Hop Growing 2015

[AnthonyUK]

My Fuggle is doing well in its first year.

[seymour]

Any advice on feeding hops.

Mine have really suffered with aphids this year. I've not seen a single ladybird on them this year so greenfly are running amok.

I'm hoping feeding them / TLC will help reduce carnage by aphids.

When do you start & stop feeding?
Best form of feed? High Nitrogen / High Phosphorous?

TIA for any advice

Sorry to hear about your aphid problems.

When I fertilize, which I don't always do, it's high nitrogen early in the season for lots of vigorous, strong, bushy growth, then high phosphorous later to encourage lots of flowers.

My Fuggle is doing well in its first year.

Hell yeah it is, nice work. Count me jealous. Despite my best efforts I simply cannot grow Fuggles over here.

[andyCo]

Any advice on feeding hops.

Mine have really suffered with aphids this year. I've not seen a single ladybird on them this year so greenfly are running amok.

I'm hoping feeding them / TLC will help reduce carnage by aphids.

When do you start & stop feeding?
Best form of feed? High Nitrogen / High Phosphorous?

TIA for any advice

Mine too have been infested with aphids.
Hit them with a hose pipe to knock them off, keep repeating daily, don't worry about the plants as they don't seem to mind.
Before you hose the life out of them, check under the leaves to see if there's any ladybird larvae or eggs, small yellow/orange clusters about 8mmin diameter, larvae look nothing like a ladybird, google ladybird larvae
Also have a walk around the local park,if you notice any trees with shinny sticky leaves check for ladybirds and their larvae, put them in a container and transplant onto your hops


Andy

[AnthonyUK]

To control aphids simply spray with a soapy solution. Aphids breathe through their 'skin' and soaps blocks this so kills them.
Eco friendly and doesn't hurt beneficial insects.

[jmc]

To control aphids simply spray with a soapy solution. Aphids breathe through their 'skin' and soaps blocks this so kills them.
Eco friendly and doesn't hurt beneficial insects.

Thanks Anthony

I haven't used a soap spray this year as I tried it (unsuccessfully) last year.
After spraying we had a hot spell and the hops I sprayed shrivelled up even though they were watered.

I read afterwards that this may be due to spraying with soapy solution as it not only blocks the pores aphids use to breathe, it blocks the pores on leaves that they use for transpiration, so they can't suck up water to the leaves.

Maybe OK if leaves are hosed down after aphids killed but I'm wary of using soap again.

[jmc]

Any advice on feeding hops.

Mine have really suffered with aphids this year. I've not seen a single ladybird on them this year so greenfly are running amok.

I'm hoping feeding them / TLC will help reduce carnage by aphids.

When do you start & stop feeding?
Best form of feed? High Nitrogen / High Phosphorous?

TIA for any advice

Mine too have been infested with aphids.
Hit them with a hose pipe to knock them off, keep repeating daily, don't worry about the plants as they don't seem to mind.
Before you hose the life out of them, check under the leaves to see if there's any ladybird larvae or eggs, small yellow/orange clusters about 8mmin diameter, larvae look nothing like a ladybird, google ladybird larvae
Also have a walk around the local park,if you notice any trees with shinny sticky leaves check for ladybirds and their larvae, put them in a container and transplant onto your hops


Andy

Thanks for the advice. Cheers.

[YeastWhisperer]

Any advice on feeding hops.

Mine have really suffered with aphids this year. I've not seen a single ladybird on them this year so greenfly are running amok.

My hops have take a huge hit this year from an imported pest known as the Japanese beetle. These beetles have stripped off almost all of the leaves on my Spalt Select hops from a little over a meter off of the ground unto the top of the post at ~4.5 meters.

[Jocky]

Regarding aphids, the RHS website has suggestions of chemical sprays you can use, including those that work on edibles. Not ideal, but the other option is to pick the buggers off by hand.

[Jocky]

While I'm in here...

If I wanted to start growing hops, where do I start today? Get bare root plants at the end of the picking season (November-ish) and get them planted before the winter?

Think I'm going to start with some dwarf hops in tubs on my patio.

[BenB]

Anyone got any burrs or cones yet? Got lots of leaf and side shoots but nothing like a flower. ..... Not sure if I'm being impatient or the late start has confused my plants.

[andyCo]

Anyone got any burrs or cones yet? Got lots of leaf and side shoots but nothing like a flower. ..... Not sure if I'm being impatient or the late start has confused my plants.

Burrs on my cascade

Andy

[NOZ]

They all seem to be showing signs if something! Also covered with ladybugs.
Im suprised at how well they have done - i planted them in December.

Noz

[WalesAles]

NOZ,
How do you fix your Terracotta pots to the wall?

WA

[BenB]

LOL. Cheeky!
I'm surprised how much mine have grown. To the extent I've run out of vertical room. When they got to the top of the fence I got some broom handles and screwed them to the fence posts to extent the fence by 5-6 foot. Ran some string across the top and some strings down to the vertical wires. They chomped up the extra room in a matter of a couple of weeks. And the fence is too flimsy for me to put a ladder against it to make it yet higher again- they're flailing around in the breeze looking for something to grab onto.... hopefully this will inspire them to flower!!! Next year I'll have to "do it" properly.... At the moment I've got three full size hop plants to a 30cm pot!!! Hate to see how crowded their roots are! I'm planning on try to seperate the plants come the autumn but suspect they'll be so entwined that won't be possible.

[Monkeybrew]

Both my Cascade & First Gold are growing ok in their first year, but are developing a rusty look to the leaves.

Not sure what this means?

I'll upload a picture when I get a minute.

Cheers

MB