ASublimeDay
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Aug 16, 2011
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Hey Guys,
Some background before I post:
-I have 3 hops plants, I'm allowing one vine each. When additional vines pop up (there have been plenty!), I let them get a foot in length, cut them at the base, and pop them in a rooting hormone solution. Plan to give them to my brewing buddies in the spring
-They are trained along chicken wire. When the main vine gets within 6" of the light, it is pushed back down and, through this process, grows horizontally along the wiring
-By only having one vine per plant, training them along the chicken wire is much easier and the size is manageable
-The soil is compost from my worm bin. I have about 400 red wriggler worms in a bed of paper and fruit/vegetable scraps. The soil (or "worm castings") is extremely rich and the plants LOVE it. The worms are not in the hops soil, I harvest the castings every few weeks. I had a big supply ready for when I planted the hops
-The bin is 25 gallons. The bin and box size are manageable because the vines are flowered early, then chopped down and go through their entire growth cycle again. This removes the requirement for a massive root system (more on this later)
-The light cycle is 16 hrs/day for a month, then 12 hours of light/12 hours of darkness until their flowering cycle is done.
-PLEASE spare the "why would you do this, you'll get a crappy yield, etc". The reason I am doing this is because I want completely organic hops, 100% free of pesticides, herbicides, bugs, chemical fertilizers etc. I thoroughly enjoy horticulture/botany and money is not a concern in this hobby. The total cost of building the box, the bin, the light, and the auto-watering system was a couple hundred dollars. The ongoing costs (light, water) ends up being 10 bucks a month. I brew bi-weekly, so I don't even know what I'd do with a lb of hops per plant.
-From left to right: Chinook, Nugget, Cascade. A nice balance of bittering/flavoring/aroma
-They are extremely happy and go about 9-10" per day of growth. The Cascade leaves are as big as my hand
-When the first harvest is complete, I plan to remove them from the soil, hack the roots and vines down, and pop them into an aeroponic hydroponic bin with organic nutrients being sprayed on the roots on a timer. Having the roots exposed (in the dark of the bin, of course) will prevent the plants from becoming root-bound, will increase oxygen and nutrients to the roots, and will allow me to chop the roots down to a reasonable size between harvests. It will also allow for a much faster vegetative/flowering cycle (faster harvests!)
-Is this cycling without vernalization (which it's been proven hops plants don't actually need), and not allowing the hops to grow to their full potential size ideal for harvest size? Nope. But I expect some damn good organic hops to brew with.
-I've done the root-chopping/no vernalization with perennial plants before. They rebound surprisingly quick from the reduction in roots/foliage. Their cycles also reset like clockwork when you turn the lights back to 16 hours after flowering.
So, without further adue, the pics (posting a few at a time, I'm at work and the computer is being bitchy)
Some background before I post:
-I have 3 hops plants, I'm allowing one vine each. When additional vines pop up (there have been plenty!), I let them get a foot in length, cut them at the base, and pop them in a rooting hormone solution. Plan to give them to my brewing buddies in the spring
-They are trained along chicken wire. When the main vine gets within 6" of the light, it is pushed back down and, through this process, grows horizontally along the wiring
-By only having one vine per plant, training them along the chicken wire is much easier and the size is manageable
-The soil is compost from my worm bin. I have about 400 red wriggler worms in a bed of paper and fruit/vegetable scraps. The soil (or "worm castings") is extremely rich and the plants LOVE it. The worms are not in the hops soil, I harvest the castings every few weeks. I had a big supply ready for when I planted the hops
-The bin is 25 gallons. The bin and box size are manageable because the vines are flowered early, then chopped down and go through their entire growth cycle again. This removes the requirement for a massive root system (more on this later)
-The light cycle is 16 hrs/day for a month, then 12 hours of light/12 hours of darkness until their flowering cycle is done.
-PLEASE spare the "why would you do this, you'll get a crappy yield, etc". The reason I am doing this is because I want completely organic hops, 100% free of pesticides, herbicides, bugs, chemical fertilizers etc. I thoroughly enjoy horticulture/botany and money is not a concern in this hobby. The total cost of building the box, the bin, the light, and the auto-watering system was a couple hundred dollars. The ongoing costs (light, water) ends up being 10 bucks a month. I brew bi-weekly, so I don't even know what I'd do with a lb of hops per plant.
-From left to right: Chinook, Nugget, Cascade. A nice balance of bittering/flavoring/aroma
-They are extremely happy and go about 9-10" per day of growth. The Cascade leaves are as big as my hand
-When the first harvest is complete, I plan to remove them from the soil, hack the roots and vines down, and pop them into an aeroponic hydroponic bin with organic nutrients being sprayed on the roots on a timer. Having the roots exposed (in the dark of the bin, of course) will prevent the plants from becoming root-bound, will increase oxygen and nutrients to the roots, and will allow me to chop the roots down to a reasonable size between harvests. It will also allow for a much faster vegetative/flowering cycle (faster harvests!)
-Is this cycling without vernalization (which it's been proven hops plants don't actually need), and not allowing the hops to grow to their full potential size ideal for harvest size? Nope. But I expect some damn good organic hops to brew with.
-I've done the root-chopping/no vernalization with perennial plants before. They rebound surprisingly quick from the reduction in roots/foliage. Their cycles also reset like clockwork when you turn the lights back to 16 hours after flowering.
So, without further adue, the pics (posting a few at a time, I'm at work and the computer is being bitchy)