Pictures of hop plants

[Dland]

These hops have been here for four years. I bought 7 rhizomes and transplanted another originally found growing feral. Two of the purchased ones failed to thrive & died, while 3 really took off, and the rest doing OK. Rather idiotically, I misplaced record which ones were which. I know the feral one is on the shipping

container, and the one that tries to grow in the willow tree is Cascade, which has always done best. I can't even find the sales slip that lists what I bought, but think two of the others doing well are Mt Hood & Willamette.

 

[JAReeves]

Ok folks, I did a quick search and turned up empty; probably because this is a little specific.

Two years in a row, my Centennial has started strong and then died off. Completely. I just bought a Medusa, and it died off in less than a month (maybe over-watered?). The Cascade does Ok, but I didn't get to harvest it last year, just cut it off after the cones went full dry. The Eroica seems to get about 12-15' up and then starts to die off. The Old Mission and the Chinook go gangbusters. The Shaddock was great, and then it just didn't come back this year. The new Comet I have high hopes for (1st year). I have tried and failed at Zeus, Nugget, Cluster and Crystal (and a previous Cascade). I have several books, lots of articles, I check in with the other hop growers; I am at a loss.

The hops get hours of sun. I don't let the soil dry out too badly, I look at all the plants to see how they are doing since the weather is inconsistent at best here in SoCal by the beach. I do light fertilizer once a month, because we also mulch our green waste and spread that throughout the garden. Most of my other plants do amazing-dragonfruit, grapes, figs, avocados, lemons, pomelos, sages, passionfruit, cacti. By all accounts, I have the greenest thumb in my family. Yet, I keep losing my hops, which is a weed, and should just grow and dominate the garden. Any suggestions based upon what I have detailed?

 

[monkeymath]

Last year, I planted three hops (Golding, Hallertau Blanc, Callista) too close together in a friend's garden and let them merge on a structure only 3.5 metres high.

Seems like at least one of the plants is developing a decent number of cones. Can't tell which one, though

 

[Sylvain]

 

[JAReeves]

I see pictures like this and think that maybe I need to give up growing hops and stick to grapes. Unless I am doing something horribly awry that is fixable on my end, the weather in Los Angeles just does not suit my plants. I get no sidearm growth and maybe a half pound of wet hops from each plant. I need to hit the books this winter!

 

[T Murph]

I see pictures like this and think that maybe I need to give up growing hops and stick to grapes. Unless I am doing something horribly awry that is fixable on my end, the weather in Los Angeles just does not suit my plants. I get no sidearm growth and maybe a half pound of wet hops from each plant. I need to hit the books this winter!

I don't think we can compete with Sylvain those hops are simply awesome.

 

[Sylvain]

I see pictures like this and think that maybe I need to give up growing hops and stick to grapes. Unless I am doing something horribly awry that is fixable on my end, the weather in Los Angeles just does not suit my plants. I get no sidearm growth and maybe a half pound of wet hops from each plant. I need to hit the books this winter!

my soil is very good for hops. clayey and very deep.
I have a lot of wild hops around me.
and despite the heat waves and exceptional drought in France, some plants are beautiful.

You should try the Neomexicanus, they are suitable for harsher conditions

 

[JAReeves]

my soil is very good for hops. clayey and very deep.
I have a lot of wild hops around me.
and despite the heat waves and exceptional drought in France, some plants are beautiful.

You should try the Neomexicanus, they are suitable for harsher conditions

So far my one experience with NeoMex it died in 2 weeks. That may not have been me, though.

 

[Sylvain]

Jusqu'à présent, ma seule expérience avec NeoMex est morte en 2 semaines. Mais ce n'était peut-être pas moi.

What ?

Neo1 is good

 

[JAReeves]

What ?

Neo1 is good

I bought a NeoMex thinking it would survive better in my arid climate; it died in two weeks. Maybe I overwatered it, maybe just a bad plant? Sais pas.

 

[Beerisgud]

3rd season. Just harvested these two plants today. Huge palm sized cones this season. Did 12 strings instead of 6 this time, one for each bine. It really had that canopy feel! Love drinkin a homebrew under the hops

 

[JAReeves]

Most of the time I love living in a desert. Seeing these hops...yeah, not so much.

 

[Sylvain]

Love my garden

 

[redrocker652002]

I don't have any photos, but my wife wanted to get involved and said she would grow the hops. I have Chinook, Cascade and Centennial I think. I don't remember. The Chinook seems to really be going well. Not as huge as any of the ones here, but for me, it is pretty good. The other two are doing ok per my wife. But what do I know. LOL. Great stuff.

 

[superiorsat]

3rd year Comet on the left and 3rd year Cashmere on the right are doing well. My second year plants are not nearly as robust but Centennial on the left and Cascade on the right are close to harvest.

 

[T Murph]

I harvested one pound (16 oz ) of Sterling hops two days ago. Dried them on a screen over a fan for 16 hours. I then vacuum sealed them and tossed them in the freezer. After drying I ended up with 6.85 ounces. That means I removed 9.15 ounces of moisture by drying. I can't wait to make a Checz
pilsner with them.

 

[Sylvain]

 

[nanobrau]

my soil is very good for hops. clayey and very deep.

I thought hops need sandy soils? I have very clayey soil here and it's awful. Most things fail to grow unless I mix in sand, compost, and other organic matter.

 

[bracconiere]

I thought hops need sandy soils? I have very clayey soil here and it's awful. Most things fail to grow unless I mix in sand, compost, and other organic matter.

you don't know good living until you get to know celiche!

 

[Northern_Brewer]

I thought hops need sandy soils? I have very clayey soil here and it's awful. Most things fail to grow unless I mix in sand, compost, and other organic matter.

Well pure clay isn't much good for anything if you're in a dry climate as it dries solid and any rain then just bounces off it. So everything will grow better with a good loam on the surface.

But yep, hops love deep clay, for them to get their roots down into to support their thirst - all that lush topgrowth transpires a lot and needs a lot of water coming into the roots. That's why they like East Kent so much, apparently there's something like 20ft of clay (I guess something to do with the glaciers coming off the ice cap in the Ice Age, Kent was at the edge of it).

 

[Shropshire Lad]

This is only my second season of growing hops. Last year the cones were large, plentiful and healthy as in the photos above but this year they look dreadful and sparse. I’ve watered and fed them regularly, is it down to the heatwave we’ve experienced in London that they’re withering like this or could I have overwatered them? London is also built on clay and my hops are in large pots although I realise that the roots have now broken through the plastic and have burrowed into the clay earth.

 

[Sylvain]

Well pure clay isn't much good for anything if you're in a dry climate as it dries solid and any rain then just bounces off it. So everything will grow better with a good loam on the surface.

But yep, hops love deep clay, for them to get their roots down into to support their thirst - all that lush topgrowth transpires a lot and needs a lot of water coming into the roots. That's why they like East Kent so much, apparently there's something like 20ft of clay (I guess something to do with the glaciers coming off the ice cap in the Ice Age, Kent was at the edge of it).

It’s very interesting what you say, because my EKG (Calais Golding) has always been the most beautiful, the most luxuriant and the most producer in my house. and my soil is deep clay

 

[JAReeves]

I guess I need mine to live long enough to go down deeper, because I have clay about 6-8' below surface.

 

[T Murph]

Reevesie have you checked for ants? I have a Sterling that got attached by some critter that ate about 1/2 of the plant. So I've been watching it closely ever since with no evidence of further critter attacks, yet it seems to have simply stalled out. So I pulled the mound of mulch back to find an infestation of fire ants. Not positive the ants are responsible for its lack of development but I'm leaning toward that as the cause. Last year I had the same issue with a Cascade in a different garden.

 

[JAReeves]

I don’t have ants, but I found some caterpillars on the chinook when I was harvesting today. There were only a few webs, and no obvious leaf damage, like I had with my citrus. I think I need to really look at my feeding and watering schedule.

 

[T Murph]

One can do lots of damage but look closely for it's buddies.

 

[evolutionary]

Sylvain’s photos are easily the best here.

Harvested my Columbus, centennial and Saaz over the last few days. Did a wet hop ale with Columbus and centennial that is happily bubbling now. Not much Saaz on year two with that but Columbus was huge and the centennial started new shoots from the ground a few feet away in the last six weeks, so it’s growing nice for upcoming years.

 

[nanobrau]

Do you normally harvest your hops when they're that green? It's hard to tell how dry they are from the pictures. They look so fresh!

 

[Shropshire Lad]

Do you normally harvest your hops when they're that green? It's hard to tell how dry they are from the pictures. They look so fresh!

I made an ale two years ago (my first with fresh hops) which were green as in the photo above and it was very agreeable. It was a fresh-tasting light ale which was excellent on a hot day.

 

[NitrogenWidget]

lots of hops to post.
Was over at my mom's and the cascade will give me a decent crop this yr.
Got some fuggle and sorachi ace hops coming in also this yr.

at my place my hartwhick ar bigger than ever along with arcadians.
pics to come.