When to water hops

[BradleyBrew]

Hey everyone... total newbie when it comes to gardening, growing hops, and general yard maintenance lol... When is a good sign to water my first year (crown) hops?? I basically just brush the mulch away and stick my finger in the dirt and it comes out with moist dirt... I know I do not want to wait until the soil is dry. So what is dry dirt (I know that sounds likely I really really dumb question)? Most of my plants are dark green but a few are lighter in color. This could easily be from the different type of hop plant. Anyways, any advise on water and when to water would be great. Thanks, and happy growing

I think a few hops have suffered a few weeks ago when it rained about 6 straight days so I am trying to let things dry out while it is getting in the mid to up 80's here in Ohio.

 

[BluBruShack]

I'm guessing that your hops are planted about 3-4 inches under soil(that how mine are). I water mine when the top inch or so gets dry and crumbly. Good call letting things dry out you don't want them to rot. Be patient you should have vines climbing in no time.

Hoppy Growing

 

[badbrew]

Water deeply and allow enough days off in between waterings. Deep watering is not just seeing mud on the surface either. If your soil does not drain fast, trickle the water over the surface for a few minutes or come back and water a second or third time a few minutes later. Don't worry about over watering when you water. Over watering is watering every day not flooding the root zone once. The soil should drain excess water away each time or you have a drainage issue to deal with which will require adjusting your watering all together. I have very sandy soil that doesn't hold a lot of moisture. I tried going three days in between cycles at ~90. Ended up with wilted leaders on a few plants. So now I'm watering daily when in the 90's and giving one or two days off when the temps drop to the mid to lower 80's. These plants are extremely uncomfortable in my area and need to develop roots to be able to handle drought better.

Also the surface of the soil may or may not indicate the moisture of the soil 4-6" deep where a lot of the roots are hanging out. If I were you, I'd water deeply once and allow a few days off and repeat. Then stretch it out by a day. Find the point where wilting starts so that you know your limits. May be risky but it will educate you a little better in the long run.

 

[TyTanium]

Good post badbrew.

The other reason for deep, infrequent waterings is so the plant develops larger, deeper roots in search of water; like humans, plants need some exercise too whereas frequent shallow waterings make for a soft plant, like sitting on the couch eating twinkies all day.

 

[BradleyBrew]

Sounds good I appreciate the responses. Its been 48 since I last watered so I am going to give them a good soak tonight. Its a raised mound style bed with 1 yard of supersoil on top of Ohio's $hitty clay soil. Most are not wilting except for the centennial. Should I just try to water this 1 particular plant more often? It looked wilted when it was rainy so I was thinking that perhaps it was to wet. I guess I will just have see how it goes!

 

[BradleyBrew]

Good post badbrew.

The other reason for deep, infrequent waterings is so the plant develops larger, deeper roots in search of water; like humans, plants need some exercise too whereas frequent shallow waterings make for a soft plant, like sitting on the couch eating twinkies all day.

Ha... being soft sounds nice, to bad I never get to do that lol!

I've also over the past week watered with 5 gallons of "compost tea." My two cascades have really enjoyed that as they each have about a 3' runner up the twine.