My Hop plants or kinda lack of...

[DeadDoc]

Well... I never built my trellis to the point of having something for the hops to grow up. But they are still growing.. nothing like they would if they were up the trellis. The sunbeams have some leaves the size of a maple leaves! Only three rhizomes died on me: Magnum, 1 sterling, and 1 Mt Hood.

I had a huge problem with weeds and hopefully that is out of the way now. I had weeds well over 2 feet tall that popped up over a week and took over the entire area and no mostly clear from the hops.

I still have to figure out how to raise and lower the ropes for harvesting and initial starting of growing. I am also planning on turning the area in a a nice garden area with lots of nice plants and stuff around it next year.

 

[david_42]

On the other hand, Year 1 is just for building strength. I have a major weed problem and I'm planning on using some weed cloth next year. Punch a hole or two in a 2x2 piece and thread the shoots through when they come up.

 

[DeadDoc]

Ya..... Hopfully the root system built up nicely during this time so next year will be great :cross:

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

I labor daily pulling weeds from my raised bed hop garden.

In fact, I have spent so much time weeding I have neglected the hops and they've gotten all bushy and tangled.

 

[The Soft Underbelly]

i spread some cedar mulch over the ground pulling it back from the center of the hops by a couple inches and trimming the bottom few inches of leaves off the bine, that has worked pretty well for weed control and water retention. i pull two or three weeds every couple of weeks from my 8 X 4 bed with no real mildew issues after the month of June, and only minor ones before that had more to do with the pickles i was growing in between varieties.