New 100 Rhizome hop farm

[basementbrewbrad]

$200 worth of string. Is it laced with gold?? Thats alot for twine. Where are you getting this from. Let me know if you need more man. I will have some for sale. Since i bought a bale of coir

Combination of twine from Lowes and some hop twine from online that the shipping was ridiculous on. All the nylon rope for the bottom wasn't cheap either since we needed 280 feet of that as well. All together we used 10 100 foot bundles of twine from Lowes and 450 feet of hop twine for the bines to climb on

 

[ArrowheadHops]

You need to find a nice farm supply store near you.

 

[PleasantValleyHops]

Combination of twine from Lowes and some hop twine from online that the shipping was ridiculous on. All the nylon rope for the bottom wasn't cheap either since we needed 280 feet of that as well. All together we used 10 100 foot bundles of twine from Lowes and 450 feet of hop twine for the bines to climb on

Understand. Buying in bulk really does payoff in the long run. Are you doing one continuous twine down the rows or each individual?

 

[Jaybird]

WOW!!!!! I put 60 in the dirt (20 horizon 20 willamette and 20 cascade) And MAN I gotta tell ya. Prepare yourself for a BOATLOAD of work... Its fun work and a great way to enjoy the hobby "IF" you like to grow things "AND" you like hard work!

Well done man that is 1 epic build for hops!

Cheers
Jay

 

[basementbrewbrad]

My dad decided he wanted to make signs out of a cedar that had fallen down on the property. He cut pieces of the trunk and carved the varieties free hand with a dremel tool.

Some of the initial growth as of friday, eight days after planting.

 

[jperry]

Cool cedar signs, your dad made, he deserves a beer. Im curious as to which variety broke ground first? I'm gonna guess that it was the cascade.

 

[basementbrewbrad]

Cool cedar signs, your dad made, he deserves a beer. Im curious as to which variety broke ground first? I'm gonna guess that it was the cascade.

actually it was Willamette. They were the largest rhizomes and had the most eyes on them.

 

[HALIFAXHOPS]

looks good! Good luck with it!

 

[basementbrewbrad]

looks good! Good luck with it!

Thanks. There are a few that are already reaching the 1 foot bottom string line after two weeks in the ground.

 

[s4l]

Very nice! Subscribed for the end results.

 

[basementbrewbrad]

As of sunday 61 plants are up and several are above the bottom rope and ready to climb. They seem to be growing fast for only being in the ground for 2 and a half weeks. I guess they are just acceding my expectations and I couldn't be happier with them. My one hope is that the rest of those plants come up, or at least a majority of them.

 

[basementbrewbrad]

After a count this weekend there are around 82 plants with some growth showing.

 

[Pumpkinman906]

What is your plan for weed control? I've found with 20 plants that the hardest component is staying ahead of the weeds.

 

[basementbrewbrad]

we put down grass seed and straw over top of the entire yard this weekend

 

[GVH_Dan]

We've had a lot of luck using dutch white clover or a similar low growing clover. It fixes its own nitrogen, chokes out weed and stays short enough to let the hops grow without competing. Of course, it still takes a lot of hand weeding the first few years to give the clover a chance to to control.

 

[basementbrewbrad]

 

[PariahVineyard]

When you have to pick are you just going to climb around on the 1/2 acre jungle gym set you built? That thing is close to being a new wonder of the world.

Looks great and like you are taking very good care in your first year. Weed were our biggest problem the first year, and caterpillars.

 

[basementbrewbrad]

When you have to pick are you just going to climb around on the 1/2 acre jungle gym set you built? That thing is close to being a new wonder of the world.

Looks great and like you are taking very good care in your first year. Weed were our biggest problem the first year, and caterpillars.

Put a ladder up on the header and put a piece of plywood across it so it functions as a walkboard... Drop the bines that are ready to be picked down. Then after we pick them we hang the plants back up so that we get more roots established.

 

[jperry]

I haven't seen this mentioned yet, so I was curious about how many bines, you plan to keep the first year? Only a few of them, a bunch, or all of them?

 

[basementbrewbrad]

I haven't seen this mentioned yet, so I was curious about how many bines, you plan to keep the first year? Only a few of them, a bunch, or all of them?

We plan on keeping pretty much all of them that come up this year so that we can get plenty of root growth in the first year.

 

[basementbrewbrad]

This little Tree Swallow has found a home in the bluebird house atop the structure.

 

[basementbrewbrad]

count is at 88. Seems as though the ones that didn't emerge right away have been growing quite a bit under the ground seeing as they are coming up with 3-5 bines whereas the plants that broke ground sooner only have one or two bines showing.

 

[basementbrewbrad]

Updated pics

 

[Brewmech]

Why did you go with a big structure like that rather than the traditional pole method?

 

[basementbrewbrad]

Why did you go with a big structure like that rather than the traditional pole method?

Wanted to do something outside the box that we could maximize our space with; as well as have a strong and durable structure that will stand the test of time... Its over the top but it was fun and it shows people another way to do things. To each is their own I guess.

 

[basementbrewbrad]

.

 

[LowNotes]

Looking good man, I can't wait to see what it is like when the vines are reaching most of the way up. It seems as if it will feel like walking through a forest...but one made of hops.

 

[basementbrewbrad]

Looking good man, I can't wait to see what it is like when the vines are reaching most of the way up. It seems as if it will feel like walking through a forest...but one made of hops.

Yea it will will be very neat looking when everything is covered in green. It provides a great conversation piece for anybody visiting. We get a lot of the same question; What the hell is that thing?

 

[sok454]

You've probably already checked out this site but here is a link to some pretty cool hop related items... ton of information on the rest of the site too...

http://www.uvm.edu/extension/cropsoil/wikis

 

[basementbrewbrad]

You've probably already checked out this site but here is a link to some pretty cool hop related items... ton of information on the rest of the site too...

http://www.uvm.edu/extension/cropsoil/wikis

Thank you. I have read quite a bit of that site in the past month or so. There is an endless amount of information on that site. I am looking into possibly making a small harvester this year or next depending on what the yield looks like.