Rob's Hydroponic Hop Grow

[Robx]

Hi all,

My friends are brewers. I'd say I mostly enjoy their brews rather than brew myself. That said, this summer I was looking for a patio project for our 1 bedroom city apartment and got hooked on the idea of growing hops. I found your forum and with it the wealth of knowledge here - this only got me more excited. We're on the 5th floor and our balcony gets full sun exposure until about 3 in the afternoon. Because it's a balcony I can't have water draining all over our downstairs neighbors. This means plumbed boxes running off the edge into a gutter. Let's get started!

The Containers:

• 1x ~half barrel container for 2 rhizomes
• 1x 3 gallon smart pot for 1 rhizome
• 1x 40" wooden planter for 2 ornamental hops plants

The medium:

• Coconut Coir
• Perlite
• Expanded clay pellets

The nutrients:

• House and Garden 2 part nutrient designed for coco coir
• Kelp Meal
• Mycorrhizae
• Bacterial starter
• root hormone

The watering method:

• Blumat automated irrigation system
• 5g resevoir
• 1x 100 GPH pump

The Hops! Cascade, Newport, Teamaker, and an ornamental "Golden Hops"

The planter has been siliconed, plumbed to a drain line that runs off the edge of the deck, and lined with a rock fiber material to aid in oxygenation.

Liner in place

Expanded clay pellets were added to improve drainage.

The long box gets the same treatment.

In addition to NPK nutrients with added Calcium and Magnesium to balance the Ca Mg absorption properties of coconut fiber I'll be using Rooting Hormone (to stimulate root production), Biozyme (to kick start the beneficial bacterial cycle, and Mycorhhizae (to innoculate the substrate with beneficial fungi).

Cascade is first up, the roots have already taken off and look healthy and white when rinsed. When rinsing the roots I noticed that the cascade had a lot more ultra fine clingy roots than the teamaker or Newport. The white powder is rooting hormone (for the mold spotters out there).

The newport rhizome is looking even better! I'll be planting newport on the inside corner of the pot. This variety was bred specifically for mildew/mold resistance and so it can survive in the slightly more humid location.

Seated in a mixure of 5:1 coconut coir and perlite. Coconut coir is a hydroponic medium and has no organic potential. It's been rinsed and PH balanced prior to mixing.

Golden hops - also in a 5:1 coconut coir and perlite medium.

Spoon for scale (left golden hop)

Spoon for scale (right golden hop)

Teamaker will be planted in a 3 gallon "Smart pot" - a fabric container which provides even better aeration. Look at that root mass! It's already been trimmed from the top and has a massive crown - I have high hopes for this baby.

Teamaker sitting pretty in her felt pot. This strain has very low alpha acids and is sometimes used in herbal teas.

Our windowbox planted with daffodils, yellow irises, silver falls, and creeping phlox. This windowbox is also set up for hydroponic watering and has no soil - only coconut coir.

Example of the plumbing added to all the boxes.

 

[SleepyCreekBrews]

that's pretty cool man. I'll be interested to see how they do once they get going. Do you think your upstairs neighbors will mind having hops growing all over their balcony?

Some more experienced growers may have differing opinions , but I'm not sure it's wise to put 2 different hops in the same container.

 

[Robx]

Hi Sleepy, thanks for the feedback. I agree - definitely not ideal to have the two hops plants in that pot. That bucket will be the hop-root thunderdome.

That said, I may be saved by the hydroponic watering method. Since I'm not relying on soil for nutrients the plants will be able to have a much smaller root area. I'm interested to see how it plays out in practice.

Also - we're the top floor. Nothing above us but good clean New England sky. Once the hops hits the top of the ~7' lattice I will run them horizontally across the deck on guide wires.


Update: No growth yet - it's been very cold here and we had a near frost just a few nights ago.

 

[Robx]

Some laser cut stakes - because...LASERS!

 

[Robx]

Not much growth - the cascade has fared the best of the four varieties. It's been cold and rainy and the coconut coir hasn't had a chance to dry out further than 40mBar of pressure measured by the tensiometer. I'm hoping it will dry to 120-140 for a day or so to kick off some root development. Some of the leaves show a curling near the top and a bit of browning - I do not currently have an EC tester but believe the water near the roots may have an EC high enough to prevent proper nutrient uptake.

Same story - waterlogged

 

[BGBC]

Interested to follow along. Best of luck!

Fellow apartment-dweller here, would be cool to have this as an option. What city are you located in?

 

[Robx]

Thanks, I'm in Cambridge, MA - just outside of Boston.

Our windowbox is faring better, it's possible the hops are still recovering from their time with USPS.

The whole sunny side of the deck

Golden hops is struggling a bit as well - this spot may be too shady even for this less than sun loving variety.


Our Blumat watering system came in and I'll be setting it up once our "organic" auto watering system lets up.

 

[Robx]

Golden Hops close up (pre-shipment growth) (left)

Golden Hops new growth (left)

Golden hops #2 (right)

Newport - new growth

Cascade - new growth

 

[BaylessBrewer]

They look like they may be suffering from over watering and/or Iron Chlorosis.
Check your ph and correct if over 7.0 coco coir is notorious for raising ph and locking up nutrients.

 

[Lyger10]

These take time, unfortunately years to have a viable Alpha Acid content for using in beer. Stick with it, it's a solid setup and you should have some cones come September.

These are mine it their third year, you can see how much they've spread out over time. ( Picture taken about a week ago ) These were only 3 Rhizomes.

Good luck!

 

[Robx]

Got a PH pen today and noticed that there is a problem with my RO water filter. My output was 20ppm but had a PH of 4... what? I tested all sorts of water sources, calibrated the pen, made a new batch of RO - 4.0. Good god... Well I made a new batch (2G) of hydroponic solution and balanced the PH to 5.6. I used this to flush the pots - hoping this fixes some of the ongoing issues with stunted growth and discoloration.

We continue to have lots of rain here, but there is some sun predicted later in the week. I'll use this as an opportunity to let the pots dry out a bit.

 

[brewcat]

These take time, unfortunately years to have a viable Alpha Acid content for using in beer. Stick with it, it's a solid setup and you should have some cones come September.

These are mine it their third year, you can see how much they've spread out over time. ( Picture taken about a week ago ) These were only 3 Rhizomes.

Good luck!

Umm...Alpha acid should be fine the 1st year. It tends to change like any crop from year to year but is fine to make beer with.


I'm confused about hops in pots. They have a deep and shallow root system. A pot doesn't help. If you have space for them just put the thing in the ground. It will mostly likely grow.

 

[Robx]

I live in the city and have literally zero dirt of my own. I'm on the 5th floor of an apartment complex . Mostly, I want to use this as an opportunity to learn more about hydroponics. I have not read any reports of hops being grown in inert coconut fiber and am interested in how they'll get on.

Some journal notes:

• Base nutrient added at 1.5ml A / B
• Kelp / rooting compound added at 1ml each
• Wetting agent added at 1ml
• Foliar spray prepared with 1.5ml of kelp + .1ml wetting agent and applied to leaves
• Removed all dead plant matter for easier observation

 

[Robx]

After the darkest may since 1885 we've finally got a sunny day! Additionally, the kelp foliar spray and correction to the PH seems to have turned the plants around. The leaves are no longer drooping and the color has turned to a darker green. Growth has not taken off yet, but I'm hoping that it will with a few more days of sun.

I've put a very small amount of worm castings at the base of each plant. This will provide a slow release nitrogen boost until I can get the entire medium dialed in.

I'm going to try to let the soil dry a little bit. We're still at 26psi in the big pot and I want that to hit at least 40-60 before I water again. With the next watering I'll be increasing the nutrient solution's concentration to 5ml/gallon from 1.5ml. This is the manufacturer's recommended concentration throughout vegetation.

 

[Robx]

We've had a couple days of sun - but the hop plants are still miniscule.

Cascade still showing yellow yellowing around the edge of the leaf. Still using a very light nutrient solution.

Not a very well controlled experiment with flowers in the pot.

Because of the fabric pot - teamaker has finally dried out. I'm confident that this plant will recover as it's shown great growth over the last couple days. I trimmed back everything that looked a bit sickly.

I've laid out some seeds in the golden hop planter (not pictured). The golden hops are doing very poorly. Wondering if I should trim them back completely. I'm a bit worried that these plants have gnats... If you look in this last picture you can see one ontop of the soil.

 

[passedpawn]

I'm sure you'll get the plants growing, but I doubt they won't thrive from pots. Root systems can be impressive, and demanding. I grow in pots and even the smallest types of plants send roots to the bottom of my large pots, and ultimately the roots fill the pot. At that point they stop growing. Root-bound growth.

With the extensive root system that you're likely to experience, the watering needs will be great. Further, the nutrients that once existed in your soil might be depleted quickly. It's not hard to replenish, but if you don't you'll see the leaves curl and blossoms dwindle.

Growing from pots has advantages, but it requires daily (!) maintenance. Good luck!

 

[Robx]

Hi Passed, thanks for the feedback. I'm not using soil for this grow, but may encounter some of the same problems. The medium is coconut fiber, it's innert / not biologically available to the roots - just a place for them to sit. The fabric pot will not become root bound - and will serve as my control. This type of pot results in air pruned roots rather than an encircling root base. The other two have a rockwool liner that I hope will also help (as it dries out completely between waterings). Unlike soil, I provide a complete nutrient solution with every watering. At this point I don't know if it's possible to say how this crop will do against pot+soil grow as I was unable to find a precedent for hops grown hydroponically in coconut fiber. I am, however, interested in what the results will be. Stay tuned!

Flower shot

Closeup of the cascade leaf showing the discoloration.

Closeup of the newport showing healthy growth

Teamaker closeup - a much larger leaf

The golden hops - struggling more than the others. Still waiting for this pot to dry a bit.

Golden hops 2 - don't even want to look at it. Hoping gnats are not to blame.

A blueberry bush that I'm also growing hydroponically. There are two varieties here as neither are self pollinating. The top is a rescue from my parent's garden where it was not doing well due to their soil composition.

 

[passedpawn]

Hi Passed, thanks for the feedback. I'm not using soil for this grow, but may encounter some of the same problems. The medium is coconut fiber, it's innert / not biologically available to the roots - just a place for them to sit. The fabric pot will not become root bound - and will serve as my control. This type of pot results in air pruned roots rather than an encircling root base. The other two have a rockwool liner that I hope will also help (as it dries out completely between waterings). Unlike soil, I provide a complete nutrient solution with every watering. At this point I don't know if it's possible to say how this crop will do against pot+soil grow as I was unable to find a precedent for hops grown hydroponically in coconut fiber. I am, however, interested in what the results will be. Stay tuned!

I hope it goes well. Very interesting. Glad I stumbled onto this thread.

Very nice pics btw.

 

[Robx]

After work today I noted many new shoots coming up out of the Teamaker / Fabric pot setup. This plant is currently significantly more vigorous than any of the others and is the only to have dried out. I am almost completely convinced that the hops definitely prefer a strong wet/dry cycle after replanting and that the inability of the larger pots to dry completely has negatively impacted their growth. If I were to do this again I would definitely use very small coco pots which would then be transplanted directly into a larger pot once roots began to protrude. Alternatively I would plant the coco pot raised 2-4" above the ground line so that the crown would dry appropriately.

If I can find some coco coir pots like these locally I will dig up one of the golden hops and try just this.

 

[Robx]

Well - I had some left over rock fiber lying around and decided to act sooner than later.

I fashioned a small open bottom pot using the rock fiber sheet and some cyanoacrylate

I removed the most compromised golden hop plant. Not looking good... There's almost no new root growth.

The roots show a max of 1cm of growth in just a few areas X_X....

I prepared a soak of kelp extract, Humic acid, fulvic acid, and B vitamins and gave the plant a good trim. I only left the one most viable shoot. Additionally I rinsed the roots of any remaining coco/soil.

I partially burried the new pot. Filled it with coco. And finally gave it a watering with 300ppm kelp based fertilizer with an EC of 0.75 and a PH of 5.7.

I won't water this area and will allow the pot to fully dry.

 

[jabba11]

sounds like you are REALLY involved in this an it is interesting to see and read. That said most of us of course just stuck the tings in the ground and they took off like crazy so prepare yourself for those folks too. I mean I game mine a shot of 12 -12-12 early spring...thats all I ever do to em beside train them

 

[Robx]

Hi Jabba, thanks for the feedback. I'm positive that I'll over-engineer these things to a late start - but it's all part of the learning process. Personally, I'm looking forward to the roots setting in nicely so that I can start watering hydroponically. Right now I still need the wet + dry cycles to get these roots going!

 

[alane1]

Looks like a cool project, if you need anything let me know. I'm currently working in Cambridge.

 

[Robx]

Thanks!

Ok - so the hydro reservoir /pumps and plugs are all set up.

I am using the Tropf Blumat system. Each plug has a ceramic carrot that pulls on an internal membrane as the carrot dries. The moisture set point can be programmed for each pot. Pretty cool! After twiddling with it for a bit you can maintain a constant moisture in the container. No super wet periods, no super dry periods - just right.

Just keeping track of this guy (golden hops) - no progress yet.

Teamaker first to hit the twine! Go girl go!



Flowers are looking good:

 

[Robx]

Soil moisture for the big box is hovering right around 40 (+ and - 5) on the blumat digital. Growth is ongoing but I'm not noting any "spurts". The biggest growth spurt was with teamaker as the pot experienced a bit of a drought. I'd say if you're growing hops in pots and feel stalled - let your pots dry out and see what happens.

The blumat measures soil "suction" where a higher number indicates greater suction of moisture INTO the soil. When completely saturated my coco mix reads about 26 on the scale. 40 is still quite moist. For dirt 40 would be as wet as you'd ever want it, however - dirt typically has much less O2 available to the plants than coco. What I've noticed so far is that the hops seems to like it much dryer than other plants - I've noted the best growth at 50-60+ psi for the 1st year rhizome, whereas the flowering annuals are doing very well at 30-35. This advice may be completely inaccurate for plants with established roots.

Something important to keep in mind is that the water used by a plant is nearly proportional to the leaf surface area. As your hops grow expect to feed an increasing amount of water proportional to the amount of new growth. This, however, is a separate issue than stimulation of growth by means of absolute water moisture content.

What I find strange is that in some of my readings so far there was no noted correlation between an exact moisture level and the stimulation of growth so long as adequate nutrient concentration and moisture level for the plant was maintained. What I haven't seen studied is the impact on fluctuating moisture level on newly transplanted plants.

You can read more about soil moisture readings here: http://www.skyeinstruments.com/wp-content/uploads/Soil-Guidance-Notes.pdf

More content about soil moisture level and plant growth:
ftp://ftp.fao.org/agl/agll/docs/sb79.pdf
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC439946/?page=1

 

[Robx]

As another note - the 3G resevoir was filled on saturday. RO water was used. EC of the nutrient solution for this batch was .75 mS/cm (2.5ml/Gal A / B base nutrients). Ontop of the base nutrient I am also using a fulvic / amino acid / kelp supplement.

 

[Paps]

in

 

[Robx]

Still running 0.75 EC base nutrients with added Ca/Mg for coco. Consuming roughly 5g per week for the whole deck (5 planters)

Local garden center had a little sunbeam (golden hops) on sale. I'm feeling bummed about the state of the golden in the trough and wanted to try an even smaller air pot with coco - not yet hooked up to the auto water, but will be shortly. Interested in seeing how big I can grow this in a tiny little pot. The trick will be keeping it wet through the hot months (IE not letting my reservoir run dry)

Blueberry bush - doing well (though the leaves have a reddish tinge - may be totally normal)

Teamaker is kicking in. Grew a foot this week and has made 3-4 inches of progress in the last day alone

Newport and Cascade are looking alright. I've let this pot dry to mid 60's mBar soil suction. That's still quite damp by soil standards, but I think it's as dry as I want this coco coir. There are a few good bines per plant and they'll start training this week!

The sad pot... being sad... Golden hop on the right is showing a major calcium deficiency and will lose its bottom two leaves. I'm going to flush the trough again with fresh nutrient solution and hope for the best.

The flowers are really kicking in hard though - nothing like a little eye candy to keep the spirits up.

 

[Voodoo]

Glad to see someone is doing full bore hydro! My sub irrigated tree planters are basically oversized Global Buckets (passive hydro using the soil as a wick). I've seen lots of great blumat setups, but never with hops. Should be amazing for keeping the root zone properly wet.

I'd say the plants seem slow because they're starting in such massive containers - but that wont be an issue for long! I've seen a lot of gardeners use higher perlite ratios (4:1 and even 3:1) for tiny plants and faster wet/dry cycles. After the plant gets established, they get potted up. With hops, this is probably overkill though as the plant will be so big by the end of June that it won't matter.

I don't see any obvious nutrient issues, though your temporary PH issue probably is what locked out the calcium. Keep doing what you're doing - I'll be following this one for sure.

 

[Robx]

Thanks for the interest Voodoo - those sub irrigated containers you've set up look super efficient. Brilliant way to deal with the san diego climate.

Journal - I doused all the containers today with full strength hydro liquid, brewed with bacteria and some fruit sugars I'll let them ride out on the 2/3 strength left in the reservoir.

 

[Robx]

I'll be upgrading my res to 10G soon.

some of the front runners are:
http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item.aspx?sku=10859
http://www.ebay.com/itm/RV-camper-t...-NEW-FDA-approved-free-shipping-/371106895671
http://www.plasticwatertanks.com/p/cbt7k/sp0007-rt-7-gallon-rectangle-plastic-tank

It needs to fit in a very tight space. 14Lx9.5Wx17H is almost perfect.

If I go with a white res I'll likely have to paint it black to block algae growth. Additionally, I'll likely add a bulkhead + tube on the outside to monitor water level.


Additionally, i will be running KSiO (Potassium Silicate) as an added nutrient. I currently use this element to increase sponge growth in a reef tank - but have been reading that it will also increase stem diameter, resilience, and nutrient uptake: http://www.greenhousemag.com/article/gmpro-0610-silicon-plant-growth/

This element is abundant in the earth - but is missing in most hydro setups.

 

[Robx]

Ended up going with the RV water tank:

I'll sand, apply a black finish (to block algae growth), and then a rock or faux wood/metal spray paint.


Hop Update: Growing strong! All hops are now on the guide lines. The teamaker is about 4.5-5 feet now and has grown half way (horizontally) across the hand rail. We're getting HOT weather for the next few days and the plants are all loving it.

Will post pictures soon.

 

[Robx]

Golden hops (left) doing well - The right plant did not do well in the raised pot with super drainage / dry coco...so there goes that theory. I've replanted it and currently it only has one small shoot. The packet of seeds did very well in the coco... must have achieved nearly 100% germination. It'll be a shame to thin it out - may just let it go wild.

Newport and Cascade are climbing now - bucket moisture hovering in the 40's.

A small hydroponic pot (terra cotta) dialed in.

Getting some pollinators as well

Teamaker is stealing the show here - starting to really beef up with some palm sized leaves.

Still using 1.4EC full strength hydro solution. Not noticing any tip burn so I'll likely stick with this strength for the next few refills.

 

[Robx]

Holding steady with the same routine - have only added KSiO or potassium silicate to the mix.

The sunny side sprawl

Zoomed in a bit - teamaker is a little wind battered but otherwise doing well

Just dropped in some Kale + Cucumbers

Strawberries - these took to hydro better than any other plant so far.

Shady side with golden hops

 

[Robx]

Time for another update!

Strawberries

Kale and cucubmbers - 2 weeks of growth

Shady side of the deck - golden hops is still creeping along - the tiny <1 liter pot is growing quite vigorously though.

Flower porn

Hops attack!!! Teamaker has sidearms growing off of sidearms. The longest arm is over 36".

The sprawl. Cascade finally started taking off again in the past 3 days. It was stunted for a bit, but with the hot weather it has grown about 3 inches per day for the last 3 days. Newport is still trailing - likely due to the limited sun that it gets in the corner. I was hopeful that the hops would climb up and across the trellis - but that isn't seeming too likely at this point.

 

[Robx]

Growth is out of control at this point and so is water consumption. The entire balcony setup is consuming roughly 3.5 gallons of hydroponic solution per day and climbing. With increased water consumption comes increased demands from the pumps and emitter heads.

To minimize the clogging I've added an in line filter on the 8mm line. The filter is much bigger in person (beer can size) than I expected, but it seems to do the job.

My pump right now is just a cheap aquarium pump performing way outside of its spec. I'm concerned that with the warm water and increased demands that the pump might fail - so with the change over to the new reservoir posted above I'll also be switching to a new pump system.

I went all out and ordered:
-Shurflo revolution 45PSI 3gpm Pump (Constant pressure pump)
-Shurflo Accumulator tank (A pressurized holding tank so that the pump isn't always hammering away)
-Blumat pressure reducer (drops from 45PSI to about 15)
-Additional in line filter (on the intake to extend pump life)

This system will be self priming and will provide much more predictable pressure on the emitter heads.

Here's a very fine engineering diagram of how it will be configured:

And a photo of all the pieces lined up:

 

[thaymond]

I'm definitely geeking out on the set up and your updates! Well done! Keep it up!

 

[Robx]

Thanks thaymond - I've been following your thread too. Curious to see how your early burs develop - nothing here yet.

Non hoppy update below

Painted the new reservoir - less of an eyesore than before.

Hydro flower box has sprung back after a massive trim

Golden hops in the shade

Wildflowers in the shade box

 

[thaymond]

Thanks thaymond - I've been following your thread too. Curious to see how your early burs develop - nothing here yet.

Non hoppy update below

Painted the new reservoir - less of an eyesore than before.

Hydro flower box has sprung back after a massive trim

Golden hops in the shade

Wildflowers in the shade box

Mine are 3rd year + plants. I'm surprised myself on how they're flowering. We're on a month early. I hope that I still have sidearm growth and it doesn't fudge on my harvest. Time will tell.

 

[thaymond]

Thanks thaymond - I've been following your thread too. Curious to see how your early burs develop - nothing here yet.

Non hoppy update below

Painted the new reservoir - less of an eyesore than before.

Hydro flower box has sprung back after a massive trim

Golden hops in the shade

Wildflowers in the shade box

Mine are 3rd year + plants. I'm surprised myself on how they're flowering. We're on a month early. I hope that I still have sidearm growth and it doesn't fudge on my harvest. Time will tell.

That Golden plant is gorgeous. I had a Sunbeam plant that had the bright yellow-green leaves like that. Not great for brewing, and it unfortunately didn't have space in my yard for a massive decorative hop. It's now residing on a fence at my mom's house, slowly taking it over. It will be awesome to see it take over that lattice.