Newbie Hop Growing ???

[GIusedtoBe]

Hey I have a few questions that perhaps some of you can answer.

What hop varieties would be best suited to the mid South (East TN)?
Its like the arctic now but gets pretty hot in the summer

Where is the best place to get the rhizomes? I've seen multiple vendors on line but who do you all recommend?

What kind of production can you expect if optimal growing conditions are met? And by production I mean plant size as well as any hops that might be produced as I'm sure they are better once established.

My plan is to plant them at the base of an arbor and hopefully get them to grow over it. Is this feasible?

If I plant one variety on one side and another on the other side will I get some crazy cross pollinated hybrid hop? Probably a dumb question but I did not major in botany in college.

What kind of soil amendments and fertilizers would you recommend? I would think that the AA differences between hops grown in different places would be because of some soil nutrient lacking in one place if the climates are otherwise similiar.

Thanks in advance,
Alan

 

[decoyman]

I got mine from thymegarden.com last year, Mt. Hood She grew to about 20 feet and harvested 5 oz of cones. I used good old horse manure in the hole with the rhizome. Watering was not a problem, because of a wet first half of summer here in Maine. I just got my Cascade rhizome from the thyme garden the other day. I can't wait to get her in the ground this spring. If you are going to order, I would make it snappy. Rhizomes are going fast and they only ship in early spring.

 

[GIusedtoBe]

Thanks for the reply decoyman. Anybody else care to take a stab at my questions?

THanks
Alan

 

[tcory77]

Hey I have a few questions that perhaps some of you can answer.

What hop varieties would be best suited to the mid South (East TN)?
Its like the arctic now but gets pretty hot in the summer

Where is the best place to get the rhizomes? I've seen multiple vendors on line but who do you all recommend?

What kind of production can you expect if optimal growing conditions are met? And by production I mean plant size as well as any hops that might be produced as I'm sure they are better once established.

My plan is to plant them at the base of an arbor and hopefully get them to grow over it. Is this feasible?

If I plant one variety on one side and another on the other side will I get some crazy cross pollinated hybrid hop? Probably a dumb question but I did not major in botany in college.

What kind of soil amendments and fertilizers would you recommend? I would think that the AA differences between hops grown in different places would be because of some soil nutrient lacking in one place if the climates are otherwise similiar.

Thanks in advance,
Alan

OK...I will take a shot at a few of the questions, but I am by no means an expert.

You will not get some sort of crazy hybrid hop plant. You will only get female hop rhizomes from these companies. The female is the only one that will produce the hops anyway.

I got my rhizomes from Thymegarden.com as well. I can't say good or bad because I just got them and this will be my first year to plant them, but the place has good customer service. You should give them a call and talk to them about what hops might grow well where you live.

They should grow up and over an arbor really well, in my opinion, but I would have some sort of plan for them growing 20 feet. Just something to think about.

I did a google search on hop varieties and came up with alot of info on the different types. I went with Cascades becuase I learned they grow well in all conditions and from what I gathered they were alot less finiky about soil/sun/water (to a certain extent) than other types.

There is my 2 cents for what it is worth.

 

[GIusedtoBe]

Thanks for the answers. I went ahead and got a Cascade and a Willamette rhizome so I hope this works out. If not what the heck no great loss. I see where you mention 20 ft and have seen this elsewhere, why is this so important? Woud the hop bines not spread out over the top of the arbor once they reached the top? I'm thinking the arbor is going to be 8 or 9 ft high. I guess i could always make an A frame but it will never be 20 ft high. BTW I ordered my rhizomes from bcrosbyhops.com

Thanks again
Alan

 

[slayer84]

Last year (2009) was my first year growing hops and it was great! I think you made a good choice going with cascade, seeing as how they are very reliable and recommended for beginning growers. I got mine from MidwestSupplies and Freshops and they took off. Two cascade plants pulled in around 10 ounces of dried hop cones. You may also want to try nugget.
As far as growing them 20ft hight, it's not necessary. I grew mine 10ft high and got good yields from them. Just use compost manure and mulch. And temperature isn't a big problem for cascade, here in Southern Illinois, summer temps are normally around 90 with humidity over 100. Water them early in the morning or around sunset.
One last thing, I am sure that you will experience the horrors unleashed by the dreaded Japaneses Beetles. Get some liquid SEVEN (make sure its the kind that you can use around vegetables), hook it up to your hose, wait until there are many beetles on your hop plants( usually mid-day) and hose the plant down. I read somewhere that if you leave the dead beetles laying on the ground, the scent alerts other beetles to stay away. Maybe a bit more then you wanted to know?
Best of luck to you.