Growing our own hops - Our first Hop Farm

[MetuchenBrewerNJ]

Hey everyone,
SO this weekend my brother and I made our own hop farm in our backyard. A few months ago we decided to try to grow our own hops, and this weekend we actually made it happen! We live in central jersey, so we got some that are known to grow well in NJ more than others, with one or two exceptions (at $5/rhizome it was worth a shot!) We're growing Cascade, Centential, Fuggle, East Kent Goldings, and Willamette (on this "hops farm", we're also doing one of each of these in another spot, closer to my house..we're going to attempt to grow them on a pergolla to create some shade). We used long pieces of wood for support, nailed in pieces of a garden fense in between to create a lattice-like thing for the hops to grow on, which is about 11-12 feet high. We dug out a hold about 1.5 feet wide, 2 feet long, and 1 foot deep in which we bought good soil and mixed in an aged compost, with a layer of pure compost under that. THen we mulched on top. I'm attempting to attach a picture, but I've never done this before so not sure if it will work. if not, I'll try again later.
Let me know what you think!

 

[MetuchenBrewerNJ]

Also, while it might not look like it, this spot gets loads of sun during the summer coming from the direction of where the person is who took the picture.

 

[laiced]

I just started considering a small hop garden in my back yard as well! Keep us updated (with pics too) of the process!

 

[Bobby_M]

My only warning (for next year) is that you might want to use twine of some kind instead of the fencing because when it's time to clear all the dead bines out, they will be a straight up bitch to pull out from in between the holes. I just cut the twine top and bottom and roll the whole mess into a ball for disposal.

 

[ThreeDogsNE]

Looks like a good start! Growing hops can be a great hobby as well. You'll find plenty of info about trellises, hops planting, and so on on the Hops Growing forum, which is five forums down on my screen.

 

[ehedge20]

Just remember hops are poisonous to dogs!

 

[Salmonhouse]

I hope those poles are at least 2 ft the ground. Those hops will be a big time load on your stucture. Maybe some guy wires would help?

I second the use of twine, or rather i use steel wire, the twine did not hold to the weight.

First year wont show much growth probably.

You should check out the videos and pictures on hopsdirect.com.

 

[HALIFAXHOPS]

Looks like a good start! I definately agree with the twine, but warning use undyded sisal or coconut choir only. Also make sure you check your PH it should be 6-6.5. If you have any questions that I might be able to help with pm me. I have grown Hops for five years now in PA and NJ should be fine.

 

[GreenGardenbrewer]

That looks great! This is my second year growing hops. I planted cascade and nugget last year (they grew about 15+ft there first year). I added willamette and zeus this year. I constructed a 17.5ft teepee trelis out of an old power pole and old powerline hardware. Im a lineman so I have access to some obscure building material. Good luck with your hop farm! I have a great time tending to mine (im up to 20 rhizomes now, lol).

 

[anycrew]

Looks like you amended the soil a little bit where you are planting the rhizome.
I would do like 5x that. With plants, you grow roots not shoots

 

[MetuchenBrewerNJ]

Wow thanks for all the great advice everyone. A few things:
Yes, we did get good soil and mixed in compost we've had going for about 2 years now. But we know it's not enough to support the eventual roots, which will be much larger than we have. We were actually short on time, so we're going to expand what we've done in terms of soil, this was just to get it started.
Also, the poles are in a little over 3 feet and cemented. We didn't want to take any chances with not going in enough. If need be, we can tie it to the fence behind and tilt them (towards the sun), but hopefully that won't be a problem.
Finally, good advice with the twine. For now we're going to keep the "fencing" and see what happens, but we won't hesitate to cut it to make the holes bigger if need be.
We did this last Sunday, May 8. From what I read they were supposed to sprout within 1-4 weeks, and within 3 days the Fuggles were sprouting (which are supposed to grow well in NJ). As of today, 3 of the 5 have broken ground (Cascade, Fuggle, Willamette). So far so good! Thanks again for all the advice!

 

[Cosper123]

How did this turn out? Any updated pics?