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This is their first year, centennial and cascades. So far not a lot of growth, but they are trying.

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First year hopyard, drilling post holes today, and still a lot more weeding in my immediate future. Been hand pulling weeds from the crowns, due to tangling with the bines, and hoeing one meter around each crown, and finally brought the rototiller down, and tilled in between the rows.
 
What's the bottles for? Drip watering?

Yea, I use the bottles to slowly and precisely drip water. I saw something similar on tv, called a watering globe. I just used what I had at home, a bunch of empty bombers. My hose doesn't come close to reaching the garden so I've been lugging 5 gallon buckets of water, up a hill, to water the plants.
 
Last few days have been in the 90s here. We pretty much ducked out of the sun all day, now the sun is ducking out on us.

I ran two strings per each plant, so there are 24 drops from the suspension lines. Nearly all drops have at least two bines but most carry three or more. It's been getting crazy as more leaders reach the suspension line and I train them to run along it.

Four Centennial plants on the far side of that Trumpet Vine, four Chinook on the near side.
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Four Cascade plants on other end of the decks, along side another Trumpet vine.
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Centennials are popping with cones, and still making burrs as well.
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I think some of these Centennial cones will be pickable in a week.
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One precocious Chinook plant has nearly mature cones on its bines, one is just starting to burr up, and these prodigious two of the Chinooks have a bazillion burrs transitioning to cones. Its going to be interesting to see how big these get, there are so many.
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These Chinook cones are on the precocious plant. There are far fewer than on the prodigious two, and these look like last season's - which I didn't start harvesting until the last week of August(!)
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Cascades are also sporting sizable cones. Lots of lupulin already showing...
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I suspect this season will have a long, drawn out harvest...

Cheers!
 
holy crap! how many years old are they? whats your secret to such massive growth!?
 
Wow with comes that mature you might be able to harvest twice on some plants. Super cool

That's almost assured. Not sure I'm all that thrilled about it though. This could be a looong rest of the season! Last season I got two distinct harvests, the first the last week of August and the second a few weeks later. I'm almost sure I'll be starting the picking within a couple of weeks, and the plants are still putting out lots of burrs...

holy crap! how many years old are they? whats your secret to such massive growth!?

They're all second year plants. Considering the degree of neglect I gave them this year wrt any sort of feeding (first Miracle-Gro application wasn't until mid-June, second was a few days ago), I'd have to attribute this to residual effects of all the good stuff I put into prepping the beds, and the fact that they're planted in a north-south row so they get full southern exposure, especially above the upper deck. It's ~22-23 feet to the suspension line and virtually all of the cones start above the 12 foot level - the part that gets sun nearly all day...

Cheers!
 
Yea, I use the bottles to slowly and precisely drip water. I saw something similar on tv, called a watering globe. I just used what I had at home, a bunch of empty bombers. My hose doesn't come close to reaching the garden so I've been lugging 5 gallon buckets of water, up a hill, to water the plants.

How long do the bottles stay filled with water? I'm going out of town for two weeks and in addition to my in ground plants that are on a drip system, I have two potted plants on my deck that I water by hand. I'm looking for a 2 week watering solution (other than getting the neighbor to come by). Any suggestions from anybody would be much appreciated.
 
How did everyone else dig their post holes? I only have an auger, which leaves a ton of dirt in the hole, and this minute I'm digging out the post holes with a hand post hole digger, and it's probably going to murder me.
 
How long do the bottles stay filled with water? I'm going out of town for two weeks and in addition to my in ground plants that are on a drip system, I have two potted plants on my deck that I water by hand. I'm looking for a 2 week watering solution (other than getting the neighbor to come by). Any suggestions from anybody would be much appreciated.

The 22 oz. bottles I use, empty themselves in about 2-3 days, depending on your soils drainage and how wet it already is. (seems to drip slower when soil is wet, but I'm not positive). I've also heard of people using trash cans, filled with water, with tiny holes at the bottom... but that may not help your situation with potted plants. In conclusion, I would highly recommend having neighbors water your plants.
 
How did everyone else dig their post holes? I only have an auger, which leaves a ton of dirt in the hole, and this minute I'm digging out the post holes with a hand post hole digger, and it's probably going to murder me.

I have a Post Hole Digger on my Tractor, but I still had to clean the holes out with a hand PHD. There's really no way around it, that I know of.

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Yankeehillbrewer said:
I have a Post Hole Digger on my Tractor, but I still had to clean the holes out with a hand PHD. There's really no way around it, that I know of.

Depends on the RPM of the auger. PTO driven, yeh. Two man throttled up, dipped in and out cleans in out. I've been diggin post holes as part of my Livin for 17 yrs. but still every man with an auger still needs a PHD.
 
I learned to dig twice with the auger, while cleaning around the hole with a shovel, but I still have a lot to dig out by hand, and my first holes I hadn't cleaned the auger with the shovel, so I have over a meter of dirt to clean, with a very small hand post hole digger. It is a very different experience having the shovels over a meter deep, and having to stand all the way up to dump every one handful of dirt. Tomorrow, I'm going to find a trowel and do it by hand.
 
It ain't much, but my first year nuggets should yield a bajillion cones. Tey grow all around me as I drink beer on the deck.



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Here are my Centennial and Cascade. They had some hail damage, but recovered.

I am in Aurora, Colorado. The poles need to be taller, as the top wire is only about 10 feet tall. The vines tend to cluster at the top. Last year's production was 28 dry ounces.

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2nd year area is 10'x20' ordered 5 Zeus Rhizomes from freshops last year. Looks like one of them turned out to be a mystery Rhizome as its almost ready to be harvested. The 4 zeus are just starting to even produce a cone.

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The wall of madness! maybe next year ill cut and train 3 vines per rope.

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Mystery Hops not quite ready.
 
First year Brewer's Gold. They are still trying to get rid of the yellowing they got when they suffered severe winds for a week straight coupled with nutrient deficiency and large sudden changes in temperature. Other than that they are both growing super fast and there are even burrs! Not bad for a first year.

EDIT: Aaaand the first photo is sideways. Stupid dropbox :D

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PariahVineyard said:
What is in the background there?

Can I ask how much you are paying for posts? I'm looking for something that big but can't find any in an acceptable price range.

I paid 24USD per post, plus freight to California from Montana, they are pressure treated, took four months to arrive, and of some coniferous variety of tree. In the background, either the wineyard? Or the toilet? I'm sure the guys in the wineyard are asking the same question of what I'm doing. They are 16' above ground, and 4' below.
 
I paid 24USD per post, plus freight to California from Montana, they are pressure treated, took four months to arrive, and of some coniferous variety of tree. In the background, either the wineyard? Or the toilet? I'm sure the guys in the wineyard are asking the same question of what I'm doing. They are 16' above ground, and 4' below.

I sent you a PM
 
Second year nugget and cascade...

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I think I will move these next year to the side yard and replace them with two or three Kent Goldings or Fuggles. And let them climb over a pergola.
 
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2nd year cascade and centennial at the inlaws. What a mess!



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Picture of a hop flower that I could reach. There are hop cones on one of the plants.
 
So jealous of all those tall ones reaching for the sky. My Centennial and Fuggle are about 8-9 feet high, and the centennial is getting little flowers on the top half. The Fuggle is much bushier, but hasn't started with burrs yet. These are the full crown from Great Lakes.

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