Growing hops from seed

[PapaBearJay]

That there is a boy! Additionally, the light range for flowering varies and males have anecdotally been reported to be daylength-insensitive. Also, many of the South African hop varieties have been bred to be daylength-insensitive due to the limited fluctuation in daylength near the equator.

 

[Texconsinite]

You were talking about how hop leaves are in odd numbers. Look at this Neo1. I just noticed most of the bigger leaves are 4

 

[Texconsinite]

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1463957519.421334.jpg

 

[alane1]

While true, those are immature leaves. They will soon change to 5 lobes

 

[Texconsinite]

Any update on the hops this season, nagmay?

 

[nagmay]

Any update on the hops this season, nagmay?

Funny you should ask. I just went out to the experimental hop yard this weekend. Everything looks really good. Lots of burs - and - there were even a few full size cones on a neomexicanus/nugget cross. I try to post some pics later in the week.

 

[nagmay]

Okay... Lots of pics, so I split this up between a few posts.

In the spring, we dug out all the plants from the 2 hop yards and selected 42 contenders from the initial hundreds. We were not gentle with the crowns at the time, yet they are doing surprisingly well. Most have reached the top of the trellis and are starting to show burs. A few are lagging behind, but we won't count that against them ... yet.

Random: I got the chance to drink some Evil Cousin via Heretic brewing while out in the fields. What a great beer!

 

[nagmay]

Here are the cones on one of the neomexicanus/nugget crosses. Might just be a fluke, but we'll be keeping an eye on this one.

 

[nagmay]

And here is a close up of the little mutant with the strange, elongated leaves. I thought she might outgrow this, but it seem to be permanent! I'm excited to see where this goes.

 

[Texconsinite]

Love the mutant! You say little, is she lagging behind the others that much? The off-centered cut leaves remind me of my Neo1, very excited about your hybrids from EVO2's line, seems liek alot of keepers sofar

 

[nagmay]

Love the mutant! You say little, is she lagging behind the others that much?

She's not the tallest of the bunch, but is doing well. And we still have a lot of growing time left this season.

 

[nagmay]

Visited the other yard, where we planted the 2016 sprouts - all 300+ of them! It's already a jungle already, but that was to be expected. We're going with a "plant them all and let Darwin sort it out" mantra for these ones.

We went with bird netting as a trellis.

 

[B-Hoppy]

Have you named them all yet?

 

[B-Hoppy]

A seed sprouted in my driveway last year without me knowing until about July. By the looks of it, SHE will be a pretty big producer.

 

[cram]

[edit] plants not from seed--wrong thread--yikes.
centennial ahead of nugget in socal.

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1465968419.654202.jpg

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1465968621.386784.jpg

 

[Texconsinite]

Nagmay or other breeders, any updates on how this year's seedlings are doing? Any promising ones?

 

[nagmay]

Nothing to report yet. Lots of new plants to sort through.

 

[alane1]

I have a few interesting seedlings this year, I am reserving any judgment on them until next season though. Shortly after planting them out we had some nasty wind storms that broke a lot of the bines. I'll have no idea until next season how they'll grow or flower. The ones that broke kind of just became hop bushes. The ones that didn't are growing well and already reached the top of the trellis.View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1468885591.511169.jpgView attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1468885610.405080.jpgView attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1468885629.178559.jpg

 

[B-Hoppy]

If you take those 'bushes' and cut back all but one central leader you'll at least be able to determine what sex they'll be. Actually, it's still early enough that you'll probably have a decent amount of cones by fall.

Just wondering, when did you pot the seeds that produced these plants? I don't have time for that but have to rely on Ma Nature to get them rolling so my seedlings usually don't have any heft to them by the end of the year. The selections from last year are going nuts though and a few have broken their poles. Most will be at least in the 1 pound range with about 25% looking to be close to 2 pounds.

 

[B-Hoppy]

And here is a close up of the little mutant with the strange, elongated leaves. I thought she might outgrow this, but it seem to be permanent! I'm excited to see where this goes.

Speaking of mutants, I've got one that's a unilateral. The laterals on one side form normal and the ones on the opposite side act like they're the main vine and end up growing straight up. It's a real beast of a plant with the main vine much thicker than my thumb and really vigorous. I've decided to start a 'handicapped' yard, kind of like the island where they sent all the misfit toys to in Rudolph, gotta be pc now a days, ha~

 

[Texconsinite]

Wow, that sounds interesting. Whats the parentage of your unilateral?

 

[B-Hoppy]

No idea. I just hope it's not the one that had the raspberry aroma from last year, will have to take some seeds if that's the case.

 

[WI_Wino]

No idea. I just hope it's not the one that had the raspberry aroma from last year, will have to take some seeds if that's the case.

You have a hop that has raspberry aroma? That sounds very intriguing.

 

[B-Hoppy]

Yeah, red raspberries, it was really strange trying to decide what it was but it finally hit me. Immature plants can do funny things- growth wise, so I hope the oil package continues to develop along those lines as it matures.

 

[nagmay]

Visited the 2016 babies.

These were all seeds a few months ago - and - only about a foot tall back in June. They've all now topped the 16' trellis!

The bird netting seems to have worked wonderfully. Though, I doubt that I'll be able to remove the bines and reuse it next season, which is a shame.

I also spotted a few males. They were bagged, but I suspect it is too late. Looks like I am going to have a 4th generation of seeds to germinate next spring!

 

[B-Hoppy]

Visited the 2016 babies.

These were all seeds a few months ago - and - only about a foot tall back in June. They've all now topped the 16' trellis!

The bird netting seems to have worked wonderfully. Though, I doubt that I'll be able to remove the bines and reuse it next season, which is a shame.

I also spotted a few males. They were bagged, but I suspect it is too late. Looks like I am going to have a 4th generation of seeds to germinate next spring!

How were you able to follow the tops back down to the corresponding plants below? It looks like it was pretty crowded.

 

[nagmay]

How were you able to follow the tops back down to the corresponding plants below? It looks like it was pretty crowded.

Great question - it truly is a tangled mess! We went an alternative route and have been taking cuttings from the most interesting specimens. A few have already rooted.

 

[PapaBearJay]

How is disease holding up in the experimental hops?

 

[Mojzis]

Has anyone had any luck using seeds ordered online? I'm assuming they're mostly ornamental seeds. Is an ornamental male worth using? I'm trying to find the best place to get seeds. I've heard of commercial leaf hops with occasional seeds, but I'm not sure it's worth the cost to go that route.

I've found three groups of wild hops here in the past year, none of which contained any seeds. Most likely cluster escaped from farms many years ago.

 

[B-Hoppy]

Why would you assume that seeds ordered online would be ornamental? By the way, the first ones I ever found were growing somewhere out in the Hamilin/Hilton/Spencerport area.