Hops are up in Michigan!

[Figbash]

Spring has FINALLY sprung! My third year hops are busting out of the ground. I'm pretty excited about this years harvest since I got enough last season to last most of the year. I also planted two new varieties (Willamette and Sterling) last year so they should produce this year as well.

One project definitely on the table this summer is a dryer. Window screens are fine for small quantities, but that time has likely passed.

Tom

 

[lehr]

Where are you in Michigan ? I received my root stock Thursday and the is too wet to plant.
Pat

 

[Homercidal]

My second year has tiny purple shoots coming for about 2 weeks now. They are almost big enough to measure!

 

[Figbash]

Where are you in Michigan ? I received my root stock Thursday and the is too wet to plant.
Pat

I'm near Detroit. It's pretty wet here too but they don't seem to care. You should wait until it's a bit dryer before planting new rhizomes. You don't want them to rot before they get a chance to start growing.

Tom

 

[hopmeup]

1st year growing hops planted 5 varieties last fri the 3rd cant wait for them to break ground. btw i am in the thumb

 

[adamjab19]

Im inBerkley and waiting for my swamp to dry up as well. Have my first year going in a pot that I take out each morning.

 

[Wingnutj]

Looked at mine today and purple shoots popping up!
(Grand Rapids, MI)

 

[GearBeer]

Mine are doing great in the basement, despite the rain, snow, and sub-freezing temperatures.

 

[chardo]

You have rain and snow in your basement that can't be good=)

 

[GearBeer]

Left the window open.

 

[Oldforester]

I an outside Alpena and don't expect to see mine for a while yet. The rhubarb and garlic are just starting. Two cascade one centennial and one chinook.

 

[Ryan099]

Mine is not going great this time. The weather is not favourable. Its raining really hard here.. Lets c wat happens.. Ive kept my fingers crossed.!

 

[BassettWrangler]

i looked at the wild ones near my house and not seeing any growth yet. I'm probably going to thatch out the dead grass around them and care for them this year. They grew amazing last year when i spotted them so im going to help them out the best i can... a new plus is the farmer put in a irrigator this spring!

 

[Yooper]

Our ground is still frozen solid, so no hops up yet! The snow is almost gone (only patches left in the yard), though, so maybe in a couple of weeks I'll see some shoots. My rhubarb is just visible, so I do believe spring might come to the Northwoods.

 

[drayman86]

I'm in Lansing, and have about 2-3 cm of growth on my third year plants. They've been sprouted for about a week or so.

 

[BassettWrangler]

i looked at the wild ones near my house and not seeing any growth yet. I'm probably going to thatch out the dead grass around them and care for them this year. They grew amazing last year when i spotted them so im going to help them out the best i can... a new plus is the farmer put in a irrigator this spring!

Anyone able to post pics of there sprouts? I don't want to clear out hops thinking there somthing else?

 

[adamjab19]

Mine LOOKED like purple bean sprouts until a god damn squirel decided to dig up the whole ****ing rhizome and turn it into a piece of shredded bark and then leave it on my doorstep!!! On the hunt to buy one more.

 

[Figbash]

It's a beautiful thing!

 

[conpewter]

Does everyone run two lines per hop plant or do you run more after the first year? I have tons of bines coming up this year (10-15 on some plants). I know commercial farms will tend to thin them out to 6ish and do 3 per string. I'm wondering if that is a practice to help with harvesting or if I'd get more yield with 3-4 strings and 9-12 bines.

 

[darkstar79]

I'm in the Chicago suburbs and mine are popping up everywhere, big purple shoots most about 4-5 inches long

 

[cuinrearview]

Lots of shoots here on the second years, and the first shoot from the new plantings poked up this morning. This was one of the twigs so I was very encouraged.

 

[Oldforester]

Saw the first sprouts today. All four loking good.

 

[hopmeup]

I planted 17 days ago they are still not up hope this is normal. it seems most places are sold out. if these don't grow i guess i will be buying.

 

[HoppyDaze]

Mine took over three weeks to sprout....

 

[hopmeup]

I haven't given up on them just yet. I have rhubarb and horseradish up 6 in already but they are established. guess i am just excited to lower my hop costs. Plus i will now have a brew that i did more to than just boil and ferment.

 

[missing link]

I planted 17 days ago they are still not up hope this is normal. it seems most places are sold out. if these don't grow i guess i will be buying.

It takes a rhizome quite a bit longer to sprout than it does a plant that is already established. I don't remember how long mine took last year but it seemed like forever before they grew.

This year they are growing already but it is because they have an established root system.

Linc

 

[Odawg]

I still can't do anything with the hops I'm growing. I'm growing them on some land 2 hours north of where I am, and there's still snow up there, (got to love Lake Superior). Once gone (in hopefully a week), I plan to take the hop bines I put underground last fall and create a few extra rhizomes to transplant. Willamette and I think the others are Cascade (were already planted there).

 

[Homercidal]

My second years shot up recently with the sunny weather, and then a couple of days of rain. It's been cool at night here, but they are predicting 70's by end of week, so I might have to get my twine ready!!

I got LOTS more shoots this year than last. They are getting a few inches high now. Experience tells me that it won't be long before they will need something to climb on.

 

[BassettWrangler]

think i'm going to buy and plant some this weekend? im going to try to get them to eventually follow a fence. Checked on the wild ones today no seeing any action yet

 

[BassettWrangler]

the "wild Ones" are up and thriving. thre are so many hops must breed like rabbits? I tried transplanting 3 small shoots to grow along a fence we'll se what happens

 

[Homercidal]

Mine are up to about a foot now. Well, the big one is. I still got three different sizes of plants so far, the same as last year.

I'm going to try to take cuttings from them when I trim them back. Maybe get a few more to grow along our property line.