Getting ready to plant some hops... A few questions first!

[Anthony_Lopez]

So I spoke with my father who has a good bit of land, and he said he'd let me grop some hops on his property. I know the standard sunlight hours for hops is ~8 hrs, however would they grow well in shade? My father has a good bit of pine tree forest surrounding his house, and I'd like to keep it out of the way if possible...

Thanks!

 

[Soulive]

Just my 2 cents; I have 2 Cascade plants in one spot and one of them gets about 2 hours more in the shade than the other one. The one that gets more sun grows noticeably better...

 

[FSR402]

Almost all of them need a lot of sun.

 

[david_42]

Ideally, hops need 15-16 hours of direct sun. Also, pine tends to make the soil acidic, so it would need some work. Sunlight is energy, energy is crop yield.

 

[Anthony_Lopez]

Agreed... I was just wondering what the effect of pine and shade might be on a few plants. Since it is my Dad's house, I wanted to put it in a place that might be a little less intrusive on his property.

 

[Smogre]

I would avoid it. Give them as much sun as possible.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

They can be grown in shade but do prefer full direct sun.

Geography?

In really hot dry climates it's better to plant in some shade to partial sun. Why?

Because otherwise the plant can dry out before it has the chance to take the water up to the highest portions of the plant, where the majority of cones should form. Shade can help to alleviate this.

I agree with the pine acidity but, that too can be compensated for. The trees might also help provide sopme wind break for the plants if you are in a really windy location. The pine needles, when used on adjusted soils, could be used as an organic mulch.

I say try it but, if you see that the plants are struggling move them ASAP.