How to Grow Hops

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It was a great workshop the afternoon session was at my farm.If anyone wants more info let me know.We are doing another one this year probally around harvest .Also We will be having hands on workshops throught the growing season.These will cover all aspects of growing this GREAT plant .Glen
 
Are those the guys that were on Dirty Jobs???

The pictures sure make it look that way, but I know Mike was in Yakima, WA and I thought hops direct was in Mabton, WA or at least that is what the bottom of their homepage says. I think that the whole lower Yakima valley is considered "Yakima" when it comes to a show like that because it is the most common city in the area. It is also where I grew up.
 
Growing hops is a blog about growing hops in 2009 from planting hop rhizomes (just sprouting) to the future harvest. Just going on what I have read and my friends hop growing experiences (they are successful). Hopefully a good year and not too many challenges (deer, rabbits...) we'll see. I have already picked up some tips fromm the above links - thanks!
 
If anyone would like a copy of a small scale hops manual growing manual, send me an email and I will send you a PDF file.

Titled: Left Fields Small Scale & Organic Hops Production
 
if i plant hops do i need to do anything with them when winter comes? or do i just leave the root system in the ground to deal with it? or do you need to baby them a year or so until they get strong enough to deal with a winter?

winter isn't too harsh in salt lake city...well at least not compared to Wisconsin winters.
 
I just read the PDF the OP linked to about hop trellising....

Am I to understand that they are trying only a 9-10 foot tall trellis?

Are they training the plants to only grow 9-10 feet?
 
I’ve read that climate does not effect hop growth much. However, I live in northern Nevada where we have cold winters and dry hot summers. Tomatoes and bell peppers grow great in my back yard garden. I’d like to plant hops this spring, but don’t want to if my climate is wrong for them…Does anyone have experience with hop growing in a high-desert climate? Cheers!:mug:

Primary - Personal IPA
Kegged - Irish Stout
 
Anyone grow hops in Florida? I'm just north of Tampa and it is very hot here in the summer and would like to know if it's even possible to grow them here.
 
Hey Jake the Hop Dog...you should pick the brains of your local home brew store or contact these folks: www.freshops.com . I ordered three rhizomes (cascade, magnum, mt. hood) from them and they were helpful. I'm in northern Nevada so my climate is vastly different than yours. That said, the people at Freshops will tell you if they'll work in FL. There are others on-line too who I found helpful: www.thymegarden.com www.bcrosbyhops.com

Happy hopping amigo!:mug:
 
Growing in a more tropical climate will mean you will be dealing with pests and diseases that most don't deal with or know how to deal with specifically, so keep that in mind.

As for Nevada? You should have great success as I would thing your climate is relatively similar to southern Idaho. You may want to consider drip irrigation so you don't have to water by hand constantly and so you aren't wasting lots of water. It's much more efficient for targeted watering.

http://www.usahops.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=hop_farming&pageID=11
 
Thanks for the tips Randar...northern Nevada is a high desert climate and my tomatoes do great each year so I'm stoked about growing hops. I'll put them on drip for sure. Cheers!
 
Thanks Suds, I'll give them a call.

Randar, you are correct about the pests. We have so many different ones in Florida that just growing a lawn is a challenge.
 
10-4 good buddy! If you grow some hops check in with us this summer and let us know how its going :mug:
 
FYI the CSU links are down. I wonder if they'd allow these to be hosted elsewhere since they seem to be down frequently?
 
highhops.net I bought a couple of the plants from them and they are a lot easier to grow than the rhizomes.
 
I have an area in my backyard that I am reserving for growing hops but I haven't found any online store that will sell rhizomes to Washington state. Anyone have any sources?
 
I have an area in my backyard that I am reserving for growing hops but I haven't found any online store that will sell rhizomes to Washington state. Anyone have any sources?

You will have to buy them from a Washington state source. Do not attempt to circumvent USDA or state-mandated importation bans or quarantines.
 
Best Regards: Please how can I identify the male HOP plant from the female plant diference the flower.

Thank for your help
 
I would contact Freshops - These really know there stuff. Also, if you're looking only to propagate hops, just order from them and you'll only get the female plant - no need for the male.

www.freshops.com
:mug:
 
Thanks for your answer. I don´t propigate hops but i have 10 hop plants 1 of them is male and others is female there are little and i can´t identify because not are in flower state. I want to identify the male plant before it flowering
 
Ah, understood. I would call those guys at Freshops...I'm sure they can answer your question. Happy Hopping!
 

VERY helpful link...

IF I cannot plant in my sister/mother's yard, I'll see if I can get my landlord to let me take some of the south facing ground by the driveway (close to the house) and plant one rhizome per 5 gallon bucket. Thinking that if I don't fill it all the way, I'll drill some holes right about 'ground level' in the bucket for water to drain out of. I could even use some mesh screening to make sure less soil gets through the holes. I have some stands I made a few years back to hold 2x2 wood (for holding targets) that I could use to run the trellis from... A couple of long enough sections of 2x2, with string between, and coming down, could be done pretty easy that way (cheaply too)... I like the bucket idea since I'll plan on either being in a place where I can plant into the ground, within a couple of more years. Or convince family to let me plant in their yard... :D

Thinking of one or two hops per variety I like to use (the majority of the time) would be good... If I have a brew that needs something else, I'll just pick those up... From the sounds of things, a couple of plants cost not much more than a couple of brewings worth of hops, initially. The real pay-off is having your own hops in your brews (from my thoughts) plus the very little (if any) future expense... :D
 
Well, I have a second home in Western Colorado, so I guess I need to get my irrigation system setup so I can get some of these little guys growing at my place.... hummm fresh hops.... nice.
 
Found several helpful growing guides from cooperative extensions.
Unfortunately, the files are too big to attach directly to this post.
So I am posting my URL -www.greatlakeshops.com
If you Look under the "Docs" in the left margin, you'll find them there. If you scroll down the posts a ways, you will also find a very cool visual chart from London brewers that compares hop oils and bitterness by variety.
I do not intend this as spam- and if anyone with more computer savvy can transfer the info to HBT - please do! Thanks, and hope this helps the newbies!
 
Found several helpful growing guides from cooperative extensions.
Unfortunately, the files are too big to attach directly to this post.
So I am posting my URL -www.greatlakeshops.com
If you Look under the "Docs" in the left margin, you'll find them there. If you scroll down the posts a ways, you will also find a very cool visual chart from London brewers that compares hop oils and bitterness by variety.
I do not intend this as spam- and if anyone with more computer savvy can transfer the info to HBT - please do! Thanks, and hope this helps the newbies!
excellent resource, thanks!

a good "hops 101" one-page can be found here: http://www.willamettevalleyhops.com/growing (PDF has same content as the web page)
 
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