Growing hops

inertiaboy · Post by **inertiaboy** » Sun May 15, 2011 8:46 pm

I just managed to get around to training my hops today. It's been a busy spring for me but not for the hops because of the lousy weather.

I've got 7 varieties growing:
- Cascade, Golding, Nugget and Willamette: these plants are 4th and 5th season and just starting to reach 4 feet. with the warm spring last year, they were about 10 feet a year ago. total combined yield last year was about 2.5kg (wet)
- Centennial, Chinook, and Zeus: second season and starting well. total combined yield last year was about 200g (wet)

Guybush: you will find that hops are a very hardy plant. I've taken rhizomes from mine and they are now growing well in 5 other locations around the city. I expect that the root system will largely fill your buckets this season. they will grow as much underground as they do above ground, and mine typically grow about 25 feet up and out.

I ripped out some really nice Cascade shoots today. If anyone in Ottawa is looking for a very high yielding hop, ping me and we can arrange for you to pick them up in Kanata.

phirleh · Post by **phirleh** » Tue May 31, 2011 9:09 am

My tallest right now is pushing over 8 feet

icemachine · Post by **icemachine** » Tue May 31, 2011 11:02 am

Nice, was up at the farm on the weekend, had to hack back a lot of extra shoots, but I got a proper trellising system setup, 10' high and 20' x20' area for them to grow on to (optimistic I know). The Centennials are about 6' and the Goldings were up to about 4'. This weeks weather should help make up for the slow start.

elproducto · Post by **elproducto** » Tue May 31, 2011 11:32 am

What are you guys using for twine? I picked up some from Crappy Tire, but it's very thin... I hooked it up, and it doesn't look like it will hold.

icemachine · Post by **icemachine** » Tue May 31, 2011 11:36 am

I'm using plastic baler twine

Derek · Post by **Derek** » Tue May 31, 2011 11:42 am

I used Jute twine from home depot. It went 9 ft up and then horizontal for maybe 12 ft and it held fine.

phirleh · Post by **phirleh** » Tue May 31, 2011 11:48 am

elproducto wrote:What are you guys using for twine? I picked up some from Crappy Tire, but it's very thin... I hooked it up, and it doesn't look like it will hold.

I got some thin nylon rope, the plants will grab to anything. Its mildew resistant, but I think a lot of people just use sisal twine.

Guybrush · Post by **Guybrush** » Thu Jun 02, 2011 8:11 pm

I bought some cheap twine stuff from Rona, it was like 1/4" thick, i think? I dunno. It seems to be doing fine.

My two hop plants are growing like crazy, i'll post some photos later.

inertiaboy · Post by **inertiaboy** » Sat Jun 04, 2011 6:29 pm

I pick up sisal or jute from whatever hardware store is in the area. It is fine for the whole season.

To tie off the bottom end, I've drilled eye bolts into bricks and buried the bricks so that the loop of the bolt is just out of the ground. That keeps the sisal dry enough so that it doesn't rot through and makes it easy to string up each season.

For the top cross wire, I've drilled two more eye bolts into my brickwork and run decent gauge picture wire with a turnbuckle for tensioning. The current setup is still solid after five seasons and typically supports about 20-30kg of vegetation (4 plants total)

phirleh · Post by **phirleh** » Fri Jun 10, 2011 2:24 pm

I've heard some people prune the bottom of the plant to encourage growth higher on the plant.

Is this pruning the shoots down to the best 3 growers or is is cutting some of the leaf and cone growth near the bottom of the bine. At what point would you do this?

icemachine · Post by **icemachine** » Fri Jun 10, 2011 6:09 pm

phirleh wrote:I've heard some people prune the bottom of the plant to encourage growth higher on the plant.

Is this pruning the shoots down to the best 3 growers or is is cutting some of the leaf and cone growth near the bottom of the bine. At what point would you do this?

I probably would have limited shoots to 2-3 after the first 1/2 dozen appear, but since I had limited access to them they were probably a dozen or more when I pared them back this year, although they've doubled in length (6' to nearly 12') in the 2 weeks since then according to what my Mum's told me. I pinched the leaves at this time to about 12" above the ground, I understand this helps prevent mildew problems.

grub · Post by **grub** » Fri Jun 10, 2011 6:59 pm

i trim mine back to the best 3-4 shoots per plant, and notice a huge difference in how hearty they are compared to if you just let it run wild. the plant definitely concentrates its energy into those and makes a big difference in how fast and well they grow.

i also generally trim the leaves off of the bottom couple feet of the plant. supposed to help keep bugs and mildew away.

phirleh · Post by **phirleh** » Fri Jun 10, 2011 8:27 pm

grub wrote:i trim mine back to the best 3-4 shoots per plant, and notice a huge difference in how hearty they are compared to if you just let it run wild. the plant definitely concentrates its energy into those and makes a big difference in how fast and well they grow.

i also generally trim the leaves off of the bottom couple feet of the plant. supposed to help keep bugs and mildew away.

I planted rhizomes so I only got 1 or 2 good shoots off of them, but they've grown close to 11 feet in a month (planted them 2 months ago). I find Miracle Grow makes them grow quite well too. I'll be trimming the bottom leaves off, thanks guys.

phirleh · Post by **phirleh** » Sun Jun 19, 2011 9:13 pm

How high are the hops mama?
15 feet and rising.

grub · Post by **grub** » Sun Jun 19, 2011 9:37 pm

i still have some free rhizomes if anybody wants some...