Growing Hops 2010
So who else is growing hops this year?
This will be my third year and I just finished rebuilding my trellis. I still have the same varieties - Cascade, Centennial and Willamette; though I'd like to get some EKG and Columbus. Anyway, so far so good, most my bines are about 6-7 ft tall and looking strong.
This is my 3rd year too, mine are same height, they went from about 18" to 7 feet in a week. The bines are all tangled in my trellis, and growing up the side of my shed. I should have good yield this year.
My cascade is taking over the back yard, I have a bush 7 feet tall. it all goes well, until about july, then it seems they just stop growing, and wilt, and just are not a vigorous. I got 8 cones of cascade last year, let's hope I do better this year.
Yea, that's right, I said 8, lol
bruguru wrote:
I got 8 cones of cascade last year
I have Mt. Hood and Cascade planted near each other and the Mt.Hood is taking over but the Cascade is finicky. In the last 8 years or so, the Cascade has produced maybe 50 cones while the Mt. Hood is good for 3 lbs. of dried hops each season. I would prefer it the other way around.
Last summer I dug up a chunk of root from a local brewery that "sold out" and moved. It was growing up the side of the building. I'm not sure what kind it is, but it's passing up my Cascades.
That's strange, the cascades are my strongest growers. Even after my second year I yielded about a pound dried with 2 plants and 4 bines per plant. I'm probably going to have so much this year that I'm going to see if I can trade some.
This is my first year for growing hops. I ordered them kinda late, so I didn't have much of a choice when it came to varieties. I ordered 2 EKGs and 2 Glacier. The EKGs and I think one Glacier recently sprouted, still waiting on the last glacier. I should note that the rhizomes just went into the ground about a week or two ago.
I really can't do the trellis thing, so I'm gonna try to train mine to grow along my fence. The fence line is 120 some feet by 90 some feet, so they should have pleanty of room. Think that I'm gonna have my work cut out for me trying to keep the morning glories out of the way though.
My third year also.
The Cascade, Crystal, Liberty, & Sterling bines are doing great. 8-10' tall
One Willamette is good, the other, puny. Hallertauer Mittelfrau were weak last year, but looking better now.
Been using my homegrowns for aroma & dryhopping mostly. Leaving the base bittering & flavor to known AA% amounts. But, since I will probably get a butt load more this year. Who knows?
its my second year and its not going that great for me but I didn't follow directions when planting so its my own fault. Last year I planted sterling centennial and columbus in the ground. I got them in the ground very late last year and in direct sun so they were a little fried. They are coming back and are about 2 foot tall. I bought golding chinook and another columbus this year and planted in pots long 36" rectangular. Planted them about 3 weeks ago and the chinook is the only one to break the ground its about 3 inches tall 
we will see i'm still new but its fun and hopefully someday i can get some hops lol
BT
This is my 2nd year. Finally got the trellis up. I have Cascades, Centennials, Goldings and Northern Brewer hops. Cascades are definitely doing the best followed closely by the Centennials but they are still maybe two feet tall at the most.
Just out of curiosity, since few of us have the resources to measure our AA%, has anyone compared their homegrown hops to commercial?
If so, how, and what did you discover?
First year for me, but I am growing second year plants, Glacier and Cascade. They were container grown last year by someone who was growing them for their ornamental value. Their loss is my gain.
Home grown hops strength is a real good question. I have heard from half as strong to twice as strong. Just based on the taste test from the ones I use provided by a friend of mine, they seem fairly directly compatible, but he mixes a bunch of varieties together, so I have to be careful on what recipes I use them, and typically use them mostly for late or dry additions.
Question for our more experienced growers. When I transplanted the hops, the root balls came out of like five gallon pots fairly intact and look relatively good and the bines were growing. However, I just got the trellis up last weekend, and the the bines I tried to train don't look to be growing any more. Couple of the longer ones got kinked. Should I trim them back to the ground and go with new bines even this late?
Fritz
This is my third year and my Cascade hops are doing excellent considering the fiinicky spring we are having.They are around 6 feet tall with 6 bines already(my big vine)and i managed to get a runner from my plant last year so now i have 2 going.Im only going to use 4 bines from my big plant and am layering the others in the dirt for some rooted cuttings like my runner i got last year.Plus i have been using chicken manure tea for fertilizer which works tremendously,Hoping for at least a pound this year.
"Should I trim them back to the ground and go with new bines even this late?"
Fritz
I am an avid gardener and have people tell me i have a bit of a green thumb so to speak.That being said,sounds like they are in shock or stress,the best thing to do is make sure the are in a sunny part of the yard with no weeds.Keep them consistently moist not waterlogged.Compost for health and mulch in high heat.Don't handle them very much,especially when wet it could spread or transfer disease and don't wet the foliage this can promote mildew and defoliate the entire plant.As for stunted and kinked bines,i would cut back any dead, diseased ,wilted unhealthy growth back to a branch node.Best case scenario new leaders will form out of these nodes.It might be to late for this year but hopefully you can get them well established for next year.And mulch for insulation during cold winter months to promote earlier spring growth.
This is my first year helping someone grow hops. His farm is 2 years old. We have over 100 plants!
The thistles are attacking them right now.
Here is our setup.
Romance In The Hop Yard
There will be an update soon though. I was just out there this past week.
First year growing. I planted a cascade rhizome a little late. And I mistook Shoots for Roots and planted the thing upside down. It has been in there a month and hasn't broken through yet. I'm sweatin' it. It is growing though. I peeked at it two days ago to make sure the thing didn't just rot in the ground. I'll be happy if i get a leaf this year.
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