Northern California Hops

[Jcashwe1]

I inherited a few Cascade/Centinneal plants in the off season from a friend (4-5 yrs old). We've had a significant drought here in Northern California with consistently warm conditions and i noticed the hops are starting to come up already. Should I think about trimming these back as its so early in the season or just let them go. This has probably been covered but i couldn't find it. Thanks

-Cheers

 

[Hamaki]

I'm not experienced by any means but seems I've read in Heironymus' For the Love of Hops that some folks routinely cut back the first growth, forcing stronger but slower growing sprouts to emerge. I haven't seen a thing with my cascades yet and hope I don't till I can get some transplanted to a better location this year. Had the site prepped weekend before last but horses knocked down the fence & thrashed things pretty badly. Last weekend was a deluge so hoping to complete the job this weekend. I need to move about 20 crowns - hope I'm not too late.

 

[day_trippr]

Wow. My beds are under a couple of feet of snow with more on the way. If the past three years are prologue it'll be a solid two months before any hop shoots break ground around here...

Cheers!

 

[jayway]

My two 2nd year plants are just coming up but no where near as tall as in your pics. I read that you should let them go until about March then cut them back to the ground and new shoots should come up. You can let them go but they will have a poor harvest.

I could be wrong so do some research. This drought sucks doesnt it!

 

[anicola]

I'm in East Bay. The three crowns i bought and planted last November are sprouting now too (Feb 8). My 7 other plants (2nd 3rd and 4th year) are still dormant.


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[user 108580]

Just noticed my 2 yr cascades are doing the same thing.... While I love the weather I'm not too sure how this is gonna affect the crop. Unless someone has a better idea I was just gonna cut them back until April/May....?

 

[Hamaki]

I transplanted a couple of dozen cascade crowns today. They're just starting to bud, longest buds were maybe 3/4". These were planted along side my pool fence in some pretty poor soil that came out of the pool excavation. I added soil amendments (sand & compost) when I planted last year but I wasn't happy with how they did there. They're in my garden now.