South Florida Hop Growing

[shataway]

Thanks for the help KWB. Cheers!

 

[KeyWestBrewing]

More than welcome. Keep us updated.

 

[thern001]

Here is my cascade hop planted on march 5 the last picture taken yesterday. I saw it today and they already grew another inch so it has been growing about an inch a day. This is in Miami Florida by the way.

 

[KeyWestBrewing]

Nice!!!

 

[thern001]

 

[Dusk2dust]

here's my progress thus far

 

[Ddubduder]

here's my progress thus far

Very nice, I like the rope trellis.

 

[TrickyDick]

Hey guys,


Nice looking plants out there. I'm in central FL (Lady Lake, near Leesburg and The Villages)

I tried hops in containers on my porch, but they soon overgrown the largest posts I could find, then I move them outside. Overall a huge disaster. That was 2 years ago.

Now I came up with a new plan. Did an addition, and now have an ideal spot, I hope, for growing. Corner of the house pointed WNW which will get early morning sun and afternoon shade. I bought huge, 36" diameter planters that'll sit on the landscape rocks between house and shrub line (roses, hope those don't interfere with my ability to get at the hops later or else they'll meet mr hedge clipper). Now the best part is I've got probably close to 30 feet height to the top of my eaves, into which were installed eyebolts, securely into the framework of the trusses I am told. I am going to put pulleys on these eyebolts, so as to lower the vine as the grow toward the eyebolt and pulley. This way I don't need to be climbing up a huge ladder and risk falling.

I have my rhizomes, planters, soil (miracle grow mix, and have lost my myo-magic pellets I was going to put into the planters to help the roots develop. Maybe I'll finds them somewhere.

I bought 4 planters and 4 rhizomes: cascade, Columbus, sterling, and magnum (wish I had bought centennial instead of one of the others but oh well)
Hopefully I'll get the rhizomes into the planters by Friday if I can make the time.

Couple things I wanted to ask or share. Someone ? Mojito ? Posted a pic of a planter? Looks similar to mine. I think my brand was Susquehanna. Seem what cheaply made. I think will be OK once filled with soil however.

Also, someone posted that they used BT to deter caterpillars? What is BT?

I'll be sure to post some pics of my hop garden as soon as the rhizomes are planted.

As far as the twine, I would ideally like to use something permanent, strong, and lightweight. Stainless steel braided wire comes to mind. Do you Thi the hops would be able to climb that? Something maybe only a bit thicker than picture hanging wire? I bought some coir a few years back but didn't use it. I don't think the pieces are nearly long enough and a 20 ft length would need to be spliced in order to employ the pulley system I'm planning.

Thanks for sharing!

TD

 

[Ddubduder]

The stainless wire would be a bad idea. The bines essentially have small hooks that they use to climb with and the stainless would allow them any way to sink in. You would be better just getting a large reel of twine or even a thicker rope. Just my 0.02.

 

[TrickyDick]

The stainless wire would be a bad idea. The bines essentially have small hooks that they use to climb with and the stainless would allow them any way to sink in. You would be better just getting a large reel of twine or even a thicker rope. Just my 0.02.

Thanks. That's sort of what I was worried about. You think even the twisted wire stuff wouldn't afford them a grip?
I just HATE to consider getting that high on a ladder more than once.

Maybe what I do is get a metal or PVC pipe, and hoist THAT with the pulley system (using stainless steel), and train the hops onto coir twine tied to the PVC or whatever pipe.
Well I think I'll have at least a few weeks (?) from planting to figure it out and get it all setup before the hops emerge and start growing skyward.

Thanks

TD

 

[KeyWestBrewing]

Use Organicide to keep bugs and mites away. I use on my hops and my peppers and it works great.

 

[Dusk2dust]

All mine get is fish emulsion, sun and water. They get the fish emulsion once a week, so far no insect have bothered them

 

[TrickyDick]

Ok here is my location. Just planted them. Need to get some mulch on there. I think is over estimating the height, probably closer to 22-25 feet not counting 12 or so inches from the planter.
Oh and my rhizomes are just about the most pathetic rhizomes I've ever seen. Measly 4" clippings. I think they were ashamed so they gave me two on a couple. Only one was somewhat beefy in size. The others about the size of a sharpie marker!

Half tempted to buy the eBay entire crowns...

TD

 

[Dusk2dust]

About how big were you guys' plants when they started producing cones?

 

[Brewmech]

Well, I had my hops on some trellis' but they weren't very happy. So I built this pergola for them and planted them in the ground. I have magnum, Columbus, willamette, and tea maker. I have some yellowing on the columbus and tea maker, they were what I planted in pots in late january. They also have some fungus I think. The columbus seems to be coming back though and the teamaker is a little slower. I hope they survive.

What should I do to get rid of the fungus? Also I am going to get a drip irrigation hose for these as well I think.

Cheers!

 

[Dusk2dust]

I like that setup, they make a nice landscaping item, hopefully someone doesn't get the wrong idea after looking at the leaves

 

[shataway]

Give them direct sunlight if possible for the majority of the day and water as normal but not too heavily. See if that helps. I basically didnt water mine for 2 months over the winter and once I started to again after cutting the bines I had left it put out new shoots in like a week. I don't think you watering over the winter should have killed them.

You are correct! Starting to see a little green and keeping my fingers crossed!

 

[KeyWestBrewing]

You are correct! Starting to see a little green and keeping my fingers crossed!

Glad to hear things are coming to life!!

 

[sweetcell]

The stainless wire would be a bad idea. The bines essentially have small hooks that they use to climb with and the stainless would allow them any way to sink in. You would be better just getting a large reel of twine or even a thicker rope. Just my 0.02.

it would depend on what kind of crevasses the stainless wire/braid has. i have a plant growing up the twisetd wire support lines of a telephone pole, sorta like this:

mine looks a lot prettier, of course

 

[TrickyDick]

I decided that I am going to use galvanized steel wire, pulleys, and rings along with eyebolts in my eaves. The ring I will tie to a length or coir twine , and the free end of coir I'll tie to the hop container using an eyebolt or something. This way I don't need to get on a ladder. I do hope that the vines are flexible enough so as not to break them off. Well, time will tell. I now have planted the hops and there are some early sproutings from all 4.
Mulch going on this week.

TD

 

[KeyWestBrewing]

About how big were you guys' plants when they started producing cones?

I'd say mine were about 10-12ft. Once they start growing sidearms then the sidearms will start putting out cones.

Ok here is my location. Just planted them. Need to get some mulch on there. I think is over estimating the height, probably closer to 22-25 feet not counting 12 or so inches from the planter.
Oh and my rhizomes are just about the most pathetic rhizomes I've ever seen. Measly 4" clippings. I think they were ashamed so they gave me two on a couple. Only one was somewhat beefy in size. The others about the size of a sharpie marker!

Half tempted to buy the eBay entire crowns...

TD

I highly recommend ordering hop crowns from Great Lakes Hops. The crowns are already a few years old and huge. Ive recommended many people here on HBT to them and have heard nothing but great things.

 

[TrickyDick]

Yeah, I think since I've already got my rhizomes planted, and I'm in FL, that I'm gonna let them ride. if one dies out, I will swap over to a Centennial crown. Wish I knew before. Those are like many many times larger than the crappy half pencil sized rhizomes I received.

TD

 

[KeyWestBrewing]

Yeah, I think since I've already got my rhizomes planted, and I'm in FL, that I'm gonna let them ride. if one dies out, I will swap over to a Centennial crown. Wish I knew before. Those are like many many times larger than the crappy half pencil sized rhizomes I received.

TD

There's nothing wrong with growing from rhizome but its much harder, takes longer, and I feel like many people get them not knowing they could have gotten crowns(no offense). It's much easier to start from crown and basically save yourself a couple years. Crowns are also fairly inexpensive. That being said, there's a lot of hop varieties you can only buy rhizomes for. So depending what your looking to grow, that may be your only choice.
Hope your rhizomes take off and work out for ya! Lots of sun, nitrogen, and water and they'll be happy.

 

[TrickyDick]

Thanks.


Mine have all sprouted now, and have been mulched in. Got a plan for training them that'll be done soon. Have all the parts for that.

This brings up a point I'd like to ask about:

Fertilization and pest control

When to start fertilization? What products work well? My soil is actually potting mix moisture control miracle grow brand.
What was the name of the pest control stuff again?
Been checking and watering them when I get home from work. So far seem fine, but they are only an inch tall!

Thanks

TD

 

[KeyWestBrewing]

Thanks.

Mine have all sprouted now, and have been mulched in. Got a plan for training them that'll be done soon. Have all the parts for that.

This brings up a point I'd like to ask about:

Fertilization and pest control

When to start fertilization? What products work well? My soil is actually potting mix moisture control miracle grow brand.
What was the name of the pest control stuff again?
Been checking and watering them when I get home from work. So far seem fine, but they are only an inch tall!

Thanks

TD

Make sure to let the soil dry out the top few inches between watering and to water deep once a week. If you have access to a fish or turtle aquarium then use the dirty water from water changes for watering your plant. It's full of good stuff that will keep any plant happy. If you don't then use a fish emulsion mixture every other week or so. I also use this stuff called Plant Tone once a month.
For pest control I use Organocide on my hops, peppers, and tomatoes with great results. I have pics of all the stuff in the link in my signature as well.

 

[TrickyDick]

OK- I had some homebrew and it inspired me to order hop crowns from great lakes, as was advised. I'll dig out the miniscule rhizomes and replace them.

I had:

Cascade
Columbus
Magnum
Sterling

I bought just 3 crowns (cascade and centennial not available)
Chinook (I'll replace the magnum plant)
Columbus - direct replacement
Sterling - direct replacement

it seems that the magnum would be used primarily as a bittering hop but since the AA would be unmeasured, I wouldn't know how much to use. I think that was poor planning on my part (Maybe I was similarly inspired when I made the rhizome order!)
Anyway, now I'll have a bunch of american hops that I can use for bittering, aroma, and flavor. Maybe I will make a brew from the first seasons harvest and just see what happens.

The nightmare pencil size rhizome of the cascade will persist and I can see how it compares with the others.

TD

 

[KeyWestBrewing]

Cool I hope things go well for you. I'd say when the time comes to use them, use a little more than normal to make up for the AA. If the beer comes out hoppier than expected than your hops AA is higher than expected.

 

[Dusk2dust]

I did mine of rhizomes and they are doing great so dont give up on your cascades yet, it may take a week or two for them to start coming up but once they get established they'll be ok

 

[kirkc8099]

I've been out of touch with this thread for quite awhile, but I grew (2) rhizomes each of Cascade and Centennial last year...in Coral Springs. They yielded a good pound of hops before I cut them back to the ground towards the end of the year. I noticed that they recently re-sprouted about two weeks ago, so I got the bed they were in all ready to go for this season...I've been super busy, so today when I did my yardwork I checked and one of the Cascades has two or three bines already six-feet tall. So, I spent awhile getting all my lines up and ready to rock 'n roll for this season. I'll post some pics in the near future.

Has anyone brewed with the hops they have grown in South Florida...and what were the results? In January I brewed a blonde, and used about 13 oz. of homegrown hops...I was hoping for something crazy hoppy. It wasn't hoppy at all... It was excellent, as I oak aged the blonde, but it was a lot tamer as far as the IBUs go. Is this because of our soil? Will the second year crop have higher AAs? Anyone have a clue? I sure don't... Thanks.

 

[KeyWestBrewing]

I have no clue on the connection between growing conditions and AA value. I'd be interested to find out though.