new grower question...

[Finchy]

Just ordered one Rhizome of each from MoreBeer.com: Cascade, Northern Brewer, Nugget, and Golding. I planned to secure two poles in the ground and hang pulleys from a cable that would be attached to the top of each pole. The pole system may change as needed, but my question is- will i have any problems planting four different varieties of hops 3 to 4 feet apart from each other? I learned the hard way that some vegetables (like different types of cucumbers) will get screwed up being planted too close to each other and i dont want the same problem with my hops. I'd prefer to keep them all in one area for ease of watering, etc. if i can. Thanks.

 

[microbusbrewery]

They'll all be female so you don't have to worry about ending up with hybrids or anything like that. IMO, you only have two things to worry about: 1) make sure it's tall enough that the vertical growth won't go horizontal when they reach the top; and 2) make sure there's enough spacing so that when they send out the lateral shoots they don't get intertwined. The risk of both is it's pain to separate them at harvest time if you have different varieties twisted around each other.

We moved into a new house three years ago and mine have been in a "temporary" location with only 18 inches separating each variety. They grew fine but I have several bags of mixed hops in my freezer. Tomorrow I'm going to pick up lumber for my trellis so I'll never have mixed bags again.

 

[Finchy]

Excellent! i kinda figured that but i wanted to check with some experienced growers first. Enjoy building the trellis! I hope to start construction this weekend as well. BTW, how far apart would you recommend planting each?

 

[microbusbrewery]

I've ordered most of my rhizomes from freshops.com. They have an online guide that's full of useful info and their recommendation is, "Plant 1 rhizome per hill with the buds pointed up and cover with 1 inch of loose soil. Hills should be spaced at least 3 feet apart if the hills are of the same variety and 5 feet apart if they are different." I think you could probably do 3 feet apart per variety if you're really diligent about training the bines and keeping them separated.

 

[Finchy]

good deal, thanks again! CHEERS!