First season hop garden with pics and some questions

[sils13]

Just wanted to post some pics and ask a few questions

From left to right cascade / cascade / sterling / centennial / centennial



































first let me explain the awesome bines and the little guys we originally planted 5 rhizomes 3 of the 5 ended up rotting out so I put 3 new ones in and the took off so I'm hoping they at least get some good roots this summer for next year don't expect any yield. Hopefully it wont b a problem in the winter time with a minimal root system.

Something we wish we would have done was to build up a box around it all With the hill there it washes away a lot of dirt lucky we've had a super dry summer like mayb only a few inches of rain lol it's been ugly. I'm wondering if we should build it up b4 winter? Or wait till spring we will probably put quite a but of fill in and I don't want my roots to deep my thinking was wait till spring let them come up and then put in fill dirt would like to bring it up a couple inches at least! Just gonna mulch b4 winter after we pick!

Also was wondering if I should throw some miracle grow around worried about nutrients and the wash away I water probably 4-6 times a week.

Hope I didn't get to chatty I just start typing for first season I've been pretty happy hope to hear some feedback good or bad only way to improve thanx!

 

[sils13]

And next year we won't be putting a tomato plant near by lol

 

[LeSinge]

Looks pretty good, alot better than my very first year (I thought a couple tomato cages would work...no internet back then haha)
I would strongly urge you to box 'em up for next year, those roots will take over your yard really quickly without any form of containment.
...and it will be a perfect time to pump up your soil with some compost.
I interplant with chives, garlic, clover and other herbs, and right about harvest, beans & peas (for nitrogen).
Be careful with fertilizer if you're not watering often (looks like you do tho), but now is the time to get them some Potassium and Nitrogen to help your yields.

 

[sils13]

Thanks for the reply happy for good info. I tossed some fertilizer on today and just a lil water. Noticed that the comes are getting huge in just the last couple of days! Would love to build the box this year but with a wedding in a October things have been a lil busy. Would I be able to just build up a few inches of dirt and then cut back the shoot at the new level and then mulch over it for winter?

 

[sils13]

Minor disaster today twine broke



All fixed lol lil inginuity

 

[sils13]

Just picked 2 vines today had a bunch turning brown so we thought we would just go to town and pick all from that rhyzome
Put these in the garage for the night with a dehumidifier gonna get some fans tomorrow after work and more filters I ran out of room oops was expecting this today lol
Enjoy! Cheers!
Open for thoughts

 

[CentralWABrewing]

Hops look great.
Yes, nitrogen is your hops best friend. You can easily "cheat"(I don't think it is) with MiracleGro.
I wouldn't worry too much about covering them up for winter. Hops are a unique bread of plants. They do best on the extremes. Grow like heck when hot as heck and prefer a time of good freezing. This helps store energy in the roots for the next season. Up here(a little above Yakima), we have triple digits summers and single to negative digits winters. The hops love it.