First small hop farm. Help Please. Questions

[Slimasaurus]

I'm curious once you have the hops do you plan on drying them yourself? How do you plan on selling them, is there a distributor you can sell to that sells them to the end user or will you do that?

 

[syd138]

Awesome thread.. I anxious to see how these will be next year, once they are more established.

 

[steloco]

First of all sorry it took me a little while to get back to you. I have been busy maintaining the hops yard and building an oast to dry hops.
@ Slimasaurus: Currently I am drying them myself with a simple screen setup and a few fans. I am planning on selling locally in the future but quite haven't gotten that far yet. I have a local brewery.

@ syd138: Thank you! Lots of work but I am hoping it will all pay off next year. Thanks for checking in!

 

[Puddlethumper]

Did your Zeus ever get going?

 

[steloco]

Believe it or not, Zeus not only ended up being are tallest but also are best producer. Almost all the Zeus ended up being 19 feet tall.

 

[ianw58]

Where are you located? The area looks familiar. Near Aguanga?

 

[ajlee]

Edit: Found my own answer. Looks like plants average about two pounds of hops each.

 

[aamsden]

Good amount of plants to start with. I started with 250 a few years ago and up to 2800 now. I agree, no need to use stainless cable, I use galv cable and it is doing fine. plus at least half the price. Be careful with natural bailing twine, if you instal your rope the middle of may and start harvest the middle to end of August the twine will rot and come on done with your plants 14 or 15 ft. tall, its a real pain in the butt trying to save them. I use a 1/4" mania rope so I can compost it the end of the season. A few rot right where the W clip holds them in the ground.

Happy growing

 

[steloco]

Here's a update, lots more pics on the way...