Managing the Mess

[IdahoRevBob]

I have a small hop yard with Cascade, Magnum, Crystal and "Mystery" hops. (Mystery are what I call the ones my wife bought at a local store with no identifying name....). My yard has been producing for several years and, to be honest, I've let them run amok. So, I need to suggestions on how to prune back the mess. I have hops coming up everywhere.

Also, what do most people do at the end of the growing season to "put them to bed"?

Thanks in advance for any help offered. OBTW, I am located in SW Idaho between Boise and Twin Falls. We get a little snow but not much. Lows in the single-digits or teens for short periods. High desert area.

 

[TexasTea]

I have tried growing hops and it's hard. I'm on the hairy edge of the growing region for hops (Gulf coast, Texas). I have mystery hops too! (B grade rhizomes unidentified as to to cultivar. 22 bucks for 20 rhizomes. I have some more identified (Cascade, Centennial etc.)

Where you are located is primo hops growing land. This year I'm digging them up and placing in the fridge in baggie with some moistened wetted moss or paper towels. Hops need about 6-8 weeks of soil temps <40 F. to produce well.

I think you will be fine, no need to bag and refrigerate for the winter due to your area.. When they turn brown (leaves and vines) and the season is almost over trim them back to ground level (leave an inch or two sticking up so you can find them next year). You need a clean cut (lopper shears are good for this). Unwind them off the twine and off to the compost they go. Some people make wreaths out of the hops binds. That would be pretty cool for a Brewers door. I'm going to try and make a Hops Bind Christmas Wreath this year.

Then you want to throw mulch, or hay or something to cover the hills (and hops vine stubs) about 4 inches deep for the winter to help protect from hard , long freezes. I like to fertilize at that time too (I mix in chicken poo donated by my hens with the mulch ) so it can have all winter to leach down into the soil. Make sure that mulch extends about 6 inches further than the edge of the hill.

That will keep you until spring, next year, when it's even more stuff to do (trimming bull shoots etc).

 

[IdahoRevBob]

Yes. The hops like it here. I don't take care of them very diligently and they grow like weeds. The years that I remember to put a flake of baled alfalfa over them with a few shovels of horse poop compost to hold them in place, they grow like mad. My biggest problem is frost. I usually lose several rounds of shoots to the tips freezing off. I have been trimming them back and waiting on the next burst of shoots until the freezes stop.

Do I need to do some shovel work to trim the rhizome heads? The reason I ask is that I no longer have clumps of shoots, I have a carpet of shoots. They come up EVERYWHERE. I've always understood that I want to prune back to just a few strong shoots. Not possible with my mess. I've been trying to curb the expansion with the lawn mower and weed whacker.....

 

[TexasTea]

Covering them w/mulch will help with the frost. They can stand soil temps down to 20F but any lower than that and they will die.

In a mature hop yard (wish I had one) some people take a shovel to "shave" the runners coming off the crown from time to time. They work around a inch or two from the edge of the hills. Others will get down and dirty and hand dig around the main rhizome and trim the runners back by hand.

The lawnmower etc just cuts the shoots but won't deal with the runners underground coming off the rhizomes.

Some people even put root barriers around the hill (plastic barrier 8-12 inches in depth) to keep them in the area of the hill so they don't take over. I think amazon sells them.

I bought this book on hops growing last year. It helped me alot. They have it for $5.17

https://www.betterworldbooks.com/pr...illustrated-how-to-do-it-manual-9780962119507

Or I think you may be able to download it free here. https://archive.org/details/homegrownhopsill0000beac