North Texas Hop Progress

[RyanWeary]

Hey everyone - it's been a long time since I've posted to these forums but I wanted to share with you the progress I've made with my hops. I live just outside of Ft. Worth, TX so not the most ideal conditions, but so far things have been looking good. I have three varieties of plans, Cascade, Columbus, and Centennial. These are second year hops - don't have any easily accessible pictures of them from last year, but overall I harvested 1.25 oz. of dried hops last year. This year will surely be much better.

March 7th - First Signs of Life

April 18, 2018 - I've already cut back all the bull bines

May 6, 2018 - Climbing nicely!

May 16, 2018 - Still climbing nicely, full trellis system finally in place

May 19, 2018 - Growing quite rapidly and hop cones are beginning to form

May 19, 2018 - Closeup of Columbus hop cone coming in

 

[SBaker]

Thanks for posting your progress on the 'hop farming' in North Texas. Keep us up to date and thanks again for the post.

 

[brewbama]

Wow! Good lookin hop yard. In N AL my two first year Magnum are only 6’ tall.

 

[Calder]

Looking good. I got about 5 lbs dry off 8 plants last year. I cut them back for a while at the start of the year, but they are now up to 12 feet tall with lots of the spikey flowers. Might even find a mini cone, similar to yours, if I looked hard enough.

This just seems too early. I could be harvesting the first cones sometime in July.

 

[Senormac]

Awesome pictures Ryan !!

 

[RyanWeary]

I know it has only been a few days since I created this post but my Columbus hops are putting out cones like crazy! I'm slightly concerned since it seems to be too early for this much cone production, but what do I know? This is a grand experiment for me after all. I measured them yesterday and all of them were approximately 15' long at their longest bine.

5-24-18 Columbus Cones (sorry for the poor picture quality here, I think the humidity fogged up the lens)

5-24-18 - RtL Columbus, Centennial, Cascade (Cascade on 2 ropes)

5-24-18 - I think this is the best angle to photograph all of them at the same time.

 

[br3w.one.g00d]

I don't live in Texas (nor America) but my hops are crazy too. Probably I can make the first harvest at June... Maybe the early warm wearher?...

 

[RyanWeary]

So I felt it was time to update this post. For anyone else brewing in hot humid climates, I hope this will be encouragement not to give up! I think the placement of my hops was critical. They get full morning and early afternoon sun, then they're shaded for the hottest part of the day. I've been watering with a soaker hose every 6 hours for about 5 minutes and I've not had any signs of wilt or other stress on the plants. So far I've collected about 5 oz. dried. That's split between all of my plants though. The Columbus (far right) is the winner this year.