gnarlyhopper
Active Member
Hi,
My first year growing hops. Centennial, Tettnanger, Hallertauer, Willamette.
All in pots for now, planning to move to a place that has more light. Currently located in a north-south valley; that means late sun rise (7:30 AM), followed by early sunset. Complicating my hours of sun schedule is the greenbelt of evergreen trees to the south and west; my longest hours of available direct sun is within 30 days of summer solstice.
I make it a habit to visit those hops at least once per day, with a cup of coffee in my hand. I look them over for any signs of something amiss. With daily
inspections, it's tough for any problem to get out of hand. In the last week I manged to stop some caterpillars at the "tiny" stage. Pinholes showed up on the leaves of the largest plant I have, so I tuned the leaves over and found two 3/16" long caterpillars. I gently rolled them off the leaves and unceremoniously crushed them into the deck with my shoe. The holes haven't grown in size or number since. This morning, I saw another single caterpillar of the same size as the last ones, and it got the same treatment. This particular plant was my Golden Hops that I grow for entertainment purposes. Came as a mini crown started in a 6" pot a year ago in April. Went immediately to a 5-gallon pot where it is today. Bines (I trained up 5 this season) have climbed the twine to within 6 inches of the railing on the deck above. Keep in mind that we had frost on the mornings of May 11 and 12, and stretches of rain for days at a time with not even a sun break.
The production hops are all potted starts from this year. The Tettnanger and Hallertauer both came from a nursery that had re-potted them last year. While they looked OK earlier in the spring in their 6" square pots, they began producing juvenile leaves (no points) after they were brought out from the greenhouse. A worker there assured me that they were in good soil; however, outdoors the slow-draining soil holds back root development. So they got planted in 5 gallon pots in a mixture of compost, potting soil, and lots of pumice. This way I can water when needed, and avoid the root zone being waterlogged if we get persistent rain and cool temperatures. I will be putting all the potted hops on an automatic drip watering system to keep the soil evenly moist.
Just started fish fertilizer yesterday to give them more nitrogen. I want to push nitrogen until about a week before the solstice, then switch over to a bloom-type fertilizer. This should help support the hops natural inclination to work on flowering as the days start to shorten after the solstice.
The Centennial plant is about 6' tall (including that 5-gallon pot), but is really starting to pick up speed. I expect to see mature leaves in a week or so. Tettnager is still trying to figure out what it is going to do, crawling along about a foot shorter than the Centennial. Stem is smaller in diameter. The Hallertauer is going rather slow as well, probably still picking it's way through the mud it was planted in. Once the roots get out of that stuff, they should speed up. Before you get vigorous top growth, you need vigorous root and rhizome growth.
Back to the Golden. It has a bine just starting to show at the edge of the pot. If I keep this plant, it will have to go into a 20-gallon pot in the fall. I hope to see the same action from the others by next spring- filling in the 5-gallon pots and demanding more room. With it's arrival at the top railing, the Golden is going from 3-point leaves to 5-point leaves. With about a month to go before solstice, it looks like I will need to add more twine, connecting the deck railing to the 2x8 fascia board on the main roof to allow the plant to climb more. It will end up at about a 40-degree angle. That should give an additional 12 feet if it wants to use it. Last year it made it up to the top of the railing only, lost momentum, and flowered along the main bine without adding side arms. I don't even know if the Golden produces any real side arms, but I figure I will find out this year! Last year the flowers appeared singly either side of the node. I could have chosen to harvest the cones, but it would have amounted to just enough to ask myself why I even bothered. Since I wasn't brewing last year, it wouldn't have been worth it. Currently the lower leaves are going from a bright gold to brown. This happened last year as well. Although temps warm in the spring here, there is little sun early on. Rainy, drizzly, or cloudy days. By the time any real "hot" sunshine appears, the plant has gone up the twine 3 -4 feet. But the leaves have developed with limited light. Then the angry sun comes along and scorches those leaves. First they become bright yellow, then they begin to turn brown, then fall off. So the bottom 3' of leaves strip themselves. The "production" plants so no such inclination. All the leaves are uniformly dark green, although they have gone form greenhouse to outdoors to my south deck, where the sun does have impact (when it finally appears).
To me, gardening is all about a personal "relationship" between the gardener and the plants, No, not some sort of "Zen" thing- it's just a matter of providing what you can for you plants to maintain them in optimal health by giving them optimal conditions to the best of your ability. Although hops can "grow like weeds", they still need frequent inspection. Even in locales where they naturally grow very well, they still can be overwhelmed by pests and disease of left as a "set it and forget it" plant. Any damage that is allowed on the plant will have an effect on it's ultimate production. If you want more from your hop plants than hop plants, spend the time with them. If you have to be away, designate a person to take your place.
If you find insects setting up shop to rob you of lupulin, rub them off the leaves before they cause grief. If you find mechanical damage (chewing) and no insects, try catching them in the act after dark. If that isn't it, perhaps some snail/slug type has developed a taste for hop plants and does it's dirty work in the rain. Slugs love beer; it's a good thing they are slow enough for you to keep your pints out of their reach. But if you take some left over beer
and set it out for them, they will come running, and in their ecstasy and enthusiasm for the beer, drown themselves. A large beer bottle on it's side with stale beer (or reasonably failed beer should work, too-as long as it isn't so bad that even the SLUGS run away) should distract them from your hops. When and if you have dry periods, the slugs should stay away. That is, if you aren't watering with a sprinkler. Then you may make them a problem for the entire growing season. I would think that drip watering would be best, minimizing damp foliage and puddled water that can encourage mildew problems. Once my "producers" are producing, I will mulch the ground with pumice to keep the surface of the ground dry. This will not be a real issue in other places, where dry breezes lick up all the humidity it can, but for my area, it should be a lot of help.
So, if you want hops from your plants, pay attention to them. They are best observed in their natural habitat while relaxing without worry enjoying a homebrew.
gnarlyhopper
My first year growing hops. Centennial, Tettnanger, Hallertauer, Willamette.
All in pots for now, planning to move to a place that has more light. Currently located in a north-south valley; that means late sun rise (7:30 AM), followed by early sunset. Complicating my hours of sun schedule is the greenbelt of evergreen trees to the south and west; my longest hours of available direct sun is within 30 days of summer solstice.
I make it a habit to visit those hops at least once per day, with a cup of coffee in my hand. I look them over for any signs of something amiss. With daily
inspections, it's tough for any problem to get out of hand. In the last week I manged to stop some caterpillars at the "tiny" stage. Pinholes showed up on the leaves of the largest plant I have, so I tuned the leaves over and found two 3/16" long caterpillars. I gently rolled them off the leaves and unceremoniously crushed them into the deck with my shoe. The holes haven't grown in size or number since. This morning, I saw another single caterpillar of the same size as the last ones, and it got the same treatment. This particular plant was my Golden Hops that I grow for entertainment purposes. Came as a mini crown started in a 6" pot a year ago in April. Went immediately to a 5-gallon pot where it is today. Bines (I trained up 5 this season) have climbed the twine to within 6 inches of the railing on the deck above. Keep in mind that we had frost on the mornings of May 11 and 12, and stretches of rain for days at a time with not even a sun break.
The production hops are all potted starts from this year. The Tettnanger and Hallertauer both came from a nursery that had re-potted them last year. While they looked OK earlier in the spring in their 6" square pots, they began producing juvenile leaves (no points) after they were brought out from the greenhouse. A worker there assured me that they were in good soil; however, outdoors the slow-draining soil holds back root development. So they got planted in 5 gallon pots in a mixture of compost, potting soil, and lots of pumice. This way I can water when needed, and avoid the root zone being waterlogged if we get persistent rain and cool temperatures. I will be putting all the potted hops on an automatic drip watering system to keep the soil evenly moist.
Just started fish fertilizer yesterday to give them more nitrogen. I want to push nitrogen until about a week before the solstice, then switch over to a bloom-type fertilizer. This should help support the hops natural inclination to work on flowering as the days start to shorten after the solstice.
The Centennial plant is about 6' tall (including that 5-gallon pot), but is really starting to pick up speed. I expect to see mature leaves in a week or so. Tettnager is still trying to figure out what it is going to do, crawling along about a foot shorter than the Centennial. Stem is smaller in diameter. The Hallertauer is going rather slow as well, probably still picking it's way through the mud it was planted in. Once the roots get out of that stuff, they should speed up. Before you get vigorous top growth, you need vigorous root and rhizome growth.
Back to the Golden. It has a bine just starting to show at the edge of the pot. If I keep this plant, it will have to go into a 20-gallon pot in the fall. I hope to see the same action from the others by next spring- filling in the 5-gallon pots and demanding more room. With it's arrival at the top railing, the Golden is going from 3-point leaves to 5-point leaves. With about a month to go before solstice, it looks like I will need to add more twine, connecting the deck railing to the 2x8 fascia board on the main roof to allow the plant to climb more. It will end up at about a 40-degree angle. That should give an additional 12 feet if it wants to use it. Last year it made it up to the top of the railing only, lost momentum, and flowered along the main bine without adding side arms. I don't even know if the Golden produces any real side arms, but I figure I will find out this year! Last year the flowers appeared singly either side of the node. I could have chosen to harvest the cones, but it would have amounted to just enough to ask myself why I even bothered. Since I wasn't brewing last year, it wouldn't have been worth it. Currently the lower leaves are going from a bright gold to brown. This happened last year as well. Although temps warm in the spring here, there is little sun early on. Rainy, drizzly, or cloudy days. By the time any real "hot" sunshine appears, the plant has gone up the twine 3 -4 feet. But the leaves have developed with limited light. Then the angry sun comes along and scorches those leaves. First they become bright yellow, then they begin to turn brown, then fall off. So the bottom 3' of leaves strip themselves. The "production" plants so no such inclination. All the leaves are uniformly dark green, although they have gone form greenhouse to outdoors to my south deck, where the sun does have impact (when it finally appears).
To me, gardening is all about a personal "relationship" between the gardener and the plants, No, not some sort of "Zen" thing- it's just a matter of providing what you can for you plants to maintain them in optimal health by giving them optimal conditions to the best of your ability. Although hops can "grow like weeds", they still need frequent inspection. Even in locales where they naturally grow very well, they still can be overwhelmed by pests and disease of left as a "set it and forget it" plant. Any damage that is allowed on the plant will have an effect on it's ultimate production. If you want more from your hop plants than hop plants, spend the time with them. If you have to be away, designate a person to take your place.
If you find insects setting up shop to rob you of lupulin, rub them off the leaves before they cause grief. If you find mechanical damage (chewing) and no insects, try catching them in the act after dark. If that isn't it, perhaps some snail/slug type has developed a taste for hop plants and does it's dirty work in the rain. Slugs love beer; it's a good thing they are slow enough for you to keep your pints out of their reach. But if you take some left over beer
and set it out for them, they will come running, and in their ecstasy and enthusiasm for the beer, drown themselves. A large beer bottle on it's side with stale beer (or reasonably failed beer should work, too-as long as it isn't so bad that even the SLUGS run away) should distract them from your hops. When and if you have dry periods, the slugs should stay away. That is, if you aren't watering with a sprinkler. Then you may make them a problem for the entire growing season. I would think that drip watering would be best, minimizing damp foliage and puddled water that can encourage mildew problems. Once my "producers" are producing, I will mulch the ground with pumice to keep the surface of the ground dry. This will not be a real issue in other places, where dry breezes lick up all the humidity it can, but for my area, it should be a lot of help.
So, if you want hops from your plants, pay attention to them. They are best observed in their natural habitat while relaxing without worry enjoying a homebrew.
gnarlyhopper
