New Hop Garden 2014 (pic heavy)

[thaymond]

Continued craziness. Its crazy to see growth from 10 days ago.

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10 days before
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[WilliamSlayer]

Very noticeable! I am a bit worried as I saw some white spots on my lower leaves today.... from the pics others have displayed, it looks like classic powdery mildew. :-(

 

[thaymond]

Edit: tried to quote you, slayer...but it quoted a different person on a different thread. Not sure what that's all about. Anyway...

I read to cut off all infected leaves, then spray with a fungecide. There was a baking soda/ water mix also that i saw. I was worried last year that my pumpkin plant would infect everything. Thankfully, that is not the case. The pumpkin was COVERED in powdery mildew. No signs of it also this year thankfully.

 

[WilliamSlayer]

Ok. Got some 'organic spray'.

 

[thaymond]

Growth record as of 5:00 AM CST. Measures are rounded to the nearest foot and by bine. I have 4+ bines per plant on 4 lines. I have no idea if bines are growing and contributing underneath all of the vegetation. I can't see the bottom of the box 😆.

Nugget 18', 20', 24', 15 {break}'

Zeus 18', 20', 20', 20' (18 and one 20 have topped out)

Cascade 20', 20', 22', 22' (all bines have topped out)

Chinook 12{break}', 20', 21', 18{break}' both breaks have sidearms that took over main nine duty. Those are several feet long. (All bines have topped out)

Many bines have now reached the top of the cage, and are beginning the wind around the square.

I was looking at last years post, and saw that I made an x and had some horizontal growth from bines in the middle. I did not donthat this year, so the top square will likely not fill out as it did in last year's pictures.

Now all plants have begun to flower. No reported herming this year. I haven't watered much all season, save for the times I have fertilized. The rain has taken care of that. With all of the rain, I am surprised that it hasn't stressed the plants out more than it has. I have a few lower leaves that are yellowing or wilting, but I'll chalk that up to reallocation or nutrients from the lower leaves to the flowers.

So far, the 4 ply sisal twine has held up and is feeling strong. IIRC the jute last year was beginning to snap at this time. I hope that remains the case. Not having to worry about late summer wind storms will be helpful.

And now, the pictures.

Nugget
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Zeus
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Cascade
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Chinook
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Profile
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Tons of tiny spurs everywhere. I hope that harvest this year is as robust as last year!

 

[WilliamSlayer]

With about a month left of growth to go, I would think your harvest would be awesome! Did some watering myself today, and the vines have begun to twist back on themselves. Just trying to keep them draped over the top of the cage without any breakage!

 

[thaymond]

Just got back from vacation. All plants bines are topped off with a cone at the tip. All plants have spurs and most have full grown cones.
NuggetView attachment 1437866666565.jpg
ZeusView attachment 1437866683238.jpg
CascadeView attachment 1437866707202.jpg
ChinookView attachment 1437866719442.jpg

Cascade and Zeus are both sporting some boy parts. Both must have experienced some stress at some point? Maybe the ton of rain this year got to them.
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Some nice looking Chinook cones forming already. View attachment 1437866922107.jpgView attachment 1437866936328.jpg

A friend helping eat the fiends... View attachment 1437866975743.jpg

And a cage profileView attachment 1437867019313.jpg

Here's to another great season. My time winding bines is done. Now to wait for the harvest!

 

[thaymond]

Harvest will be great this year as long as these cones continue developing. I'm hoping that I can match or beat harvest from least year.
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[WilliamSlayer]

I thought for sure that this year would simply be a building year for my Chinook hops plant. However, when I came home from vacation this week I found these beauties on the vines! Burs! Who would have thought?!

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[thaymond]

Watered the girls down this morning. They seemed happy. For some reason, there is a small bine on my Zeus that abruptly dried up and died. I suspect a pinch in the bine, but I can't see it with all of the growth. It's cost me about 40 cones though😢.

Chinook and Cascade will be ready for harvest on time around labor day. Cones are still green and lupulin is color-wheel yellow. Zeus and Nugget are about 2-3 weeks behind in cone production, but are very cone/spur dense. Harvest may go into the 2nd or even 3rd week of September...hopefully not. It looks like it is shaping up to be a bountiful harvest this year, so I'll see how it goes in the next few/three weeks.

 

[WilliamSlayer]

My Chinook is producing cones! Lol it's the last thing I expected especially this late in the season. Looks to give off a few handfuls of cones, maybe late next month?

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[thaymond]

Harvest shears for chinook and Cascade may get pulled out this weekend. I just checked and it seems the majority of those cones have that "feel" to them now, so by Saturday they should be plenty ripe. The hardest part of this is trying to determine the perfect time. Both Zeus and Nugget have some weeks left. Hopefully they'll both be ready sometime after labor day, as that weekend will be crazy for us as a family. Only being able to do a weekend harvest is tough to coordinate.

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[WilliamSlayer]

Those latest pictures you took look like something from a Home and Garden magazine! Beautiful man, very beautiful!

I am getting some yellow lupulin inside of my cones, however they still have a very green vegetables smell about them. Not sure how long it is going to take for them to mature. Starting to check them every other day now.

 

[thaymond]

Okay. Round 1 of harvest is complete. Chinook and Cascade are fown, dried and sealed for use. Here are my totals comparing this year to last, so far.

Chinook
2014 - 17 oz.
2015 - 12.2 oz
Difference - -4.8 oz.
Percentage - -39%

Cascade
2014 - 4 oz.
2015 - 12 oz.
Difference - +8 oz.
Percentage - +300%

I think all the rain this year inhibited the overall cone production with Chinook. I'm wondering if others found the same issue? My Chinook is down 39% from last year (granted it is only one plant) but I assumed that since the roots were well established and it gets plenty of sun and fertilizer, I should increase yields, not see a decrease. Cascade on the other hand had a dramatic increase from year 1 to year 2. This is most definitely attributed to a healthier and more established root system. I guess we will see with the others in the coming weeks when Zeus and Nugget are in for harvest.

Oddly enough, I didn't snap an overall harvest picture before they went in the oast... here's what I have.
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[WilliamSlayer]

Well, a mixed start to your harvest... but impressive yield from the cascade! Are you going to harvest the others soon, or do they not feel/smell ready?

 

[WilliamSlayer]

How was the 'cutting down' in terms of ease? I am reading about guys climbing ladders... and smiling about my setup!

 

[thaymond]

Well, a mixed start to your harvest... but impressive yield from the cascade! Are you going to harvest the others soon, or do they not feel/smell ready?

The others will likely come down in 2 weeks. There are a lot of immature cones on them.

How was the 'cutting down' in terms of ease? I am reading about guys climbing ladders... and smiling about my setup!

It takes a little extra care to cut down the sides that are adjacent so I don't get varieties mixed up too much. I think that I ended up with some Zeus in my cascade (about 30 or so cones) because the aroma was VASTLY different than the cascade cones after I handled them. Unfortunately, that had made it into the bucket before I smelled my hands. Otherwise it's a matter of cutting the ropes at the eyelets, then severing the bine about 3 feet from the base. I'll carry all of it for the garage and start picking through the tangled mess. It takes about an hour start to finish per plant, but I'm pretty careful in picking the hop at the top of the bine and not breaking it at the sprig.

 

[WilliamSlayer]

Harvesting the Cascade today!

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[thaymond]

Lookin sexy! The cascades, that is. Here's to a great harvest!

 

[WilliamSlayer]

It was not hard, but a bit more time consuming than I thought! The main reason being.... a ton of hops! Holy cow I was not expecting to get over 2 lbs (wet), but that's my rough weigh in.

I immediately started a fresh hops pale ale. ;-)

@Thaymond - thanks again for the inspiration. With the root now well established and the cage set for next year, what can I do to insure great results again?

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[thaymond]

It was not hard, but a bit more time consuming than I thought! The main reason being.... a ton of hops! Holy cow I was not expecting to get over 2 lbs (wet), but that's my rough weigh in.

I immediately started a fresh hops pale ale. ;-)

@Thaymond - thanks again for the inspiration. With the root now well established and the cage set for next year, what can I do to insure great results again?

1. Replicate your soil. Mushroom compost, manure, topsoil in a three part mix. I neglected this, and got mediocre results, despite near religious fertilizer schedule.

2. Fertilize regularly.

3. Water. Regularly. Rain screwed me this year, I think.

Time.

Good work on year 1. I'm doing these things this next season, and I'm shooting for 5 lbs dry.

 

[WilliamSlayer]

I will get on that soil mixture this month, to lay a good foundation for next year.

 

[WilliamSlayer]

'Dry racks'

I have already dried 4.5oz and put into freezer bags. The current batch should be dry by tomorrow and into the freezer. Next week, Chinook.

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[thaymond]

Mid February, and you know what that means?! That's right! Time to begin haunting the growing hops threads and start tending to the plants and trellis.

This winter was reasonably mild, but still had some significant cold snaps. After last year and the month of sub zero temperatures and wind chills below -40, I think my plants will survive just fine. But, just to be sure, I covered them in a 6 inch layer of mulched leaves and grass clippings. It should be great fun cleaning that up...

I also put down a layer of rich soil on the beds for over winter, to help leach some nutrients into the soil once everything melts. Once everything thaws and I dig up some rhizomes, I'll take the new soil and turn it in with the old stuff, to help enrich everything. Likely I'll also throw in a layer of the mushroom compost and manure, since that was the original plan anyway. That should give them some rich, nutrient-dense strata to work with.

I've had some people approach me about rhizomes, which is interesting. I'm hoping to be able to dig up several per plant. I've even started a couple in pots just so a buddy would get a decent yield in his first year. Those will be shipped to him in March, once the ice melts.

I'm looking forward to another great year, another hearty yield, and hopefully inspiring others with a design that allows for a low profile trellis.

 

[thaymond]

I briefly got into the beds today to find some little white sproutlets on all plants. I will be cleaning the boxes out and rhizome pruning this weekend. Even cascade is putting out some sprouts away from the crown, which is great.

I have 3 crowns I'll be sending to a friend in KC, so I have to ready those for shipping. All three survived the winter and have some leafy purple and green sprouts on them. Hop season is around the corner and I am very excited.

 

[Leezer]

Looking forward to the season too! It will be my second, the first year my plants didn't do too much so I am hoping for better results. I like the idea of your diagonal design and may try something similar this year.

 

[thaymond]

Got out and un mulched the beds and hunted for rhizomes. We are all ready for growing season here in IL. Now the weather just needs to warm up.
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I was able to get 25 rhizomes this year.

Nugget: 6
Zeus: 4
Cascade: 0 :'(
Chinook: 15

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They are all bagged and tagged. I tilled in some of the soil amendments from last year and will have some rain here shortly to shore it all up. I'll get the lines up soon. I think I'm going to cross corners at the 6 foot mark, and have a line go down the center of the cage to catch extra growth. This worked well in year 1, allowing for some additional bines to grow. We'll see.

 

[NoisufnoC]

Came over here to find a thread like this. I'm fairly new to growing, my wife/kids bought me a small plant from Whole Foods last year and it did pretty well in a small planter. Now that I've got some space in the yard, I'm going to build a structure along the lines of thaymond/WilliamSlayer.

I already noticed some growth in my container, once the temps stabilize here in Northern Ohio I'll stick them in the ground.

 

[ThatVideoKid]

Boy I just read this whole thread and now I've caught the bug! Unfortunately I won't be closing on my house until late May :'(

My time in Germany reminded me much of my native New England climate, so I feel hops will do well here. How big could I expect it to grow by late May? Small enough to transport about 10 miles if I started in a planter?

 

[WilliamSlayer]

Based on my experience from last year you should be pretty bushy by then, but if a few bines break, the awesome thing about these guys is how they seem to grow right from the break point almost as soon as it happens.