BrewingWestMI
New Member
I wanted to grow hops this year, simply to make it more MY beer.
I found a really cool hop farm about an hour south of me who sells rhizomes, yearlings, and full blown hop plants.
At $10/plant I could hardly say no. These things were in a milk crate lined with a garbage bag and bursting out of the top when I picked them up.
I opted to get two wilammettes, one cascade, and two northern brewer hop varieties.
I know that next to my shed there is an unused area with a southern exposure. I also figured planting the hops next to the gambrel roof of the shed would also provide natural watering every time it rains.
I went to the big box store to see how I would build my trellace... Originally I was thinking of getting galvanized fence railing and going 20' up with it... I then decided that 20' would be an eyesore for my neighbors and it would be a PITA when it came time to harvest. So instead I decided to get two 12' T posts. I built a planter box out of discounted pressure treated wood (70% off bc it had a warp, SCORE!) and put the T posts on each side. I ran some heavy duty rope across the two T posts and split it into a V from each post and tied each leg of the V to the posts of my privacy fence. This works well for me since I can comfortably walk underneath all ropes when I'm mowing the grass.
I planted the hops in the first week of May. These things grow like CRAZY in west MI.. They grow in spite of me.
I was back at the big box store this week, and I noticed one of those extendable fiberglass paint roller arms that goes from 8'-24'.. That got me thinking that since I do a V for stability on both posts anyway, I could zip tie/clamp these roller arms to my t bars and they could raise up easily and also lower when it comes time to harvest... Hmm, maybe next year.
I found a really cool hop farm about an hour south of me who sells rhizomes, yearlings, and full blown hop plants.
At $10/plant I could hardly say no. These things were in a milk crate lined with a garbage bag and bursting out of the top when I picked them up.
I opted to get two wilammettes, one cascade, and two northern brewer hop varieties.
I know that next to my shed there is an unused area with a southern exposure. I also figured planting the hops next to the gambrel roof of the shed would also provide natural watering every time it rains.
I went to the big box store to see how I would build my trellace... Originally I was thinking of getting galvanized fence railing and going 20' up with it... I then decided that 20' would be an eyesore for my neighbors and it would be a PITA when it came time to harvest. So instead I decided to get two 12' T posts. I built a planter box out of discounted pressure treated wood (70% off bc it had a warp, SCORE!) and put the T posts on each side. I ran some heavy duty rope across the two T posts and split it into a V from each post and tied each leg of the V to the posts of my privacy fence. This works well for me since I can comfortably walk underneath all ropes when I'm mowing the grass.
I planted the hops in the first week of May. These things grow like CRAZY in west MI.. They grow in spite of me.
I was back at the big box store this week, and I noticed one of those extendable fiberglass paint roller arms that goes from 8'-24'.. That got me thinking that since I do a V for stability on both posts anyway, I could zip tie/clamp these roller arms to my t bars and they could raise up easily and also lower when it comes time to harvest... Hmm, maybe next year.
