Hops Crop of 2010

iguenard · Post by **iguenard** » Sat Jul 10, 2010 11:34 am

So I finally convinced the wife to let me plant some hops in front of the house as it was the most viable location to get all-day sunlight.

Planted mine at the end of May. Here are a few pictures. Considering that these rhyzomes are brand new, I am excited at how high they have grown this year.

How is your 2010 crop doing?

Gedge · Post by **Gedge** » Sat Jul 10, 2010 12:47 pm

We planted last year for the first time, and this year they came up on their own in late March/early April. Some of the burrs are starting to change into cones:

http://www.thebeerbeat.com

icemachine · Post by **icemachine** » Sat Jul 10, 2010 12:55 pm

I first planted last year at my Mum's farm outside of North Bay, 4 Cent's and 4 EKG but I lost one of those. The Centennials are doing well, about 10' of growth as of last weekend, one of the EKG's didn't survive the winter, but the other 3 are doing okay, about 8' of growth. No sign yet of flowers.

jaymack · Post by **jaymack** » Sun Jul 11, 2010 1:09 pm

I got 2 Cascade and 1 Willamette growing just fine but no cones yet. Looks like you got some great climbers there.

Derek · Post by **Derek** » Mon Jul 12, 2010 9:39 am

Those do look good for the first year... my didn't look that good.

I'm on my 4th year... it was an early start this year. There's plenty of flowers and even some cones! (unfortunately I'll probably be moving before the harvest).

northyorksammy · Post by **northyorksammy** » Mon Jul 12, 2010 10:11 am

sell the home without the hop plants

Bobsy · Post by **Bobsy** » Mon Jul 12, 2010 12:11 pm

northyorksammy wrote:sell the home without the hop plants

Or sell the hop plants to a new homeowner...

icemachine · Post by **icemachine** » Mon Jul 12, 2010 8:34 pm

Bobsy wrote:
northyorksammy wrote:sell the home without the hop plants
Or sell the hop plants to a new homebrewer...

Fixed

inertiaboy · Post by **inertiaboy** » Mon Jul 12, 2010 9:48 pm

It is looking like a bumper crop this year. The mass of bines is already more than last year and the burrs have appeared about 3-4 weeks earlier. I harvested 2.8kg wet (2.1 Cascade, 0.6 Willamette, 0.1 Nugget) last year and expect a big bump up from that if the weather stays halfway decent.

In the following pictures, the new bines are attached to a wire 14-15 feet up and the old bines to one that is 17-18 feet up.

Here's what things are looking like this year (July 12):

New bines: (l to r) Centennial, Chinook, Zeus

Old bines: (l to r) Cascade, Goldings, Nugget, Willamette

Close up of Cascade

Compare this with last year on August 20:

Cascade:

Willamette:

iguenard · Post by **iguenard** » Tue Jul 13, 2010 10:05 pm

Hey Steve, why do your old vines leaf only starting at about a two-foot height? Do you trim?

Hopefully I never have to sell this house. If I do, the vines are coming with me!

I can smell the wet hop IPA already!

jimmay · Post by **jimmay** » Tue Jul 13, 2010 10:15 pm

I think the 'man-scaping' question is off topic :)

inertiaboy · Post by **inertiaboy** » Wed Jul 14, 2010 7:20 am

iguenard wrote:Hey Steve, why do your old vines leaf only starting at about a two-foot height? Do you trim?

I take off all the leaves and shoots near the ground to force all the growth to occur farther up in the plant. I only do this on producing bines; the others I leave alone.

I can't remember where I read about that.

cannondale · Post by **cannondale** » Wed Jul 14, 2010 9:33 am

All right, that's it...this homegrown hop thing is the obvious next step.

What is needed to get started? What time of year do you plant rhizomes? Any suggestions for a good, concise online guide to growing hops?

inertiaboy · Post by **inertiaboy** » Wed Jul 14, 2010 9:43 am

I order my rhizomes from Crannog Ales in BC. There is an excellent manual on that page. Check their site in early March to get ordering information. The rhizomes ship in mid to late April.

Other possibilities for rhizomes include:
- fellow growers: there are lots of shoots after year 2 that can be transplanted, typically in May or June
- Roots Down, Gananoque: they may have rhizomes for order in 2011

Ordering from the US is a possibility but there are certificates that are required and they add to costs. Crannog brings in some varieties that they don't grow and sells them as part of their business.

As far as growing, it is pretty straightforward - lots of water, lots of sun, lots of vertical space, and good weed-free soil.

beeton · Post by **beeton** » Wed Jul 14, 2010 10:52 am

Just north of Barrie

http://www.heritagehillorganics.com/pag ... ewing.html

Dave.