Paulasaurus's Hops Garden

[Paulasaurus]

I think that sounds like a great plan. Keep an eye on your plants and they'll tell you whats too much or too little. And be sure to water well when using your fertilizers or adding manure.

Cool. From reading the posts here my plan was to use potting soil, add manure a couple of times during the vegetative stage, add biobloom 2-3 times during flowering and then harvest.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[atsorrento]

Btw thanks for posting your hop growing adventures. It has been an invaluable reference!


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[Paulasaurus]

You're welcome and thanks. I'm glad its been able to help some people get started and or just show one way to go about growing these awesome plants.

More updates to come as the season progresses.

Now, to find another spot in my yard where I can add another variety…..

Btw thanks for posting your hop growing adventures. It has been an invaluable reference!


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[atsorrento]

That's the spirit!


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[GarfieldAve]

My first-year shoots are out and I've got a Centennial that's grabbed the twine, but the main issue I'm having is that the main rhizomes keep getting exposed after these gully-washers we've been getting. I've turned to mounding Miracle-Gro soilless mix on them until the shoots are high enough that I can get some more soil on top of everything. This maybe wasn't the year for the "put rhizome down and mound some dirt on them" approach.


Sent from my iPad using Home Brew

 

[Paulasaurus]

If you're finding the soil is getting washed away try mixing the potting soil along with your gardens soil and compress it firmly on top of the rhizome. You don't need to stand on it but firmly packing the soil might help it all from washing away and exposing the rhizome.

You could also add some wood chips around the base of the plant to help keep the soil from washing away.

Good luck battling those down pours!

My first-year shoots are out and I've got a Centennial that's grabbed the twine, but the main issue I'm having is that the main rhizomes keep getting exposed after these gully-washers we've been getting. I've turned to mounding Miracle-Gro soilless mix on them until the shoots are high enough that I can get some more soil on top of everything. This maybe wasn't the year for the "put rhizome down and mound some dirt on them" approach.


Sent from my iPad using Home Brew

 

[GarfieldAve]

Haha, that's pretty much exactly what I did this morning. Once the shoots get far enough up I'll mulch around them and that should help. The rain isn't all bad, though - the Centennial that grabbed the vine worked up a solid couple inches just today.


Sent from my iPad using Home Brew

 

[Paulasaurus]

Haha, that's pretty much exactly what I did this morning. Once the shoots get far enough up I'll mulch around them and that should help. The rain isn't all bad, though - the Centennial that grabbed the vine worked up a solid couple inches just today.


Sent from my iPad using Home Brew

Excellent! Keep checking in on them daily and i'm sure you'll start to see days where their growth is even greater than 2". The growth i've seen out of some of my plants has amazed me and i've always wanted to setup a camera to do a 24 hour time lapse to capture the growth. Someday.

 

[HappiBrew]

Hop pergola is 99% complete, and not a moment too soon. Michigan Cascades and Chinooks are already climbing twine. Centennial, Willamette and Nugget are all sprouted. All rhizomes are 1st year. It may have been a bit ambitious of a project for something that probably won't yield until next year, but I'm stoked to have it up and all rhizomes showing signs of vigor.

Thanks for the help and ideas. I pretty much based my design on yours. It's 12' tall (13 feet of twine run with the angles) and has an 8' x 16' footprint.

 

[Paulasaurus]

Hop pergola is 99% complete, and not a moment too soon. Michigan Cascades and Chinooks are already climbing twine. Centennial, Willamette and Nugget are all sprouted. All rhizomes are 1st year. It may have been a bit ambitious of a project for something that probably won't yield until next year, but I'm stoked to have it up and all rhizomes showing signs of vigor.

Thanks for the help and ideas. I pretty much based my design on yours. It's 12' tall (13 feet of twine run with the angles) and has an 8' x 16' footprint.

Wow, that looks great! Very well done. I've been meaning to add some supports to mine and really like what you've done, looks very solid. Also love the low fence you've added, might be adding something like that very soon to keep Milo out.

Thanks for sharing and for the ideas!

 

[pjcurme]

Hey Paul- great info, I used the BrewTV episode and this thread to assist in successfully getting some boxes in the ground and bines growing. Year 2 growth has taken off on all 5 varieties I have. Problem: most of them are already up the 10 ft. bar with no more twine to grow up (pictured). Guess I built too short a structure. Should I let them just go crazy and snake where they may, or should I try and string twine from the top to a neighboring tree or something? Seems dangerous to just let them fall where they may given that we're this early in the season.

 

[HappiBrew]

Wow, that looks great! Very well done. I've been meaning to add some supports to mine and really like what you've done, looks very solid. Also love the low fence you've added, might be adding something like that very soon to keep Milo out.

Thanks for sharing and for the ideas!

Thanks. I was worried about the wind and summer storms here in Michigan, so I went big with the supports. The fence is just 2x8 heavy lattice and is to keep my dog and 3 year old out as well.

 

[Paulasaurus]

Hey Paul- great info, I used the BrewTV episode and this thread to assist in successfully getting some boxes in the ground and bines growing. Year 2 growth has taken off on all 5 varieties I have. Problem: most of them are already up the 10 ft. bar with no more twine to grow up (pictured). Guess I built too short a structure. Should I let them just go crazy and snake where they may, or should I try and string twine from the top to a neighboring tree or something? Seems dangerous to just let them fall where they may given that we're this early in the season.

Sorry for the delay in responding to your question.

10' is plenty of height to let them grow. Some of my best growth came off of my 10' trellis. Let it be and it'll keep trying to climb into the sky and at some point it'll hang down. It may try and climb back up itself once but it'll eventually give up and start sending out side arms and getting very bushy at the top.

If you're not happy with the results this year plan to add a few more feet to your trellis next year.

Great growth for a 2nd year plant, keep on doing what you're doing!

 

[Paulasaurus]

Well its been awhile since i've posted an update from my own garden. Growth is now hitting 10' from the Cascades and Chinooks. The rest are very close behind. As you can see once again i'm letting the weeds overtake my garden. I've been far too busy lately, I'll have to get in there and weed them very soon or lay down some wood chips. Can't have weeds stealing those nutrients from my hops! Hoping to get some fresh black dirt in there soon too.

Cheers

 

[atsorrento]

Couple of questions. Do you suggest clipping the ends to force side shoots? Also, about how tall should first years (from rhizome) be at this time of year?


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[Paulasaurus]

Couple of questions. Do you suggest clipping the ends to force side shoots? Also, about how tall should first years (from rhizome) be at this time of year?


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

No, I would never clip the bine to force side arms. Side arms will come when the plant is ready to grow them.

There are far too many factors involved to say specifically how tall your plant should be at this time. I'd be happy with any growth on a first year plant as long as it looks healthy. What is above ground may not be what you expected but its the underground growth that is most important at this time.

Looking at my oldest Cascade plant i'm seeing 10' from the main crown and only 6" from some new side shoots. And some days you'll see 6-8" of growth in a single day, other days only 1".

 

[kryptonite1055]

I have a follow up question to your last response. With my 1st year hops, I am now getting new shoots that are popping up from the ground (1-5 shoots depending on the plant). I already have 2-4 bines coming up from each plant that are 8-11 feet tall. Should I trim the new shoots back?

To give you a little more info all of my plants look like they are slowing down with putting more burrs out and not growing up any more since a couple of bines have shot out a burr from the very tip of the bine. On top of that some of the side arms have started growing like crazy. Some are over 4ft in length and are still growing 1-5 inches per day. I can only guess they will eventually become the tallest point on the plants in the next week or so.

Since these are all first years, I am guessing just let them go crazy and see what comes out of them?

If you would like pics, I can post them later today.

 

[Paulasaurus]

I have a follow up question to your last response. With my 1st year hops, I am now getting new shoots that are popping up from the ground (1-5 shoots depending on the plant). I already have 2-4 bines coming up from each plant that are 8-11 feet tall. Should I trim the new shoots back?

To give you a little more info all of my plants look like they are slowing down with putting more burrs out and not growing up any more since a couple of bines have shot out a burr from the very tip of the bine. On top of that some of the side arms have started growing like crazy. Some are over 4ft in length and are still growing 1-5 inches per day. I can only guess they will eventually become the tallest point on the plants in the next week or so.

Since these are all first years, I am guessing just let them go crazy and see what comes out of them?

If you would like pics, I can post them later today.

I would do just that, let them go crazy this first year. Leave those new shoots grow, it'll only add to the strength of the main crown. Sounds like you'll see some hops for sure this year if you're side arms are growing that well.

Cheers

 

[GarfieldAve]

Update shots - first up is the hands-down winner so far, the Centennial:



The rhizome was by far the worst looking, but obviously that didn't translate to growth. The line in back has three fairly hearty vines going and I added the line in front because two more vines wanted somewhere to go - since it's the first year I'm just trying to encourage any growth at all.

Second place, albeit a good bit behind, the Cascade:



One line, three vines, and much less hearty than the Centennials, but as has been stated any growth the first year is a good sign.

Finally, the Chinook:



One single vine, but it's probably the most robust of all of them.

As far as the two "let's try it and see if it works" spots, the Chinook by the southeast fence line recently started to feel its oats or something, because it's got a couple vines going - one's at 2.5' and the other's a bit over a foot. And the Cascade in the SW corner by the alley is trying to send out a vine despite being tramped by fence installers and otherwise being neglected.

Awesome seeing everyone else's crops. This is a fun hobby.


Sent from my iPad using Home Brew

 

[GarfieldAve]

Oh, the difference a month makes. The Centennials:

The Cascades: Poor things are under siege by tomatoes, but they've got climbing on their side.

Chinook: One solitary but determined and hearty bine - picture doesn't show it but it's topped the 10' T and turned a corner toward the garage.


Sent from my iPad using Home Brew

 

[HappiBrew]

When you guys harvest your hops, how much bine do you leave on the plant? I've read that you should leave the bottom 2'-3'. Is there a point at which you cut that back even further before winter (Michigan hop growing season)? Do you let that just fall to the ground a die off? What's the procedure for making sure next years plants are healthy and undamaged? I've got what looks like about a 1/2 lb (dried weight) from 6 1st year rhizomes (2 more did not yield). They're all going fresh into a harvest ale this week.

 

[SteveWPG]

I mas meaning to post these pics from last year. I followed the directions I got on here and got some pretty ridiculous results. These are the 2 Chinook plants I grew:

These are just some of the 4 dry pounds of hops I harvested from these two first-year plants:

I am afraid of what they are going to do this year. What's in store for your plants in 2015?

EDIT: What is with these plants you guys have putting out 30 bines? That's nuts.

 

[Paulasaurus]

I mas meaning to post these pics from last year. I followed the directions I got on here and got some pretty ridiculous results. These are the 2 Chinook plants I grew:

These are just some of the 4 dry pounds of hops I harvested from these two first-year plants:

I am afraid of what they are going to do this year. What's in store for your plants in 2015?

EDIT: What is with these plants you guys have putting out 30 bines? That's nuts.

The Plants look great! Very well done. And yes be afraid, be very afraid as to what your plants will do this coming year.

 

[Paulasaurus]

Well, here's the fist update of 2015. All plants came back good and strong and i've decide not to harvest any rhizomes from them this year so they can further their growth. I'll be bringing in some fresh black dirt and i'll also be experimenting with some Preen weed killer in an attempt to rid my garden of the infestation. I'll take pictures and post with updates.

Happy growing all.

 

[Paulasaurus]

When you guys harvest your hops, how much bine do you leave on the plant? I've read that you should leave the bottom 2'-3'. Is there a point at which you cut that back even further before winter (Michigan hop growing season)? Do you let that just fall to the ground a die off? What's the procedure for making sure next years plants are healthy and undamaged? I've got what looks like about a 1/2 lb (dried weight) from 6 1st year rhizomes (2 more did not yield). They're all going fresh into a harvest ale this week.

Sorry for the delay in getting back to your question.

I leave maybe 8-12" of bine remaining. There are no hops left on the plant, just a short section. After that i'll cover the plants with leaves or hay and they'll be plenty happy come the next season.

Good luck with your plants this year, you'll surely double or triple your yield.

Cheers

 

[atsorrento]

I want to thank Paulasaurus et al for posting all of their hop growing info. It has been a wealth of information. Here are my second year hops growing in central Florida. Just harvested from one of the plants last night.....yes last night 6/7/2015 (please ignore the grass):
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1433787060.094077.jpg
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1433787078.594017.jpg