Growing Arizona Hops - Questions

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

wulfsburg

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 28, 2010
Messages
273
Reaction score
2
Location
Phoenix
Hello all!!

I am pleased to announce that I planted some hops in my back yard, and one of them is doing exceptionally well.

I am pretty sure the huge plant is a Chinook variety and the other is a Cascade. My Mt. Hood died. So I have something eating my leaves. What is it? Any ideas? See picture below. I see some tiny little fruit fly looking flies that have

When will the cones taste/smell hoppy? I have pulled one off, it virtually had no smell, and when I ate it, it tasted like a leaf of lettuce. But not acidic/skunky at all.

Here is how I did it:

Extended my irrigation line that waters the other plants in the potter, turned on the watering 3 times a day for 15 minutes.
I planted in April ( I think), and at the base of the root, I put a piece of rebar in the ground. I then used steel rebar tie wire to tie a line from the ground to a screw in the fence about 5 feet up on the back wall.

They took off right away, and so I extended a piece of steel wire as high as I could reach with my crummy step ladder. I also had an old wooden trellis (I dont think its called that, but anyway) from a previous area in my yard and screwed it to the back wall, and then started training the vine onto it.

I did not clip or trim my plants in any way.

Do you think I will get a good yield? Also, when will the hops be ready for harvest? I can see a ton of cones and since it just rained here, the plant is looking better than ever.

Oh, and by the way, it is in a spot that gets about 6-7 hours of direct AZ sun a day.

Any input is appreciated!

Sorry, I am too lazy to re-upload the first photo. Just turn your head to the side. :)
plant.jpg


leaf.jpg


hopcone.jpg
 
Next time try selecting the two to four strongest bines as they come up and then cut back the rest. They will easily reach 15 feet tall with that much sun I'm willing to bet. This year I took a 6-foot T stake fence post and pounded it into the ground about 2.5 feet, and dropped a 12 foot length of ABS drainpipe over it after I'd put 4 eyebolts through the end at the top, and secured doubled hemp cord to each one. I staked them down about 6 feet from the pole. This is because I have 4 varieties growing and now they each have their own cord. I could have added another six feet to the pole however, because the bines are already 3 feet beyond the top. Next year for sure. You could try it with just the one pole for your plant.

Looks like insect damage is minimal so I'd live with it. No telling what it is, but from the looks I would rule out something like spider mites or aphids. Considering the rather lush foliage I think that if you water well and use Super Bloom you will get plenty of hops. Pick them without cutting the foliage back until it dies in the fall, then trim it to the ground. Try brewing with fresh cones (not dried). The aroma is awesome.
 
The damage on the leaves looks a lot like earwigs. You can always head out at night and inspect the plants and see what is munching them. I have been battling earwigs for a couple weeks now. I have to say i feel a little like Bill Murray in caddyshack minus the explosives(yet).
 
Glad to hear it is possible to grow hops in AZ. The hop cone pictured is barely out of the burr (spiney) stage - it is not ready for harvest. They will be larger than that and more fragrant and full of lupulin when ripe. When the cones are larger and squeeze easily, and bounce back - they are ready for harvest. Before that stage, they will not squeeze much at all. Hope this helps.
 
This question may have been posted earlier by me, and if so sorry, but I want to get any information that I can.

This is an old post, but to anyone out there in Arizona growing hops I have a question. Should they get shade? I have Cascade and Chinook, and so far they are doing great, but it is still early. I have them along the fence on the west side of the yard that gets shade in the afternoon. Any ideas would be helpful.
 
This question may have been posted earlier by me, and if so sorry, but I want to get any information that I can.

This is an old post, but to anyone out there in Arizona growing hops I have a question. Should they get shade? I have Cascade and Chinook, and so far they are doing great, but it is still early. I have them along the fence on the west side of the yard that gets shade in the afternoon. Any ideas would be helpful.

I have 5 cascade plants on the east side of my house. I'm out in Vail. They get sun from 7 to about noon and are doing great.

0601151714a.jpg


0601151712.jpg
 
Much more shade than sun! I have mine on the the east side of the house with a tall wall 6' away. The planters only see 2 hours of sun, and the tops at 12-15' get maybe 6 hours. They are thriving with a maze of sidearms and lots of cones. We will see how they do when the real heat hits. This weeks 100-108 didn't seem to phase them. I am watering every day now.
 
I have mine in a drip timer. The get 5 minutes of water every 6 hours and it has been working good for about a month. Tomorrow I'm leaving to Germany for 20 days and won't be here to baby them. Hope they survive and I get back before it's harvesting time!
 
Check this out on growing hops.

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tv7LyWJUNKE[/ame]
 
Thanks. I need to alter my hop garden so they can grow higher. I am about to exceed the limits that I currently have. Some are doing well, and the others are growing slower. I have shade cover to protect them, and I hope to get it up this weekend as I make my next beer. I do not plan to get much the first year, but if they do well I may plant more next spring.
 
You can tell when they are ready to harvest by doing a dry-matter test. With an accurate scale, weigh several freshly picked cones. Then let them dry out for about 24 hours and weigh them again. The difference in weight is a measure of the amount of water in the fresh cones. When the amount of water in the cones is 25% or less by weight, they are ready to pick.
Cheers!
Robert
www.theumamifactor.com
 
Trying to learn this blog, but here it is. Trying to upload video of my hop garden. Still trying to figure the best way to set it up. Last years only got around 8 ft tall by the end of July and died off. This year the cascade and chinook have grown bigger. I wanted to say thanks to the other people here that have given me ideas on growing hops. I live in Mesa AZ, and as of now my hops are growing great.

SAM_2318.jpg


SAM_2320.jpg


SAM_2314.jpg


SAM_2313.jpg
 
Trying to learn this blog, but here it is. Trying to upload video of my hop garden. Still trying to figure the best way to set it up. Last years only got around 8 ft tall by the end of July and died off. This year the cascade and chinook have grown bigger. I wanted to say thanks to the other people here that have given me ideas on growing hops. I live in Mesa AZ, and as of now my hops are growing great.

View attachment 283624

View attachment 283625

View attachment 283626

View attachment 283627

How did these do? I recently planted a Cascade
rhizome, and it is coming up just fine.

I'm also in Mesa, Mesa Drive and Southern area.

(Yes I DO realize this is an old thread.)

steve
 
How did these do? I recently planted a Cascade
rhizome, and it is coming up just fine.

I'm also in Mesa, Mesa Drive and Southern area.

(Yes I DO realize this is an old thread.)

steve

Where did you buy your Cascade rhizome?
 
@skou, thanks. I thought I was too late. I will watch to see when Adventures in Homebrewing start taking orders again....January 2020? At least I have some Cascade left that a friend grew in Wyoming. Last year was his first year so I would expect this year's crop to be larger.

Please post pictures as your Cascade grows.

Good luck!
 
Most shops pre-sell rhizomes the first few months of the year with delivery in April/early May so you have a long wait for new plants. I seem to think Great Lakes Hops sells deep into the season so you might be able to buy from them right now.
 
@mashpaddled, thanks for the info! I will call them later this morning. I'm guessing shipping to AZ will be way too hot since it will near 100F over the next two weeks where I am located. Plus, with the heat a young plant probably would not survive the summer in AZ at this point since it has not been established.

Shipping to CO would be better since over the next two weeks it is supposed to be about 20F cooler. Plus, the expected rain will help establish the plant when planted in CO and it would be a better environment to grow them there. Next year I could harvest some rhizomes from the CO location for the AZ location.

Do you know of any nurseries that currently carry and sell hop plants in the Denver area?
 
How did these do? I recently planted a Cascade
rhizome, and it is coming up just fine.

I'm also in Mesa, Mesa Drive and Southern area.

(Yes I DO realize this is an old thread.)

steve

Reviving an old thread...

How did your cascade do in the heat last summer? Do you have any pictures?
 
Back
Top