike of the ability to spread misinformation (especially with this vehicle called the internet).

You aren't the only one, but the Internet is a tool like anything else. I'm building a brewing encyclopedia website to spread correct information, based on science.

I know there's a lot more to growing than just "stick it in the ground". That's why I'm looking to learn some basics from a reliable source.

Thanks for the sources.
Cheers

 

[B-Hoppy]

Good luck with the encyclopedia!