Our hop farm

[HALIFAXHOPS]

The fittings for what you would need are probably about 25 with a filter from drip depot. Looking good!

 

[Mojzis]

Spent last weekend working on the garden. While my father was doing his morning watering routine he pulled two vines from the ground on the largest centennial. Since they had roots we planted them and they have taken off. So this last weekend we made a bunch of 2" clippings and stuck them in potting soil. Maybe they'll take off. I think we should stick them in water first next time.

 

[Mojzis]

So we attempted to make some clones of our largest plant, a centennial. We have three plants around 10ft tall now. 2 centennial and 1 tettnanger. All the Columbus and cascades didn't make it. One chinook left, growing slow.

Anyway we're happy with what we have for now since there is a learning curve as with anything. We also dug up and de-rocked another section. We have six poles left so we figured we would put them to use. In this section were going to seed with buckwheat then till it under a few times to prep the soil for next year. Then we will put clover down between the rows. Next spring I'm going to try to remove the smaller pole on the far left. Eyesore.

Still no water barrel set up. Waiting on a friend to drop one off. With all the rain lately we haven't had to worry about it.

 

[Mojzis]

Trimmed some more plants and made more clones from the lateral runners. We stuck them in water this time first and they are doing much better.

We should have around 60 small plants if they take off. I'm wondering if we planted them after they were started in pots, would they survive the winter? Anyone have any experience here?

Anyway 3 plants have started producing cones. Looking forward to the harvest, hopefully will be enough for a batch!

 

[Mojzis]

Almost to the end of the season for us. We had our tiny harvest (6oz centennial dried) over the weekend. We made some mistakes:

Since the property is 2 hours away for me I can only make it down every few weeks. My father lives on the property but went away for a week and a half. During the time he left one centennial was overcome by hop aphids. An adjacent tettnanger also was hit. Both were growing strong earlier and were starting to produce flowers. The centennial was also hit hard by black sooty mold. The whole plant was just about black and covered with white spots that were the aphids/larva. We cut this plant down and noticed maggots/ants in a cesspool around the root. We scraped away some of the soil to dry the rhizome out a little. All of this happened in a week and a half. This means the plants probably had the aphids but the cold wet weather here for the last two weeks provided the right conditions.

I sprayed the rest of the plants with a soap/water mixture and that seemed to kill most of the aphids. We're just hoping we can finish out the season relatively healthy and start over more carefully next season. Our last chinook started off the season stunted but over the last few weeks went from 5' to ~16ft and is starting to produce flowers. Nice to see because we have all centennial besides the one tettnanger and one chinook.

The buckwheat came in nicely. We will probably plow it under and spread some mulch hay over top. In the spring we will order more rhizomes (columbus & cascade) and add several more posts to make room for the new plants. We made several clippings early on and they are slowly taking off now, hopefully they will be ready to go in the ground in the spring.

Things learned that will be applied next season:
Going to get those water barrels set up and order some drip tape.
Ordering a pesticide sprayer for applying soap and water mixture occasionally. No pesticides.
Making a compost/manure mixture for putting on the hills. This should slow release nicely.
Mulch the rows to keep weeds down. We didn't use woodchips thanks to Dan's advice. Glad we listened.
Getting rid of the wire cages to protect the bines in the spring. What a PITA these turned out to be.
Ordering hop twine instead of baling twine. Bailing twine appears to be fragile and pretty thin.
Instead of plowing the entire field, we are going to to plow a 4' swath instead. Much easier.

 

[Mojzis]

On a side note does anyone know what the orange and black caterpillars are in the above picture?

Also a lot of the cones on the centennial plants had leaves growing out the the cones. Is this normal? Some sort of deficiency?

 

[isleroyale]

I'm pretty sure those are ladybug larvae, they are excellent aphid munchers. I used a lot of lady bugs this year to control the aphid populations. You definitely want to encourage them

 

[Mojzis]

You purchased them and released them on your plants?

Think they'll come back next season?

 

[isleroyale]

Oh yea, 1,500 for $5 + shipping on amazon. Hirt's gardens or something like. I applied them without seeing any actual aphids, but I'm pretty sure they stopped any infestations from getting started. Looking at the underside of that leaf, I'm seeing a lot of herbivore activity, I think you will probably want to get ahead of that next year. Probably aphids, but maybe spider mites, either way, a buffet for lady bugs in that stage.

 

[Mojzis]

During which growth stage did you release them?

 

[isleroyale]

As soon as spring is over when the daily temps start rising is prime time for aphids. I released mid july and mid august in MI. During and after burr formation. You do not want aphids in the cones, no sir.

 

[Mojzis]

We started getting ready for next season. Clipped the dying bines and pulled the posts. Cut more posts and dug 32 holes. 16 posts, 16 anchors.

Hop Yard 2.0




I wanted to change the spot/trellis for a variety of reasons. We now are oriented exactly east-west for full sun. We widened the rows to 10'. The plants will be strung up in a V also, hopefully maximizing sunlight and air movement. The soil is also deeper and well drained in the new spot. 24 hills. Haven't decided if we're going to do two rhizomes per hill or not.

We're planning on getting some topsoil and mulch for the hills next. I finally got the water tote also. Hopefully next up is a timer and valve for the tote along with drip tape.

 

[Mojzis]

Does anyone have a suggestion for a retailer from which we can get coir (or an alternative) for a reasonable price?

Looking at home brew sites I see small quantities (usually cut) at what seems to be an elevated cost. I don't want to use jute twine again after I had a few strings break last season. I found a site which would sell pallets of hop coir but I don't need that much... I'm hoping someone with a small farm out there has some suggestions.

 

[HALIFAXHOPS]

I USE SISAL BAILING TWINE, WORKS GREAT AND COMES IN A ROLL SO NO UNTANGLING THE PIECES LIKE WITH COIR. I HAVE USED BOTH AND SISAL WORKS AS WELL IF NOT BETTER. tRACTOR SUPPLY CAN GET IT FOR YOU.

I HAVE A TON OF NEW 5/8 DRIP TAPE IF YOU NEED IT. I HAVE MY FIELD SET UP WITH IT ON A TOTE AND IT WORKS GREAT, JUST MAKE SURE YOU USE A FILTER ON THE SUPPLY AND I USUALLY FLUSH THE TAPE OUT EACH SPRING. DRIP DEPOT IS A GOOD SUPPLIER OF ALL YOUR WATER NEEDS.

 

[HALIFAXHOPS]

we started getting ready for next season. Clipped the dying bines and pulled the posts. Cut more posts and dug 32 holes. 16 posts, 16 anchors.

Hop yard 2.0

View attachment 228082
View attachment 228083

i wanted to change the spot/trellis for a variety of reasons. We now are oriented exactly east-west for full sun. We widened the rows to 10'. The plants will be strung up in a v also, hopefully maximizing sunlight and air movement. The soil is also deeper and well drained in the new spot. 24 hills. Haven't decided if we're going to do two rhizomes per hill or not.

We're planning on getting some topsoil and mulch for the hills next. I finally got the water tote also. Hopefully next up is a timer and valve for the tote along with drip tape.

i have been out of the site for a while but you only need one rhizome per hill, they turn into 20 the next year. If you are changing trellis orientation take into account the prevailing winds. Full on wind and the bines act like a sail and really put a strain on the trellis. Hope it helps. Just curious why a timer on the tote? I just open the valve and use all 250 gallons. It is also a great way to put nutrients to the plants, i just add the fertilizer to the tote in a nylon mesh bag and hang it in.

 

[Mojzis]

Thanks for the advice Halifax. The bailing twine I used last season was terrible. I'll check out what tractor supply has to offer. As for the drip tape, I'm going to give drip depot's starter kit a shot. That comes with enough for tape for now but also all the fittings and the filter.

250 gallons of water on 24 young plants might be a bit much? The timer was so it can turn on twice a day and keep the starting rhizomes moist. Also if we're not there for a few days we won't have to worry about it. Haven't committed 100% yet though. I like the idea for the fertilizer. Which fertilizer do you use?

 

[nagmay]

I USE SISAL BAILING TWINE, WORKS GREAT AND COMES IN A ROLL

What thickness / strand count do you recommend? I haven't had much luck with it.

 

[HALIFAXHOPS]

Really, I just put a bow land knot on it and it works well. No idea of the size I would say 3/16 of an inch.

 

[nagmay]

Really, I just put a bow land knot on it and it works well. No idea of the size I would say 3/16 of an inch.

Not worried about the knots (a cow hitch works for me) - I am worried about it snapping 1/2 way through the season. All the sisal I come across is rated at 8-15lbs.

 

[HALIFAXHOPS]

This stuff is pretty strong, I could not get to all the bines in time last fall an
d there are 7-8 still in the bailing twine. I used the balls of sisal when I first started and it was horrible and broke often, You just need to look at it. it says 190 tensile here is a link. I use one spool each year.
http://www.tractorsupply.com/en/store/countylinereg;-16000-ft-round-baler-twine-190-lb-tensile

 

[Mojzis]

Thanks for the link. I'll be checking that out.

 

[sandyeggoxj]

Mojzis, got your PM. I'll get back to you in a bit.

This is an awesome farm. I'm a bit jealous. Hard to grow hops here in Southern AZ! My neo rhizomes that I dug up last fall are about a foot tall so far. I have 2 female plants and one male if I followed the bines down to the ground correct. Everything was brown and hard to trace but I spent a bunch of time when it was green and remembered my way around okay. I have a packet of seeds for you still.

Keep up the good work! I'll live vicariously through you.

 

[HALIFAXHOPS]

Thanks for the advice Halifax. The bailing twine I used last season was terrible. I'll check out what tractor supply has to offer. As for the drip tape, I'm going to give drip depot's starter kit a shot. That comes with enough for tape for now but also all the fittings and the filter.

250 gallons of water on 24 young plants might be a bit much? The timer was so it can turn on twice a day and keep the starting rhizomes moist. Also if we're not there for a few days we won't have to worry about it. Haven't committed 100% yet though. I like the idea for the fertilizer. Which fertilizer do you use?

Lime (dolomite) is a given every year, then I test the soil in march and add what is needed. I am lucky there is a fertilizer plant that will mix up a few bags for me. Don't bother with a fertilizer injector just use a bag in the water with a filter. I have to flush it 2x a season. Drip depot has 3/4 ones that you just unscrew the cap on the bottom and it flushes the filter out. You have to play around with the amounts to add since it is just a few dozen bines. Lime I just dump a bag in to the tank and test again a week later or a day after it rains. The soil here has almost no ph to it. I do take the water out of my fish pond and it seems to keep the nitrogen good. What kicks my ass are weeds, I might try a commercial farm herbicide on a couple this year to see what happens.

 

[Mojzis]

Great idea with the bag, that's what i'll do. I believe the pH is good. I took a sample last season to my lab and got 6.3 which from what I understand is in the optimum range.

Watering is now the setback we're looking at. We have a small spring downhill from the yard with a reservoir of only about 30 gallons. Across the road on the rest of the property we have a pond ~1/4 mile up the mountain. We could get away with gravity feeding the tote (on a wagon) using a hose and parking below the pond. However we would need to drive the tractor all the way up each time we fill.

The other option was to get a small DC pump to fill the tote slowly from the spring next to the yard. However its difficult to find an inexpensive option that can pump high enough and also moderately slow. Frustrating.

 

[sandyeggoxj]

@mojzis,

What about using a series of 12vdc solar pumps? They could just boost to the next pump until you achieve what you need. How much vertical do you have to overcome? Are you looking for a dc option so you can build a small solar bank to power the pumps?

 

[Mojzis]

I don't know how I would wire up a series, it may be simpler to buy a bigger one and just restrict the flow.

The height of the tote is around 5 ft I believe. If I got a submersible pump and dropped it in the reservoir it might be 10ft at the most to the top of the tote.

I was looking at this cheapo pump: http://www.ebay.com/itm/281436889999?_trksid=p2060778.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

DC was so we could use a battery to power them.

 

[HALIFAXHOPS]

I use a cheap harbor freight 12V pump and a foot valve in the pond., a battery and 120 w solar panel to recharge the battery. My lift from the pond is at least 25'. I have two tanks one on top of the other and just use the top tank. I also added a level switch in the top tank to shut the pump off when full.

 

[Mojzis]

Like this bilge pump? http://www.harborfreight.com/1000-gph-bilge-pump-66095.html

 

[HALIFAXHOPS]

No this one, It works pretty well for what I need it for, and a plus is you can screw a garden hose on it.
http://www.harborfreight.com/12-volt-marine-utility-pump-9576.html

 

[Mojzis]

That looks great, but I don't know how I would prime it. Any ideas?