Growing Mosaic hops

[Northerngrower]

I was looking into growing an acre of Mosaic hops up here in Maine. But I’ve never grown hops before. Is there a good place that kind of lays out trellis systems? Like how far apart poles are and such? Also I was curious if anyone had any experience in hand harvesting an acre of hops

 

[JohnSand]

Welcome aboard! I only have about a square yard of hops, and I planted them in a rare empty spot next to my house. If no one comes along on this page to answer your questions, you might find information from hop growers associations, blogs, agricultural extensions etc. Keep us posted.

 

[Joggin]

Are they for sale to the public now?

 

[day_trippr]

Not likely...

 

[Northerngrower]

No I haven’t started yet. Hopefully next spring I’ll be able to plant. Just trying to figure out the trellis system layout. And any pointers on any part of the process would be greatly appreciated

 

[JAReeves]

I concur with the above statements about watching videos from the various hop growing companies/associations. I also have looked at different systems people have used in a home setting and @Greatlakeshops has good designs available. Some people run a central pole that has a pulley system to raise and lower the hop twine/bines. Some have a line of poles with wire that connects them and then drop the hop twine down over the crowns.

Since I only have 7 plants on two sides of my house, I put eyebolts in the eaves and I run hop twine from the roof through them down to the boxes that hold the hops. When I harvest I have to go back up on the roof and cut them down. Not efficient in the slightest and certainly not an option if you have an open acre.

 

[Brushwood Brewing]

What you want is The Hop Grower's Handbook. Link below. It is meant for east coast growers on a small scale, exactly like you. It is extremely helpful, with very practical advice.

https://www.amazon.com/Hop-Growers-Handbook-Sustainable-Small-Scale/dp/1603585559

Having harvested just a couple plants by hand this year, I can't imagine doing a full acre. But perhaps you have more time, or are much quicker than I am.

And I'm assuming you already know this, so forgive me for stating the obvious, but just in case... Mosaic rhizomes are patent-protected and are not available to the public.

 

[Northerngrower]

Thank you I’ll have to buy that book. I’m currently in the planning stages of the trellis system. I’ve been thinking about buying used telephone poles 16-18ft high with some kind of lowering system for harvesting. Does anyone have any experience with either of those

 

[day_trippr]

fwiw, when I was growing hops I used a trellis system that was 22' tall. The bines had that totally scaled by mid July and would then wind themselves into the main horizontal cable. Another few feet of height would have helped.

If using telephone poles they'll need to be deeply planted unless there's substantial guy system keeping them upright through weather events and end of season hop bine loading...

Cheers!

 

[IslandLizard]

If using telephone poles they'll need to be deeply planted unless there's substantial guy system keeping them upright through weather events and end of season hop bine loading...

And probably avoid poles doused in Creosote or similar stuff.

 

[Northerngrower]

I had planned on putting them 4-6ft deep. My only issue on having poles that high are during harvest it will be difficult to get that high without a lowering winch system.

 

[day_trippr]

Indeed, I incorporated a pulley-based method to lower the suspension cable to which all the coir drops attached. It would have been nigh impossible to strip the top ~6 feet and get to the bines that had wound around the suspension cable otherwise

Cheers!

 

[Rodent]

Not likely...

I often dream of 'rescuing' a couple snips from one of the local hop farms' Mosaic fields, and then I realize that it's not worth the potential penalties should all worst case scenarios align during that rescue mission

 

[day_trippr]

Yeah, literally poaching their fields would be right out, but if someone figured out how to literally clone something that was shipped to them, that's fair game imho The HBT archives hold some discussions along that line, particularly wrt whole leaf...

Cheers!

 

[faithie999]

here's a link to a semi-informative website from U of Maine extension about growing hops.
https://extension.umaine.edu/agriculture/sustainable-agriculture/profile-sustainable-hop-production/
the article references a family-run hops farm near Caribou. here is a link to their website. not sure where you are in maine but I would think if you wanted to make a field trip (maybe a long one haha) they would welcome a visit and share good info with you. just guessing!
https://aroostookhops.com/growing-hops-in-maine