New hop varieties

[NitrogenWidget]

raised beds are done.
Pipes are in the ground for the 20ft. fence top rails to slide into to make up the trellis.
My aircraft wire and hardware arrived.
Going to make it so I can lower the trellis wires for harvest.
Just waiting for the darn rain to stop.

One bed is about 7ft and the other is just under 6ft due to space and where the sun hits all day.
One hop variety has 24" sidearms and the other 12" so the 24" will get the bigger bed but I think both should be fine if I just evenly space them between the center and the sides.
I've seen people here grow them just fine with less space and height.

Hops are in paint bucket liners ($6 for 5 at HD) until I can fill the bed with potting soil/dirt/ash/peat cover with mulch to get the right PH level. too bad it's been raining since and everything is a sloppy mess.

Plants are a little pale from being in the basement a few weeks but at least 7-8 inches long.
Going to pop a hole in the pots to make sure they don't drown.

 

[ajbosley2015]

Has anyone ordered/planted any of these new varieties? I'd be interested in watching their progress.

I ordered one Petoskey field grade plant. Arrived approximately 10 inches tall from top of soil, two bines with plenty of slightly developed leaves. Put into the ground yesterday in Eastern WV. I exposed some of the root and applied Mycorrhizal inoculant directly on the root, and placed some in the hole as well. Top-filled with a 1:4 mixture of earthworm casings and topsoil respectively. The location for this one will have it running up to my 14 foot garage roof joist. It is planted directly in between 1 cascade, and 1 zeus just for some unnecessary information.

The team at GLH has guaranteed 4 pounds of cones in the first year, and said average production per plant is right around 7 pounds for the first year.

As the season progresses I will keep you updated.

 

[NitrogenWidget]

Beds are full of some really nice soil with a ph of about 6. Need some snow fence. The dog keeps going into them. Have not put the plants in yet because I still need to run cable and rope. This weekend hopefully if it isn’t raining.

 

[NitrogenWidget]

all 4 of my plants grew at least 3" today.
we hardly had sun.

 

[Texconsinite]

Have Shaddock and Petoskey year 2 coming in. Both produced like CRAZY last yr. Prussia were in containers and didn’t survive the winter. Just ordered Lawton to replace them, maybe “feral hops” can succeed where Prussia failed
Yesterday

Last year
View attachment 627587

 

[ajbosley2015]

My year one Petoskey is now creeping on 7 ft tall and starting to really bush. Low mast on main bines, but I am assuming it is just indicative of age and root size. I am working to develop this in the future, so I want year one to be a huge success for root development. I have between 7-10 different bines all running up the coir. I am not particularly worried about cone production this year, its just a training evolution for the plant, and getting her accustomed to my soil and weather

 

[NitrogenWidget]

jelly^^^^
Only one of my plants are over the two ft. mark
but I don't think they are seeing more than 6 or 7 hrs of sun and we've had cloudy rainy days the last few weeks.

 

[ajbosley2015]

I planted 13, 11 rhizomes from various providers and 2 field grade plants from GLH.
1 field grade plant is at 7 feet, the other is a fuggle that is just now reaching the coir but has been a ground dweller and wrapped all around itself.

2 Crystal rhizomes that are now about 6ish feet tall and getting pretty damn healthy. (I actually purposefully planted the rhizomes side by side to make an attempt at two root balls growing together and making something interesting in a few years. These are two Crystal from one provider. My other crystal is by itself, 16 feet apart to try to see if there is a discernible difference after maturity set in

2 Zeus rhizomes at about 3-4 feet, and one Zeus had the tip break off from heavy winds

My 2 columbus are just starting to get healthy, but only at about 2 feet tall

My 1 sterling is between 2 and 3 feet

My 2 cashmere are between 3-4 feet

 

[NitrogenWidget]

where are you guys located?
I'm in WNY.
How has your spring been?
Mine is pretty miserable.

however my cascade from last yr that did nothing is now about 4ft tall.
but that is in an open field and see's sun all day long.

 

[ajbosley2015]

where are you guys located?
I'm in WNY.
How has your spring been?
Mine is pretty miserable.

I am in Eastern WV. So far the spring has been pretty normal for once. rain here and there, days of very hot sun. Some days the soil dries to a cracked surface, other days it stays relatively moist. Some days I have had 1 ft of growth in less than 24 hours on the Petoskey and the Crystal. However, the location of my yard is not ideal. All 13 plants are south facing, however the dual crystal and Petoskey are at opposite ends and are least shielded by shade from a massive maple tree. unfortunately, my hops in the center of the run have likely 4-5 hours of sun per day...if they are lucky. thinking about cutting down a maple tree haha

 

[NitrogenWidget]

my plants are facing sw. they get an hr of sun early on between the tree's then nothing direct until about noon. then direct sun until about 7.
I'm in the city with lots of large trees surrounding my yard. I do kinda like the shade.

and yeah if I lop a branch off a maple tree I think I can get another half hr of morning sun. but i'm holding off on that to see how things go.
the last few days have been sunnier and high 60s-low 70's so i've seen a spurt of growth.
All 4 are now over 2ft with one of the arcadia at 3 ft.
the heartwick are starting to get bushy on the bottom.

I have them surrounded by 2ft tall 1ft diameter chicken wire cages held together with zip strips to be easily removed.

How long before stupid woodchucks and the like are no longer interested in eating hop plants?
I had two last yr, thought I evicted them, but seems another one moved in.
they feasted on mine last yr.
twice.

 

[Soulshine2]

To start things off, Great Lakes Hops just released 10 new varieties in their "Heritage collection". At the moment it looks like they are available to everyone for preorder:


GLH Arcadian™

• Light Floral and Orange/Tangerine
• Alpha: 9.8%
• Beta: 7.5%
• Observed First year yield (on test plant): 6lbs 9.8oz (wet weight)

GLH Walhalla™

• Light Citrus w/ hint of garlic (very faint) some grassy/herbal too.
• Alpha: 5.97 - 10%
• Beta: 3.75 - 6%
• Observed First year yield (on test plant): 9lbs 4.8oz (wet weight)

GLH Prussian™

• Lemony citrus w/ piney notes
• Alpha: 4.29%
• Beta: 2.73%
• Observed First year yield (on test plant): 3lbs 9.4oz (wet weight)

GLH Petoskey™

• Unique floral, pungent, pineapple
• Alpha: 12.11%
• Beta: 6.16%
• Observed First year yield (on test plant): 6lbs 9.1oz (wet weight)

GLH Hartwick™

• Piney, overripe pineapple - Distinctly different aroma profile from others in collection
• Alpha: 12.28%
• Beta: 5.77%
• Observed First year yield (on test plant): 12lbs 11.3oz (wet weight)

GLH Saugatuck™

• Fragrant, hard to pin down but pleasant and interesting.
• Alpha: 5.39%
• Beta: 3.27%
• Observed First year yield (on test plant): 12lbs 13.1oz (wet weight)

GLH Old Mission™

• Citrus, light pine, tea spice, herbal, pepper, tartness.
• Alpha: 4.33%
• Beta: 3.70%
• Observed First year yield (on test plant): 14lbs 11.9oz (wet weight)

GLH Shaddock™

• Interesting lime/grapefruit, bright, - low onion/garlic.
• Alpha: 4.96%
• Beta: 3.59%
• Observed First year yield (on test plant): 7lbs 13.4oz (wet weight)

GLH Diamond Springs™

• Citrusy/bright, lemon, mint, interesting aroma
• Alpha: 4.83%
• Beta: 3.18%
• Observed First year yield (on test plant): 12lbs 9.8oz (wet weight)

GLH Lawton™

• Pungent, woody & earthy – not citrusy – totally dank.
• Alpha: 3.5 -4.0% from uncultivated specimen
• Beta: 3.0-3.2
• Yield: high – based on cone size and set on specimen plant

Arcadian sounds like a great one for a Pale Ale. If I ever brew my Tangelo Pale Ale again ,Id have to consider it.

 

[ajbosley2015]

damn man. I haven't had any wildlife remotely interested in mine, and I live in the middle of nowhere in wildlife central. A good shotgun can end your woes, if you are far enough away to safely handle it.

Question: My one plant had its top broken off on the first bine, and now that end is black, but is still getting longer with nice dark green leaves, but there is not active bud on the tip. It now has a 3-4 foot second bine with much lighter colored foliage. I am wondering if I should snip off the nine the broke and go with the next healthy bine regardless of foliage color, or if I should leave them both go and hope for the best. Thoughts from the pros out there?

 

[ajbosley2015]

Update on Petoskey --

My field grade plant from GLH is now nearly 10 feet tall. 3 feet of growth over the weekend. It is sending off 2-4 foot bines nearly daily. It is a beast of a plant already and I am really looking forward to the possibility of a decent cone harvest just in year one. (my definition of decent is 5-10 pounds)

 

[NitrogenWidget]

damn man. I haven't had any wildlife remotely interested in mine, and I live in the middle of nowhere in wildlife central. A good shotgun can end your woes, if you are far enough away to safely handle it.

Question: My one plant had its top broken off on the first bine, and now that end is black, but is still getting longer with nice dark green leaves, but there is not active bud on the tip. It now has a 3-4 foot second bine with much lighter colored foliage. I am wondering if I should snip off the nine the broke and go with the next healthy bine regardless of foliage color, or if I should leave them both go and hope for the best. Thoughts from the pros out there?

they lock you up for discharging a fire-arm within city limits.
I do have a large trap and high powered pellet rifle though.
it'll take care of a squirrel.
not sure about a wood chuck though.

 

[Sierra brew club]

GLH
Have not released the Diamond Springs hop as of yet.
I have been waiting on that one since last spring but I have grown all of the other heritage hops in there collection and most of them are yielders.

All of them produced hops the first season

 

[ajbosley2015]

Update:
My Petoskey plant is now over 15 feet tall, extremely healthy, and fully thriving...less than two months of growth and it is a big boy

 

[Sierra brew club]

It's a big GIRL
Excellent!!

 

[ajbosley2015]

It's a big GIRL
Excellent!!

you got me there!

 

[NitrogenWidget]

One of my arcadians grew 6 inches yesterday!
It's a little over half way to 7 feet.
the other arcadian and the two hartwicks are just shy of 6 feet.

 

[NitrogenWidget]

This is what I’m dealing with. A varmint that picked up the cage and got at the hops. I’ve now nailed the cages down. I’ve tried trapping it but no go either. Tried shooting it but it rarely comes out when I’m home. My dad says he has a bigger trap for raccoons so I’ll try that. For now I just threw really big rocks down into its hole. Accomplished nothing, but I felt better. That’s one of my arcadians.

 

[ajbosley2015]

This is what I’m dealing with. A varmint that picked up the cage and got at the hops. I’ve now nailed the cages down. I’ve tried trapping it but no go either. Tried shooting it but it rarely comes out when I’m home. My dad says he has a bigger trap for raccoons so I’ll try that. For now I just threw really big rocks down into its hole. Accomplished nothing, but I felt better. That’s one of my arcadians.View attachment 631761

The only saving grace is that you want to cut all those leaves off anyway to prevent downy and give nutrients to the cones.
Consider it a bonus I suppose.


Meanwhile my Petoskey is 15ft tall, 3 full 15 ft bines. My coir trellis is 12 feet and it had grown along the roof, around to the top of the roof, and then is standing a strong 1-2ft above the roof. Pretty crazy how healthy this plant is

 

[NitrogenWidget]

The only saving grace is that you want to cut all those leaves off anyway to prevent downy and give nutrients to the cones.
Consider it a bonus I suppose.


Meanwhile my Petoskey is 15ft tall, 3 full 15 ft bines. My coir trellis is 12 feet and it had grown along the roof, around to the top of the roof, and then is standing a strong 1-2ft above the roof. Pretty crazy how healthy this plant is

Ha! I just thought of that.
Planing to trim the others at the base as their getting bushy.

Well the victim has grown about 5 inches since and my big boy is now almost 8ft.

edit: whelp it got on top of the cages and took about a ft and a halfs worth of leaves off both my plants. It's going to chew through the bines eventually.

I've got a cage trap now and sprinkled chili powder all around the hops since groundhogs hate it.

This is war.

 

[NitrogenWidget]

One of my arcadians is 11 ft. The one that got munched on heavily is 8ft now. My hartwicks are 8 and 6 ft. Haven’t seen the ground hog since I threw rocks in its hole and sprinkled around it’s burrow with chili powder and sprinkled around hops with chili powder. Have had a trap with melon set for a few days now and nothing. Hoping it got the idea and left.

 

[NitrogenWidget]

these roots spread fast.
I just noticed about 2 ft away there is a 1.5 ft long bine on the ground.
should I cut that?
it's all thin and spindly.
I have a few thin spindly ones.
should I cut those off also?

 

[NitrogenWidget]

Got em! He actually got one side of the cage off the nail on a hop plant but apparently gave up and went for the melon in the trap. Going to take him for a nice 3 mile drive to the park across from the golf course. He won’t make it back.

 

[NitrogenWidget]

One of my arcadians was a ft from the top of the rope yesterday and it's just about there now.
the wire is about 17-18 ft in the air.
curious to see what happens once it has nowhere else to go but sideways.

the other 4 plants still have another 5-8ft to go.

 

[ajbosley2015]

Update on my Petoskey:
Reached the top of the 14 foot trellis, top has nearly reached the ground!
I currently have between 200-300 cones that have started on this plant!

Interestingly enough, the field grade fuggle (also from GLH) only grew up to around 4 ft and hasn’t done anything since

 

[NitrogenWidget]

It’s about a ft above the wire now and too high for me to try and train it along the wire.

I assume it will either fall over from weight and climb along the wire or snap?

 

[NitrogenWidget]

It grew another half a ft today. Seriously?