Hop Growing 2009

[Chris The Fish]

Well, as its nearly upon us I took the liberty to create the annual thread, and to show you my latest discovery... new shoots!

Whilst with the lad in the garden today i noticed that my 2 hop plants are shooting up already. Ive since covered them in compost in an attempt to give some protection during the cold spells.

this is my Early Bird, in the ground



and my Progress in a pot by the house



Hope you all have a good growing year, this will be their 2nd year, last autumn I harvested a large handful of Progress and no Early Bird at all, hope for a better year this year now they're more established.

Happy New Year!!!

[Dazzer]

They look good,

I've ordered progress rhizones which should arrive in a week or two,

Happy growing.

[Trough Lolly]

Lookin' good Chris!

Down here, we're at the opposite end of the season - fingers firmly crossed that we get a good harvest over the next couple of months despite the last 10 or so years of drought. The pic below is of my front yard taken at the beginning of the season. Under the steel wire fence I have Pride of Ringwood, Mt Hood, Chinook, Cascade and Goldings on the go. Saves a bit of money so I can buy more grain instead of pellets!!



Cheers,
TL

[Prozac]

Where can I buy good hops rhizomes from????

I'm keen on having a go at growing some hops for bitter..... have plenty of room in the garden . Do they have to grow so tall?


When best to plant etc????
EDIT*** Google is a marvelous thing .....

http://www.deaconsnurseryfruits.co.uk/hops1/

Cobbs or Fuggles????

Cheers
Proze

[Chris The Fish]

depends what you want, i went for the progress as i like IPA with a fresh american twang, and i also went for goldings - you cant beat goldings!

try and find out what hops are in your favourite beers and see if you can get them.

Chris

[Trough Lolly]

Where can I buy good hops rhizomes from????

I'm keen on having a go at growing some hops for bitter..... have plenty of room in the garden . Do they have to grow so tall?


When best to plant etc????
EDIT*** Google is a marvelous thing .....

http://www.deaconsnurseryfruits.co.uk/hops1/

Cobbs or Fuggles????

Cheers
Proze

G'day Prozac,
These plants are hard to kill! I found a couple of good primers on growing hops when I started...

This one is from freshops.com
And this article is from Brewing Techniques

I would expect that rhizomes should soon be on sale in your hemisphere...Don't expect too much in the first year, but after that, some Sulphate of Potash and moo poo during summer will encourage a good yield. They are thirsty so keep the water up. We had a 38C day earlier this week and my Pride of Ringwood and Goldings have wilted badly but the main flower bines are hanging in there. The US hops (Mt Hood, Chinook and Cascade) didn't seem to be too fussed with the intense heat.

Here in Australia, we pay around A$25-$35 per rhizome (or free if you swap rootstock with nearby brewers). At A$15 per 100g of pellets, it's a worthy investment and the rhizome will pay for itself within 2-3 years. You simply can't beat fresh hop flowers on brewday.

Cheers,
TL

[Prozac]

My Northdown hop rhizome has been delivered .... gonna get it in the ground asap

I'm sure it's fully hardy so should be ok to go out now.

[Tim74]

My Northdown hop rhizome has been delivered

Where did you buy it from, Prozac? I've been trying to buy some bare rooted plants from Aplus for the last week and can't get a reply by email or phone.

[Prozac]

http://www.deaconsnurseryfruits.co.uk/hops1/

Excellent service tbh.
It's in the ground now..... just gonna sit back and wait.....
And get some wires run.....

Thanks for the Hop info on GYO CtF!!!

[Tim74]

Thanks, Prozac. I've heard of Deacon's Nursery (I run my own nursery for a living) and will order from them over the weekend. Just need to decide what to order and how many...

[Prozac]

Thanks, Prozac. I've heard of Deacon's Nursery (I run my own nursery for a living) and will order from them over the weekend. Just need to decide what to order and how many...

You may be able to get them at 'trade'

[MartialAnt]

I planted all my hop rhizzies today. Heres hoping i get a crop as good as SteveD's

[Carpking]

Ive been thinking of growing some hops, the only thing is how much space do they actually take up? I have a good sunny fence but its got blueberries, redcurrants and blackcurrants planted across half of it. Would a hop plant grow up it (6ft) and then grow sideways across the top of it if i spent some time persuading it? Do the vines grow to around 10-15 ft long?

[Trough Lolly]

Things are looking grim - bloody global warming!!

It's 35C here today and has been for the last few days and it's supposedly getting warmer as the week goes on. Fortunately it won't be as hot as Adelaide was today (46C)! Yikes!

The plants are wilting under the intense heat. The US based Cascade, Chinook and Mt Hood plants are hanging in there - the Pride of Ringwood isn't too sure of itself and the Goldings is nearly apoplectic! Harden the feck up I say!

I'm not expecting a good crop this year, but what I get may be pretty high in Alpha Acids due to the heat and low yield....

Cheers,
TL

[Trough Lolly]

Ive been thinking of growing some hops, the only thing is how much space do they actually take up? I have a good sunny fence but its got blueberries, redcurrants and blackcurrants planted across half of it. Would a hop plant grow up it (6ft) and then grow sideways across the top of it if i spent some time persuading it? Do the vines grow to around 10-15 ft long?

It's quite normal to espaillier (or whatever the term is) the bines to get them where you want them. Also, try to keep the hops at least 1 metre apart - they get quite bushy and if you do well, you'll have heaps of runners climbing skywards. 6 feet vertical is easy for these plants - I then run them horizontally along my steel wires (see earlier pick of my front yard hop fence which is around 9m long).

Cheers,
TL