My Hops Garden Project

[Gridlocked]

Really - you had hermies too? How old are your plants? I completely forgout about the week long stretch of 7,000 degrees. I figured I didn't water enough... My Magnum and both of my Cascades hermie'd out. Neither of my Columbus showed male bits... Strange.
Did you leave the weeners on your hops, or did you trim em?
Edit, I don't have a Columbus, I was mistaking that for a Centennial.

 

[B-Hoppy]

Really - you had hermies too? How old are your plants? I completely forgout about the week long stretch of 7,000 degrees. I figured I didn't water enough... My Magnum and both of my Cascades hermie'd out. Neither of my Columbus showed male bits... Strange.
Did you leave the weeners on your hops, or did you trim em?

Hey kids,
I kinda think they do their own thing no matter what. This was the hottest/driest of the three years for my Zeus and the year I had the 'least' male bloom. That was even after I split the crown this Spring. If the whole 'stress' theory is true I would have to say that a stressful growing season for Zeus consists of temps in the 80's and adequate rainfall because this year was averaging close to 90 with very little rain. I think I actually put some water on them twice. Everything else came out fine with about the same amount of bloom on the Cascades (4 or 5 spikes). Just keep good notes and make sure to keep yourselves well hydrated!

 

[Randar]

Really - you had hermies too? How old are your plants? I completely forgout about the week long stretch of 7,000 degrees. I figured I didn't water enough... My Magnum and both of my Cascades hermie'd out. Neither of my Columbus showed male bits... Strange.
Did you leave the weeners on your hops, or did you trim em?

I left em, as most of what I have read has hermies as being predominantly sterile. My plants are 3rd and 4th years (except the Columbus which was a crown from BHoppy, thx again!)

And our stretch was 2 full weeks of well over 90 with no rain... followed by epic torrential record setting rain for a week. I watered them thoroughly every other day at a bare minimum, often times every day, during the hot stretch.

 

[Retrofit]

Just to jump in, I'm also in Chicago region. This year I ran my garden with soaker hoses that shot blasts of water every six hours for ten minute intervals.

I noticed even when the soil looked dry, under ground it was at least moist. My centeniall had one tiny boy bit, but the rest of plants were true and healthy. I love my timers, best garden investment I've made.

 

[KAMMEE]

Sort of off topic, but not really, Gridlock you did a good job showing off your hop project on Brewing TV. Love the dice. Cheers!

 

[Gridlocked]

Hey, thanks Kammee!!!! It was CRAZY fun.

 

[Espi]

I was watching some stupid online show thing I check out all the time last night and then I was like.. wait I kicked it in that guys back yard or something..

Then I was like.. oh wait.


Cool episode and I get caught up on the numbers and sticking to a recipe. Great job and I think I will try something like this to get me to try new things.

Thanks and great looking yard.

 

[2BeerSpeer]

Great thread...I just bought my first (7) "hop plant starts" and they should be here in 2 days. I'm thinking about getting them started under lights through the winter in my basement, increasing the light as we near spring. Any Suggestions?

 

[Gridlocked]

Thanks guys!
ESPI - You recognized the back yard from the Brewing TV episode?! That's awesome. I brewed with some of the Cascades and they are delicious.

2BeerSpeer, where are you getting rhizomes or starters this late in the season? Have they broken ground and started growing or are they sections of rhizome? No idea what to do, we are in very different climates.

 

[pksublime]

Thanks guys!
ESPI - You recognized the back yard from the Brewing TV episode?! That's awesome. I brewed with some of the Cascades and they are delicious.

Which episode # - I wanna look that one up.

 

[Paulasaurus]

That would be episode #44!

 

[Gridlocked]

youtube "Brewing TV Episode 44" and you'll see our shenanigans.

 

[Gridlocked]

aWhadup twenty-twelve?

I didn't purchase enough rope.

The Chinook is going insane.

 

[NuclearRich]

Wow that chinook is huge. Any trimming back going to occur, or is this still a plant to let have its freedom?

 

[Gridlocked]

I'll be hacking them off sometime next week.
I will probably train 6 vines this year - three to the left, three to the right.

 

[NuclearRich]

This is its 3rd year, correct? How many bines last year?

I have a 2nd yr fuggles that I am doing something a little similar to. I have a wooden privacy fence that it is planted in front of, I am going to run some twine to a trellis against the fence and have it run in both directions once it climbs to the top. It is just starting to bud! I think i will do 2 bines in each direction. It almost died last year, and never sprouted buds, so its a bit of a weak 2nd year.

 

[Gridlocked]

Yep, this will be my 3rd year for most of my plants. I think I ran 4 bines last year, maybe 6...

I'm significantly downsizing - have four crowns for sale on Craigslist.

 

[pksublime]

Ted, I'm checking with my neighbor so we don't have a lot of the same varieties, but I'm interested in at least one of those crowns. Leaning towards the nugget, but I know he didn't get fuggle.

 

[pksublime]

Ted, take them off CL - we'll take them all between my neighbor and I.

 

[Jonathanquist]

awesome post just planted six rhizomes 2 each of willamette, columbus and cascade i am planning on having the willamettes going around my deck and was curious if they would actually do it and am very happy to find out that they will.

 

[Gridlocked]

Thanks jonathanquist, I've had fun growing them. Yeah, they should work well around the deck. I may or may not do somehting like that this year, we'll see.

That Chinook on the fence is 4' tall already.

2nd year Magnum(pi).

 

[quattro004]

Thanks jonathanquist, I've had fun growing them. Yeah, they should work well around the deck. I may or may not do somehting like that this year, we'll see.

That Chinook on the fence is 4' tall already.

2nd year Magnum(pi).

How far down do you have that wood box sunk into the ground around the rhizome? I am guessing it is there to keep the roots from running wild underground next to your house? I am close to finishing my trellis setup and will hopefully have ten 1st year plants in the ground soon if it stays warm.

-Adam

 

[Rivenin]

how hard has it been to get the vines out of the fence after harvest?
Awesome time line though!

 

[Gridlocked]

@ Adam: The boxes are 12" deep and are there to keep the rhizomes from taking over the world. I went to the Home Depot and got treated, rough-cut fence boards for like $1.75 a board and used 2x2's in the corners. They have worked great so far. I will probably add something around the plants near the fence this year. It absolutely makes harvesting rhizomes and trimming the crown easier!

@rivenin: It's not too hard, I guess. Snip them a few feet back and pull and they seem to come right out. Those that didn't want to let go, I left over the winter and they were really easy to break and get out this spring.

 

[blitzcreeg]

i like your setup. happy growing

 

[mhumm1]

I have a simliar set up as your's - against the south side of the house with lines running up to the eves. Last year I noticed that the plants must have gotten too hot - some of the burs had been heat burned. They turned brown and never matured into hop cones. Have you seen anything like this on your setup and/or any ideas how to control the temp and prevent this from happening? I think the heat reflecting off the house is what caused the damage. I would estimate about 1/4 of the harvest was damaged.

 

[Gridlocked]

Wow, that stinks! No, we had an extremely hot summer last year and I didn't have an issue with it. Strange. The plants did keep our house quite a bit cooler than it would have been because the plants absorbed a considerable amount of heat - and shadowed the windows. That was a nice perk! How many years have you been growing, mhumm1?

 

[Czm]

Interesting thread. Last years heat I had 7000 sq ft of garden and ended up with like 3500. The best survivors were black diamond water melons.
How many days did it take for the shoots to come up out of ground for you?

 

[mhumm1]

Wow, that stinks! No, we had an extremely hot summer last year and I didn't have an issue with it. Strange. The plants did keep our house quite a bit cooler than it would have been because the plants absorbed a considerable amount of heat - and shadowed the windows. That was a nice perk! How many years have you been growing, mhumm1?

Everything looked good right up until the plants started to burr out and then one day I noticed a bunch of them were brown. I thought maybe they weren't getting enough water, but after taking a closer look, I think it was heat burn. And it wasn't supper hot, so that's why I thought it might have been the heat getting reflected off the house or something?? I'll see if it happens again this year, but obviously I'd like to prevent it if I can

Anyways, about the plants, I have 4 plants - a Willamette thats 4 years old, and then two zeus and one magnum that are all in thier third year. They are set to go off this year, so I might be downsizing next year..

 

[Gridlocked]

HA! Yeah, you nailed it with the "set to go off" thing! I couldn't believe the massive difference between year one and year two, so with my side-work and general life busyness, I'm feeling pretty good about downsizing this year.