Hops are in.. how much water to start?

elproducto · Apr 24, 2011

Hops are in, and wondering how much water do they need when they are starting out?

Keep in mind I live in Northern Ontario and it's still fairly cool here.

B-Hoppy · Apr 24, 2011

Basically, you just want to keep them from drying out. Better dryer than wetter because at this point, they have no way of getting rid of any excess. Once they are up and growing and have a bunch of leaves, the leaves provide a method for the plant to lose moisture. At this same time, the rhizome should have produced it's own roots that allow the plant to obtain more moisture from deeper in the soil. I never end up doing much if any watering and can't remember any of them drying up and withering away. Of course, we generally get an inch or so of rainfall on a weekly basis. Just don't water too much or they'll drown.

EricT · Apr 24, 2011

B-Hoppy said:
Basically, you just want to keep them from drying out. Better dryer than wetter because at this point, they have no way of getting rid of any excess. Once they are up and growing and have a bunch of leaves, the leaves provide a method for the plant to lose moisture. At this same time, the rhizome should have produced it's own roots that allow the plant to obtain more moisture from deeper in the soil. I never end up doing much if any watering and can't remember any of them drying up and withering away. Of course, we generally get an inch or so of rainfall on a weekly basis. Just don't water too much or they'll drown.

I think I'm over watering. I water mine for 10 mins every other day here in so cal. My leaves are starting to turn yellow on the tops part of my hops bines. Cutting back to every third day.

B-Hoppy · Apr 24, 2011

EricT said:
I think I'm over watering. I water mine for 10 mins every other day here in so cal. My leaves are starting to turn yellow on the tops part of my hops bines. Cutting back to every third day.

I think folks have have to take things into perspective as to how much water hops need. Most all of the information about growing hops deals with where they are primarily grown - Yakima and Willamette valleys. These areas are pretty dry during the growing months and sure, additional water must be supplied to grow these crops. But when you read that hops use a lot of water you have to ask yourself, "compared to what?". How many other crops, (perennials that die back to nothing and then grow 20 feet tall in a couple months), have you seen? None that I can think of. That's an insane amount of vegetation to be produced in such a short time period which WILL require a good bit of moisture to accomplish. Unless it doesn't rain for a couple weeks during the growing season, I normally don't pull the hose out. That's just me and my plants have mature root systems along with us getting a decent amount of natural rainfall during the season. Again, just an observation.

tchuklobrau · Apr 24, 2011

EricT Dont rule out mineral defficiency as cause for your leaves turning yellow either. While i cant tell you about watering where you are I have not had to water even once it has been so wet. However reading hombrewers garden it says in the nutrient section "tip growth turns yellow; youngest leaves turn yellow but veins remain green" = iron defficiency. I am not saying that is what you have but get a list of symptoms and defficiencies like this book has it will help alot in the future.

B-Hoppy · Apr 24, 2011

Here's another good resource: http://www.ars.usda.gov/SP2UserFiles/person/37109/HopHandbook2010.pdf
The nutrient section begins around page 80.

EricT · Apr 24, 2011

tchuklobrau, appreciate the insight. As a matter of fact I was thinking the same thing after reading the same post B-hoppy linked above. The funny thing is, I recently added mulch to my potted 1st year hops and all of them are turning yellow. Some have only been in for 3 weeks and others have been in for almost 6 weeks. So since they are all at different stages of growth, and all were perfectly green just a week ago. The only thing I can guess that changed was the mulch, so they are retaining more of the moisture. My soil is miracle grow/manure blend. So It should be pretty descent for at-least the first growing season I would think before the nutrients get leached out. Dont mean to highjack this thread with my issue.

elproducto · Apr 25, 2011

OK, well I kept the soiil moist when I planted. Yesterday and today are quite sunny but the forecast has rain for most of the week. I'll just hope that the hills that I used help with drainage.