# 2017 Hop Plantations, Show Us Your Hop Garden!



## Yob

So starting a little early this year.. mostly because it's time* NOW* to prepare your holes or soil if potting..

I dug up my cascade today to raise it up and improve drainage, the improvement I did consisted of the following.

1 part soil from the existing hole
1 part compost material
1 part soil from the chicken coup

I got a bit tired of knocking the bricks loose so got a bag or mortar and busted out the old trowel





so by the time winter passes and spring hits, all that good nutrient will be broken down and available for the plant. I'll mulch it with a bit more compost soil after the soil has settled a bit.

Also note the irrigation.. Ive had enough of manual watering.. this year is gunna be painless.


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## wide eyed and legless

You don't think the lime in that mortar is going to have a negative effect on the compost and chicken shit?


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## Yob

Nope.


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## CheekyPanda

Hi All,
I've managed to get some Cascade rhizomes. They are from 4 year old plants that were completely dug out due to the owners moving and putting there place up for rent. The original rhizomes were from a grower who is supplying Black Duck at Port Macquarie.
I've only previously purchased rhizomes that were 10-20cm in length so am not totally sure what to do with these monsters. My plan is to cut them into sections of 10-20cm where buds are present.
Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.


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## Yob

To grow or sell?

If selling, perhaps put in the buy and sell thread?

30cm with a few sets of nodes is a good start.


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## Belgrave Brewer

I'm still cutting back last years growth which I let go wild as they were rhizomes. A good feed and a heavy mulch for winter is on order.


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## CheekyPanda

Yob said:


> To grow or sell?
> 
> If selling, perhaps put in the buy and sell thread?
> 
> 30cm with a few sets of nodes is a good start.


To grow.

If I have any left over I would be keen to swap but will post them in the for sale thread.


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## Yob

There are a lot there.. Big things I guess, hope you have plenty of room.

It's time now to do your mounds and soil work, add trellis and lines, you're also gunna need to keep those zomes moist and cold...


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## Mardoo

Looks like there may be a fair bit of root material in there. The difference is rhizome has nodes whereas the roots don't. You want the rhizomes. Also, some species have these tuber kind of things for nutrient storage. I don't recall Cascade being one of them. You don't need the tubers or the roots. Follow Yob's advice about 30cm with a few nodes.


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## sp0rk

CheekyPanda said:


> To grow.
> 
> If I have any left over I would be keen to swap but will post them in the for sale thread.


I'd gladly take some off your hands


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## Brownsworthy

CheekyPanda said:


> To grow.
> 
> If I have any left over I would be keen to swap but will post them in the for sale thread.


If you do have any to spare Panda just one zome would be great.


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## Matplat

So there were nodes poking out of the soil on my plants from last season, which I have now covered with a layer of chicken manure pellets and more soil.

Was that the right thing to do? Or should I leave the nodes exposed?


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## Yob

I'd have done mulch then compost then mulch in thin layers but yep, should be right, the nodes will push through when the time is right... Resist the urge to dig looking for them when it comes time.


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## AJ80

Sneaky annual leave Friday has given me a chance to get stuck into the hop yard. The existing varieties (Mt Hood, Cascade, Chinook and Goldings) all got some fresh soil, a good whack of cow manure and topped off with pea straw mulch. These are coming into their second season and I was pleasantly surprised to see just how much they've grown! A lot of nodes ready to go come spring. 

Dug in two new varieties as well - Victoria as well as some wild rhizomes I collected down in the Otways at the end of Autumn (Canterbury Goldings if the Internet can be believed). 

Having learned my lesson from last season, all varieties have already been bird protected to stop the damn black birds from making a mess of them again.


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## Yob

Correct, likely to be Canterbury Goldings, I've got one of those too.


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## Yob

Correct, likely to be Canterbury Goldings, I've got one of those too.


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## kaiserben

So I bought about a dozen cascade rhizomes which are currently keeping moist in the crisper section of my fridge.

I've got access to a bit of land with plenty of room to plant them on (in Sydney, with full sun). 

Sounds like I should be preparing the soil now? I might do that on Monday. Any tips? (for starters, if I go to Bunnings, what soil & nutrients should I buy and roughly how much will I need for the number of rhizomes I have). 

And what about protection from wildlife?


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## bevan

kaiserben said:


> So I bought about a dozen cascade rhizomes which are currently keeping moist in the crisper section of my fridge.
> 
> I've got access to a bit of land with plenty of room to plant them on (in Sydney, with full sun).
> 
> Sounds like I should be preparing the soil now? I might do that on Monday. Any tips? (for starters, if I go to Bunnings, what soil & nutrients should I buy and roughly how much will I need for the number of rhizomes I have).
> And what about protection from wildlife?


I got pointed to this article, should answer some of your questions.

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/articles/article91.html


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## LiquidGold

Once a year I get a ute load of horse manure from my local pony club for $10, good cheap way to add organic matter to the soil and I leave what I don't use right away in a pile to break down further and use throughout the year.


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## Benn

Moved the Compost bin along with all the compost from the previous house owner this arvo. Removed about half a bucket of lollie wrappers and other foreign objects.


You can see the bin in its new location in the background. Nice evening for a fire, a few CPA's & a couple of Homies when the CPA's run out.
Tomorrow I'll be on the shovel prepping Zhome sites.


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## blekk

Reshaped and mulched the Red Earth mound today. Didn't get any cones this year but had some really nice bines so fingers crossed for next year!


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## kaiserben

I got started today. 




Started a bit late in the day, so only got 4 of the holes done (the ones in the background). Aiming for 14 holes (2 rows of 7). The half-finished fencing is because there are various animals that might like to dig in dirt. (Perhaps it might be better to lay the chicken wire over the ground). 

Will put up a trellis eventually. 

Each hole has a thin layer of mulch, then a few handfuls of chicken poo, then another thin layer of mulch, then a thick covering of potting soil. 

I'm using those green things (Greenwell) to raise each hole area (like a mound).


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## Judanero

Looking good KB, even if you raise the height of each mound a bit you'll find it'll all be well by the time the first shoots spring out (as decomposition occurs the level drops quite a bit), chicken wire over the ground would be enough to stop the digging animals until the first shoots pop up, I made little boxes from chicken wire the first season I grew but found it unnecessary every season after.

Winter is the ideal time to prep for the upcoming season, a bit of work here goes a long way to helping come harvest time- compost and mulch are an easy investment.

All the best looks like a great plot.


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## kaiserben

One thing I'm not sure about despite reading a few how-to guides: Are my rhizomes (currently kept moist and in the crisper section of my fridge) better off in the soil or in the fridge?


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## Judanero

Six of one, half a dozen. IMO fridge until late August (gives your garden time to decompose any manure/ compost if not already well aged) but if put into the ground sooner rather than later it's not a problem either.

Once established, and you will learn quickly- hops are very hardy and grow quickly.... keep the water and nutes up to them and even first year (apparently first year is more about establishment than flowering) you will get a good return from the outset. I never cut back any of my bines once the first shoots pop up, I also rarely cut them back at the onset of winter... Just let them die off over winter and the new bines climb over the old ones at the beginning of spring.


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## Mardoo

kaiserben said:


> One thing I'm not sure about despite reading a few how-to guides: Are my rhizomes (currently kept moist and in the crisper section of my fridge) better off in the soil or in the fridge?


If you keep them in the fridge long-term be sure to check them every few weeks or so, change the wrapping, and make sure the wrappings are just damp, but not saturated. Otherwise mold and drying become the issues. If you're in an area that doesn't freeze much, I'd go for storing them in pots if you can't get them in the earth just yet. If you are putting them in very large pots then freezing shouldn't be such an issue. But they will do fine in the fridge as long as you keep the wrapping fresh. When I overwintered my rhizomes in the fridge on occasion, I just used damp newspaper.


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## hoppy2B

I like to plant them straight away because you can see the roots growing when you have them out of the ground.


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## Yob

Ive finally done something to help this poor Shame of Ringwood that Ive had confined to a pot for far too long..

I really only grow it as ornamental but I feel bad for it every year stuffed in a a pot getting dried out.

Im going to line the sides of the planter on the inside to keep it 1: isolated and 2: help with water retention.. thinking of throwing a few (clean) nappies in the bottom of the planter as well.. shits and giggles...

with any luck, the poor ******* thing can get the love this year B)


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## Rocker1986

On Saturday I got the first of my larger garden bed things built, with a trellis on it as well (about 3.5 metres tall), and transferred my Hallertau plant into it. I had nine 65L bags of potting mix, and the rest of the soil came from a turkey mound on the other side of the yard, which contained some good shit. The plant had sprouted some shoots while it was still in the pot, so not sure whether to chop these off or just leave them be. Looking forward to hopefully getting some better growth and yield this season. The mesh is over it to stop things digging it up.


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## Yob

That scrub turkey is gunna be pissed...


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## Rocker1986

I noticed it came over and had a look at the damage after I'd finished... :lol:

I have another one of these things to build for the Fuggles plant, so will probably make more use of the mound for soil for that one too.


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## Benn

Good evening,
Is it possible to overdo the fertiliser? Currently I'm prepping the holes ready for the rhizomes to be planted later in the year but I'm worried about going too heavy with the fertiliser. I've read up a fair bit but I'm still a bit lost.

I'll be planting about 6-8 hops I have:


6 x 25L bag of cheap potting mix
1 x 5kg bag of "Blood & Bone based fertiliser"
2 large boxes of Cow Manure (can get more from M&D's farm)
Half a small bucket of Dynamic Lifter 
Full compost bin (grass clippings, ash from fireplace, leaf litter, kitchen scraps etc)
1 x tub of Osmocote fruit and vegetable slow release granular fertiliser
Powdered Potash fertiliser from last season 
Seasol & Powerfeed 
Sugar cane mulch

The soil around my yard looks pretty normal, probably lowish in nutrients given my location.
Tested the Ph with a $16 "Manutec" test kit from bunnings at it gave me a result of around Ph 6.5

I figure I can't go too wrong by digging a big hole, adding a bag of potting mix, some cow manure and some compost. It's the other stuff that I'm not sure of how much if t all I should be adding.
Any advice would appreciated.
Cheers,


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## citizensnips

For gods sake don't blend all those ferts together, or at least if you do use a tiny bit of each. If you were to mix them all up you would have a very 'hot' soil mix, which would more than likely cause root burn and stunt the growth of your plant. Really my recommendation for this kind of stuff is always stick with organic. It's a lot more forgiving to a novice gardener and in my opinion always produces much for flavourful and aromatic harvests, not just with hops but with a lot of fruits and veg. 

Nonetheless with what you have I would blend your potting soil and a small handful of dynamic lifter (dependent on size of hole, but a handful should be more than enough). Get some compost and a bit of cow manure, maybe a shovel of each, blend that all together and if you have some garden lime, sprinkle a light handful of that in amongst it....this will help balance your ph. Make that the bottom 2/3 of your hole and let that sit for at least a month before planting. The top 1/3 use nothing more than potting soil and maybe a tiny bit of dynamic lifter or your fruit and veg fert if you can't resist. That will ensure young roots don't burn. 

A month or so in use your seasol and powerfeed. Seasol is more of a soil conditoner and less than a fertilsier, hence you can use it more often and not risk burning your plants as you would with powerfeed. 
Use your potash a few weeks out from flower and continue to use it through until a couple of weeks before harvest. You don't want to use anything other than water in your last couple of weeks. 

Hope that helps. 

Cheers


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## Benn

Thanks heaps Citizensnips,
Less is more wins again


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## MastersBrewery

Benn said:


> Good evening,
> Is it possible to overdo the fertiliser? Currently I'm prepping the holes ready for the rhizomes to be planted later in the year but I'm worried about going too heavy with the fertiliser. I've read up a fair bit but I'm still a bit lost.
> 
> I'll be planting about 6-8 hops I have:
> 
> 
> 
> image.jpeg
> 6 x 25L bag of cheap potting mix
> 1 x 5kg bag of "Blood & Bone based fertiliser"
> 2 large boxes of Cow Manure (can get more from M&D's farm)
> Half a small bucket of Dynamic Lifter
> Full compost bin (grass clippings, ash from fireplace, leaf litter, kitchen scraps etc)
> 1 x tub of Osmocote fruit and vegetable slow release granular fertiliser
> Powdered Potash fertiliser from last season
> Seasol & Powerfeed
> Sugar cane mulch
> 
> The soil around my yard looks pretty normal, probably lowish in nutrients given my location.
> Tested the Ph with a $16 "Manutec" test kit from bunnings at it gave me a result of around Ph 6.5
> 
> I figure I can't go too wrong by digging a big hole, adding a bag of potting mix, some cow manure and some compost. It's the other stuff that I'm not sure of how much if t all I should be adding.
> Any advice would appreciated.
> Cheers,


all you need to do is grab some diesel and you too can be placed on a no fly list.


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## Benn

Hahaha half the gear is from last season, I read all sorts of stuff on the net and when I looked at all the various ingredients together I just went "Nup" ...better consult the AHB Oracle.


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## Danscraftbeer

All that fertilizer you've saved from these tips you can just sprinkle around the surface grow area once a blue moon. Trickle feed for that rain addition or top watering etc. That stinky shit also deters certain pests like Possums, Blackbirds.
I'll hang an old hop sock full of that stinky shit on hop trellises just to be unwelcoming to say an opportunistic possum, or Parrot?


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## Judanero

Benn said:


> Good evening,
> Is it possible to overdo the fertiliser? Currently I'm prepping the holes ready for the rhizomes to be planted later in the year but I'm worried about going too heavy with the fertiliser. I've read up a fair bit but I'm still a bit lost.
> 
> I'll be planting about 6-8 hops I have:
> 
> 
> 
> image.jpeg
> 6 x 25L bag of cheap potting mix
> 1 x 5kg bag of "Blood & Bone based fertiliser"
> 2 large boxes of Cow Manure (can get more from M&D's farm)
> Half a small bucket of Dynamic Lifter
> Full compost bin (grass clippings, ash from fireplace, leaf litter, kitchen scraps etc)
> 1 x tub of Osmocote fruit and vegetable slow release granular fertiliser
> Powdered Potash fertiliser from last season
> Seasol & Powerfeed
> Sugar cane mulch
> 
> The soil around my yard looks pretty normal, probably lowish in nutrients given my location.
> Tested the Ph with a $16 "Manutec" test kit from bunnings at it gave me a result of around Ph 6.5
> 
> I figure I can't go too wrong by digging a big hole, adding a bag of potting mix, some cow manure and some compost. It's the other stuff that I'm not sure of how much if t all I should be adding.
> Any advice would appreciated.
> Cheers,


Can definitely over fertilise!
For 6-8 zomes you will need more potting mix/soil.

If you're not planting the rhizomes out until later in the year you can spread the blood and bone out a tarp so that it gets weathered by the elements for a couple weeks (if you can get it to ~ 5-10cm thick and keep turning/mixing it), same goes for the cow manure. 

Rhizomes love well aged compost and cow manure, 3:1:1 Potting mix: compost: manure is good for prepping if you're being pedantic, and remember that the soil will settle quite a bit before you plant the rhizomes so build it up a bit higher to allow for it. 

Definitely hold out on anything else until the bines are well and truly thriving, and then I like to give them a bit of seasol or nitrosol/powerfeed (you can also soak lawn clippings for a few days and use the water to help fertilise) while they're growing, and add a little more compost and manure or worm castings when the burrs come in. Sugar cane mulch is also what I use mostly but have also used pea straw to mulch, both great once they break down as well.

Honestly these things grow like weed(s), N during vegetive growth, P & K during flowering, keep the water up to them especially during the warmer months (but make sure the soil is well draining), mulch for water retention/ weed management.
Easy.


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## Benn

Thanks heaps for the advice guys, much appreciated


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## Benn

Edit: Double post


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## kaiserben

blair said:


> Reshaped and mulched the Red Earth mound today. Didn't get any cones this year but had some really nice bines so fingers crossed for next year!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 20160612_163917.jpg


If I wanted to put in a simple trellis design like the one in that photo, how do I do it?
I assume you can't buy it pre-fabricated and that I need to buy all the bits and put it together myself? 
How are the posts at each end put in the ground securely? Concrete?


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## Alex.Tas

Rocker1986 said:


> On Saturday I got the first of my larger garden bed things built, with a trellis on it as well (about 3.5 metres tall), and transferred my Hallertau plant into it. I had nine 65L bags of potting mix, and the rest of the soil came from a turkey mound on the other side of the yard, which contained some good shit. The plant had sprouted some shoots while it was still in the pot, so not sure whether to chop these off or just leave them be. Looking forward to hopefully getting some better growth and yield this season. The mesh is over it to stop things digging it up.


I'm not having a dig at you (har har)... but will those uprights be secure once the plants grow? I get a fair bit of wind where I am, so maybe i'm overly cautious, but i would be concerned that a gust of wind in jan/feb could ruin your week.
maybe look at some rope stays? You could even incorporate them into more growing area for your bines.

all else aside, looks like a nice clean planter setup


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## mofox1

Alex.Tas said:


> I'm not having a dig at you (har har)... but will those uprights be secure once the plants grow? I get a fair bit of wind where I am, so maybe i'm overly cautious, but i would be concerned that a gust of wind in jan/feb could ruin your week.
> maybe look at some rope stays? You could even incorporate them into more growing area for your bines.
> 
> all else aside, looks like a nice clean planter setup


I was thinking the same thing... wind caused me much trauma this year and I don't really have the option for guy ropes.

This year I'm thinking of using galvanised steel tubing. About 5m high and fixed to some very solid red gum posts up to around 1.5m.

Haven't exactly worked out how to fix the T on top... heard getting gal steel welded is not that nice, so trying to work out some nuts and bolts options.


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## Mardoo

If you have a look round at chain link fences there's a T junction made that fits into the top of a fence pole and allows a horizontal to be fixed to the top.


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## Rocker1986

They should be ok I think, we don't really get much strong wind here being down in a valley/gully area and with a lot of trees around the place. They're pretty securely bolted to the sides of the planter box. However, with that fence being right there it wouldn't be hard to tie them to it just in case. Will see what happens when the plants are really growing.

Last season I had them in pots with a couple of 2.5 metre garden stakes jammed into the soil opposite each other with a chicken wire type mesh attached to them and they stood up ok during storms and such. We'll see how it goes.


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## Judanero

Looks nice and neat mate, maybe add a couple wire lines to the corners of your planter box just in case, once those lines are full of bines and lats it'll end up being like a sheet in the wind.

I'd add a bracket to the corners of that cross beam too, with a few kgs weight pulling on the beam you may get a little sagging, would be shit if it came undone.


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## Alex.Tas

Mardoo said:


> If you have a look round at chain link fences there's a T junction made that fits into the top of a fence pole and allows a horizontal to be fixed to the top.


ive got a cunning plan (much like bauldric) to utilise one (or perhaps more) on the top of each post, with a small pulley wheel threaded onto the tightening bolt. a rope will co up the centre of the gal post, over the pulley and out one of the open end of the T clamp. the end of the rope will then be tied to the "boom".
the benefit of this will be that i can raise and lower the boom with ease, for harvesting ripe cones as they appear (ive got multiple varieties on the one boom currently) and then raise it back up again.
the rope that will allow me to do this will be isolated from curious bines that would love to climb around and tangle them, as it will be hidden inside the pipe.

I've got a similar system already, without the pulleys. the rope just pops out of the gal pipe at the top. It works, but the rope doesn't like being dragged over a 180° steel corner. The use of the pulleys should reduce the drag but not eliminate it. Another "T clamp" connected after the first may reduce it even further, but u'll see how just the singular one goes first.


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## Yob

Yob said:


> Ive finally done something to help this poor Shame of Ringwood that Ive had confined to a pot for far too long..
> 
> I really only grow it as ornamental but I feel bad for it every year stuffed in a a pot getting dried out.
> 
> Im going to line the sides of the planter on the inside to keep it 1: isolated and 2: help with water retention.. thinking of throwing a few (clean) nappies in the bottom of the planter as well.. shits and giggles...
> 
> with any luck, the poor ******* thing can get the love this year B)







Finally completed, bad ass layer of rocks in the base and 2 inches of 'chicken coop' soul and wood chips for mulch surrounding the crown. Im expecting evil things from this crown this season.


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## blekk

kaiserben said:


> If I wanted to put in a simple trellis design like the one in that photo, how do I do it?
> I assume you can't buy it pre-fabricated and that I need to buy all the bits and put it together myself?
> How are the posts at each end put in the ground securely? Concrete?


I used a couple of post stirrups from bunnings concreted in to the ground then bolted the posts to them. Probably about 1-2hrs worth of work digging the holes, mixing the concrete and setting the stirrups. If I want to remove the hops/garden bed I have the concrete far enough under the soil level that I can cut off the stirrups with an angle grinder below ground level and cover it with soil so you wouldn't even know they were there instead of trying to dig up a 20kg concrete bell


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## Rocker1986

Judanero said:


> Looks nice and neat mate, maybe add a couple wire lines to the corners of your planter box just in case, once those lines are full of bines and lats it'll end up being like a sheet in the wind.
> 
> I'd add a bracket to the corners of that cross beam too, with a few kgs weight pulling on the beam you may get a little sagging, would be shit if it came undone.


Yeah not bad ideas actually, will look into it especially the brackets. The idea of the 6 lines is to try to more evenly spread the bines across the thing, but anything to help keep it sturdier and together can't be bad!


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## Matplat

Anyone else got new shoots breaking the surface yet? These plants dont seem to understand that its supposed to be winter at the moment.... it is QLD though.


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## drsmurto

kaiserben said:


> I got started today.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 13417670_10154276909082959_8946218636893466596_n.jpg
> 
> Started a bit late in the day, so only got 4 of the holes done (the ones in the background). Aiming for 14 holes (2 rows of 7). The half-finished fencing is because there are various animals that might like to dig in dirt. (Perhaps it might be better to lay the chicken wire over the ground).
> 
> Will put up a trellis eventually.
> 
> Each hole has a thin layer of mulch, then a few handfuls of chicken poo, then another thin layer of mulch, then a thick covering of potting soil.
> 
> I'm using those green things (Greenwell) to raise each hole area (like a mound).


A bit late but I'm hoping you have only 1 variety of hops growing in all those holes. I wouldn't be planting different varieties within 3m of each other, preferably more. Once they get tangled up, and they will, you'll never be able to identify them.


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## Exile

Matplat said:


> Anyone else got new shoots breaking the surface yet? These plants dont seem to understand that its supposed to be winter at the moment.... it is QLD though.


Mine did this time last year, then went dormant for a long period of time before flowering.
This year most of my hop leaves have gone but some still remain.
Still wearing a tshirt tho. not quite cold enough, must be a green house thing. too many cows farting or something


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## kaiserben

DrSmurto said:


> A bit late but I'm hoping you have only 1 variety of hops growing in all those holes. I wouldn't be planting different varieties within 3m of each other, preferably more. Once they get tangled up, and they will, you'll never be able to identify them.


Yep. Just Cascade at this stage.

If I get my hands on another variety I'll do a similar row, but a good 3 metres away on a separate trellis. I have a nice spot picked out just for that.


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## Rocker1986

Matplat said:


> Anyone else got new shoots breaking the surface yet? These plants dont seem to understand that its supposed to be winter at the moment.... it is QLD though.


Yep my Hallertau plant did this back in April when I cut the bines off at the soil a few weeks after the last harvest. A week or two later there were new shoots popping up, but it was still quite warm then too. They haven't really done anything though, still just small shoots. I wonder if they'll die back again with this cold snap we're getting currently. Maybe when or if they acclimatise to our weather they'll stay dormant all through the winter months.


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## 60.lewdogg.9

Does anyone here use the 2 part canna fert for their hops?


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## BottloBill

60.lewdogg.9 said:


> Does anyone here use the 2 part canna fert for their hops?


Used in my first year of growing with good results.


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## blekk

60.lewdogg.9 said:


> Does anyone here use the 2 part canna fert for their hops?


Try the Medi-One nutrient


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## Belgrave Brewer

Spent the last few weekends weeding and feeding. Composted horse shit & sheep shit, blood and bone, and pelletised chicken manure on top of the mounds. I'll mulch the tops soon.


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## Mardoo

Miles and miles of little brown piles...that's some good looking shit!


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## hoppy2B

Belgrave Brewer said:


> Spent the last few weekends weeding and feeding. Composted horse shit & sheep shit, blood and bone, and pelletised chicken manure on top of the mounds. I'll mulch the tops soon.


If you are growing organic and want to kill the grass between your rows of hops you can spray with vinegar. You can add some salt to the mix if you want to dilute the vinegar down a bit and make it go further.


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## Belgrave Brewer

hoppy2B said:


> If you are growing organic and want to kill the grass between your rows of hops you can spray with vinegar. You can add some salt to the mix if you want to dilute the vinegar down a bit and make it go further.


So Vinegar and Salt? Dilute with water or not.


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## hoppy2B

Belgrave Brewer said:


> So Vinegar and Salt? Dilute with water or not.


I don't know the exact proportions that you can dilute down to. You will need to experiment. It will depend on how much salt you put into it. If you are spraying a lot of salt it can build up in the soil apparently.


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## Mardoo

Wouldn't the salt leach into your planting areas?


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## Belgrave Brewer

hoppy2B said:


> I don't know the exact proportions that you can dilute down to. You will need to experiment. It will depend on how much salt you put into it. If you are spraying a lot of salt it can build up in the soil apparently.


Ok, I'll pass on that idea.

I'll save the salt and vinegar for my fish & chips.


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## Yob

hoppy2B said:


> I don't know the exact proportions that you can dilute down to. You will need to experiment. It will depend on how much salt you put into it. If you are spraying a lot of salt it can build up in the soil apparently.


This is the most idiotic thing I've ever read in a plantations thread..

You could also use sulphuric acid.. But would you?

Really...


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## drsmurto

hoppy2B said:


> If you are growing organic and want to kill the grass between your rows of hops you can spray with vinegar. You can add some salt to the mix if you want to dilute the vinegar down a bit and make it go further.


Why not just use David Avocado Wolfe's tears?


----------



## yankinoz

About salt and vinegar:

Vinegar is biodegradable and won't last long in soil, let alone build up. 

Salt accumulation is a well-known hazard for irrigated farms even where the water contains only traces. Prevention and cure is flushing the salt out of topsoil. So salt accumulation is most likely where the climate is dry and soil drainage poor. If drainage is good, growers sometimes flush built-up salt down by flooding.

Personally, I'd never apply salt to a garden.

I've had a vineyard and used mulch fairly successfully to control weeds, but that was in a land free from kikuyu grass. What idiot brought that in?

Whether plastic mulch fits your definition of organic, it would be effective, except kikuyu would probably find an opening next to the emerging hop vine.


----------



## hoppy2B

DrSmurto said:


> Why not just use David Avocado Wolfe's tears?


Are you retarded or something? Can't come up with anything other than derogatory dribble?


----------



## hoppy2B

Yob said:


> This is the most idiotic thing I've ever read in a plantations thread..
> 
> You could also use sulphuric acid.. But would you?
> 
> Really...


Could you cease and desist with your offensive derogatory comments? Vinegar is used by organic growers to kill weeds.


----------



## drsmurto

hoppy2B said:


> Are you retarded or something? Can't come up with anything other than derogatory dribble?


Maybe, the jury is still out on that but when i see bullshit organic gardening tips I respond with the king of all natural bullshit, Mr David Avocado Wolfe. 

Vinegar does 4/5ths of **** all useful in the garden, unless you are trying to change the pH in a very small area. Your suggestion of adding an acid and salt to soil is what i would think of as retarded advice. But then organic gardening in general is full of natural news bullshit, covered in lipstick and presented as science. Vinegar has an impact on the above ground growth only. If you want to argue this fact, provide some evidence. Until then, I'll continue to call out your dwarf hop growing advice as bullshit.


----------



## Yob

hoppy2B said:


> Could you cease and desist with your offensive derogatory comments? Vinegar is used by organic growers to kill weeds.


I don't believe it offensive to call that statement idiotic, merely an observation ofthe plain absolute truth.

As a farmer, which I understand you are, telling someone trying to grow things to "salt the earth" is not only an idiotic statement, it simply beggars belief that you weren't fishing for this sort of response. 

You will note, I've not made any personal attacks on your good fine self, merely debunking that astonishing post for which I have no understanding or grasp of why in the name of all that's holy, that you'd make.


----------



## Grainer

Just use boiling hot water if you can get it in the required quantity?? Might be too difficult


----------



## Yob

I don't know why you'd want to kill the middle strip to be honest, so you had a dry dust bowl come summer? To aid in topsoil erosion? 

You know what I always find helps with grass?

A ******* lawn mower... lol


----------



## Stu Brew

Moving some crowns around its still WAY to early here. They're very much still in dormancy. I will plant when the soil starts to warm up a fair bit more. We'll still get some cold cold nights between now and mid August. Not sure why so many people are planting in pots.....Wont work anywhere near as well as letting them go nuts by themselves in the ground! 

Ive had the sheep running in the orchard so got my nitrogen fixing sorted and weeding sorted with approximately zero effort. We've had 378mm of rain since the start of March.... and my crowns have swollen into some monstrous things.....

Pulled out a bunch of plum trees a few weeks back, need to pull stumps put up new poles, till, plant and then get the wires up....going to be a big year for us! 

These crowns were 8 inch rhizomes last year....I think htye're a little bit happy! 

Dont forget your seamungus pellets when you plant your rhizomes....trust me it will make a MASSIVE difference adding a good couple of handfuls to the soil before you plants em! 


Cheers


----------



## Stu Brew

Weed mat is good too....for weeds you know....its seriously cheap you can move it if you want.....takes about 20 mins to install.....get on it.

There will be more in a few weeks......much much much more!


----------



## Stu Brew

So this is the above marked off area......160 zomes are going in there @ 5-7m. Looks like I may be making up the numbers cloning the early shoots cause no yay for digging.....but should do alright still  

So plans this year. I have already sourced, 20 Target, 20 Chinook, 20 Cascade, 4 Red Earth, pretty much as much golding as I want and we have to sort out about 40 more Columbus and we're on the money! I got a couple of Tet and other from the Red Earth buy so yeah looks like a good year. Having a way bigger play this year! Should be doing something like 200kg minimum even if we get smashed by a storm....fingers crossed that doesnt happen!


----------



## Matplat

You want any cluster?


----------



## Yob

Only dwarf cluster grows in Australia I'm told by somewhat reliable sources


----------



## manticle

hoppy2B said:


> Are you retarded or something? Can't come up with anything other than derogatory dribble?


This kind of comment, considering you have a history of similar is exactly why your posting privileges have been suspended for a week.
Please come back a nicer person or not at all. Abusive PMs to members do not help your cause.

Please return to topic everyone else.


----------



## Rocker1986

Stu Brew said:


> Not sure why so many people are planting in pots.....Wont work anywhere near as well as letting them go nuts by themselves in the ground!


Space is an issue for some, and possibly not wanting them to take over the whole place. I've moved mine from pots into bigger homes this season though. I agree they're better off in the ground but it's not practical in all situations.


----------



## Benn

10 holes averaging around 80-100 litres dug and prepped for this season, a little behind schedule from what I've read but it's good to have them done and dusted nonetheless. This rain is hopefully washing all the poo particles through the soil right now,


----------



## Stu Brew

Rocker1986 said:


> Space is an issue for some, and possibly not wanting them to take over the whole place. I've moved mine from pots into bigger homes this season though. I agree they're better off in the ground but it's not practical in all situations.


Ill take my hat off to anyone that can grow a first year rhizomes that takes over their place.....I mean I could....but the soil down the back and sun aspect is far better than here....Maybe if I was in Tassy with a 4x4m back yard id be worried  that said...they do grow well in the right spot! I highly doubt you'll have issues in a standard backyard though....as hard as you can grow one! Just my two sense worth....go as hard as you can...and if it goes really well, all you'll actually get is lots of cones and lots of rhizomes...... which is good all round!


----------



## Matplat

Yob said:


> Only dwarf cluster grows in Australia I'm told by somewhat reliable sources


Righto, they were sold to me as cluster last year by your best mate hoppy2B  so I am none the wiser!


----------



## Alex.Tas

Had a dig around in a couple of my pots from last year this morning. 

These two plants were grown from cuttings last year. All I did was trim, dip the end in root growing powder, then poked my finger into the prepared soil, then stuck the end of the cutting in.
I took the cuttings, as i was thinning the shoots out to around 4 per line. These ones would have made it to the compost heap otherwise.

Watered as per the other main plants and look what they turn into. 
View attachment 89757

This one is a chinook




And this one is a columbus

Planning on giving them away to a mate so he can start his own plantation.
Pretty sure i have a few more clones lurking in with the main plant beds too!


----------



## Stu Brew

Alex.Tas said:


> Had a dig around in a couple of my pots from last year this morning.
> 
> These two plants were grown from cuttings last year. All I did was trim, dip the end in root growing powder, then poked my finger into the prepared soil, then stuck the end of the cutting in.
> I took the cuttings, as i was thinning the shoots out to around 4 per line. These ones would have made it to the compost heap otherwise.
> 
> Watered as per the other main plants and look what they turn into.
> 
> 
> 
> IMG_4012.JPG
> This one is a chinook
> 
> 
> 
> 
> IMG_4013.JPG
> And this one is a columbus
> 
> Planning on giving them away to a mate so he can start his own plantation.
> Pretty sure i have a few more clones lurking in with the main plant beds too!


Yeah good stuff. I have purchased an aeroponic cloner. I root them then put them into pots. I got a really really late start on it last year....and I didnt have a greenhouse setup either. The whole first batch of shoots are going to get cut and cloned this year....so hopefully this is how im going to end up with 60 columbus from 20 last season, with a few extra rhizomes I dig. I like to hear about stuff like this! I did one 50L pot with Columbus just to see how they would go. I got about 20 rhizomes out of the one pot...the plant performed like arse though...grew all of 200g of hops cones...but I was more experimenting to see how they would go in terms of easily producing rhizomes which was rather effective.


----------



## Fylp

Hey all, I'm working out the ideal spot for my first run at this. Just wondering if people in Sydney plant in full sun. I understand that it can get a bit hot for them in summer and some try and get the end of day heat off them by putting them in part shade. 

Any experience shared would be welcome.


----------



## Rocker1986

I'm in Brisbane which probably doesn't help you much, but mine were in pretty much full sun last season and had no problems. Having said that, they are on the western side of the yard, and behind them as you'll see in the following photos is a lot of trees, so they do get shaded towards the end of the day more. Last year they were in pots but this year I've built these larger beds and trellises. There are braces on one of them but they can't really be seen because of the light. I have to get up and do the other one soon too, and fix the lines in the Cascade bed. On the left is a 2nd year Hallertau that was moved from a pot, and on the right is a first year Cascade, with the rhizome planted a couple of weeks ago. The other pot has a 2nd year Fuggles plant and was moved to another location in the yard but kept in its pot. I figured the hops I'll use the most of might as well have the biggest homes.  Now just to wait for the warmer weather!


----------



## Matplat

Those are some sexy looking raised beds Rocker  and I'm not sure I've ever described raised beds as sexy before


----------



## Yob

Rocker1986 said:


> I'm in Brisbane which probably doesn't help you much, but mine were in pretty much full sun last season and had no problems. Having said that, they are on the western side of the yard, and behind them as you'll see in the following photos is a lot of trees, so they do get shaded towards the end of the day more. Last year they were in pots but this year I've built these larger beds and trellises. There are braces on one of them but they can't really be seen because of the light. I have to get up and do the other one soon too, and fix the lines in the Cascade bed. On the left is a 2nd year Hallertau that was moved from a pot, and on the right is a first year Cascade, with the rhizome planted a couple of weeks ago. The other pot has a 2nd year Fuggles plant and was moved to another location in the yard but kept in its pot. I figured the hops I'll use the most of might as well have the biggest homes.  Now just to wait for the warmer weather!



Love where it's going, does look like you'll need bigger posts to get higher though, I'm working on a design to do similar posts myself, essentially hinged so I can lower the whole thing for harvest, will pass it on to you when I've completed it


----------



## Rocker1986

Cheers Matplat and Yob; and also for the design for the posts when it's ready too. I'm not sure how high I'll go here, they're about 3 metres above the soil currently, however, when I get my own place one day and (hopefully) set up a hop garden there, will certainly be useful for sure. Better make sure I find somewhere with a big yard... :lol:

Forgot to mention, the mesh covering them is there to protect them from being dug up by arsehole critters like turkeys or possums or whatever else.


----------



## kaiserben

Rocker1986 said:


> Forgot to mention, the mesh covering them is there to protect them from being dug up by arsehole critters like turkeys or possums or whatever else.


Dunno if I've mentioned already; I originally bought chicken wire to fence-in my hop garden, but after seeing your photos I'm going to forget the fence idea and just lay and weigh down the chicken wire over my hop mounds.


----------



## wide eyed and legless

Maybe a bit late now rocker but 2 bolts in each upright, the bottom one with a nyloc nut you would have been able to pivot the posts to lower the frame had it been higher, but at that height your not going to have a problem.


----------



## Yob

kaiserben said:


> Dunno if I've mentioned already; I originally bought chicken wire to fence-in my hop garden, but after seeing your photos I'm going to forget the fence idea and just lay and weigh down the chicken wire over my hop mounds.


Makes them a bitch to weed, make sure your mulch is good and thick prior


----------



## wide eyed and legless

I tried that tour mulch couldn't get it to stay in one place.


----------



## Yob

Ha! I wasn't fast enough


----------



## Rocker1986

kaiserben said:


> Dunno if I've mentioned already; I originally bought chicken wire to fence-in my hop garden, but after seeing your photos I'm going to forget the fence idea and just lay and weigh down the chicken wire over my hop mounds.


Cool, that should work pretty well. The good thing about this mesh stuff I have (which was just lying around unused) is that it's heavy enough to hold itself down aside from that bent piece that I have the brick on, but light enough to be lifted up to get at any weeds or whatever.



wide eyed and legless said:


> Maybe a bit late now rocker but 2 bolts in each upright, the bottom one with a nyloc nut you would have been able to pivot the posts to lower the frame had it been higher, but at that height your not going to have a problem.


Yeah they're pretty much set in place now, but either a ladder or some cutters should make it pretty easy to get at the flowers near the top when it's time next year.


----------



## kaiserben

What sort of trellis height should I be looking at?

Would 4m above ground (so a 5m post with 1m cemented below ground) be tall enough? 

And how on earth do I get posts that size to my garden? (my car won't help. I doubt a ute would be long enough. Does Bunnings deliver?) 

EDIT:
Oh - and can anyone recommend a cheap post? What material and what sort of width should I be looking at?)


----------



## Frothy1

kaiserben said:


> Does Bunnings deliver?)


Bunnings should have a courtsey trailer you can borrow


----------



## Mardoo

I've seen lots of folks put together great trellises with bamboo. Key is guy wires. They don't have to hold a huge amount of weight but have to stand up to wind. Hops turn any frame into a bit of a sail.


----------



## drsmurto

kaiserben said:


> What sort of trellis height should I be looking at?
> 
> Would 4m above ground (so a 5m post with 1m cemented below ground) be tall enough?
> 
> And how on earth do I get posts that size to my garden? (my car won't help. I doubt a ute would be long enough. Does Bunnings deliver?)
> 
> EDIT:
> Oh - and can anyone recommend a cheap post? What material and what sort of width should I be looking at?)


For the first few years I didn't 'build a trellis', i planted the hops next to a fence and let the hops climb up the fence (1.8m chicken wire) and then ran strings across the yard to another fence. It did mean I had to wind the hops around the strings every few days but it allowed me a few years before deciding on a trellis design. I then took the easy route by attaching lengths of pine to the posts already holding the fence up and then running a piece of wood across the top (see below). Now they climb up the fence then up another ~1.5m to the trellis cross beams. They won't win any 'sexy hop trellis' awards but several years later it's still there.

The idea that hops only form x metres above the ground is a myth. They will happily form laying on the ground and mine do every year as I let my bines grow wild. They also don't need full sun nor do you need to cut the number of bines down to a predefined number. These plants have the growth habit of weeds.


----------



## wide eyed and legless

kaiserben said:


> What sort of trellis height should I be looking at?
> 
> Would 4m above ground (so a 5m post with 1m cemented below ground) be tall enough?
> 
> And how on earth do I get posts that size to my garden? (my car won't help. I doubt a ute would be long enough. Does Bunnings deliver?)
> 
> EDIT:
> Oh - and can anyone recommend a cheap post? What material and what sort of width should I be looking at?)


You will not need a 1 M below ground, get some galvanised angle iron or flat about 2 M long set 400 mm below ground in concrete and bolt your posts to the metal, that way you will only need to get 3 M posts from Bunnings or where ever.


----------



## Alex.Tas

Ive got some 3ish meter gal CHS that i have attached to my fence with trailer jockey wheel clamps. it means i can remove the trellis and leave the clamp on the fence after harvest till i need to erect the trellis again for the following year.
The CHS allows me to thread a rope up the inside, and out the top, allowing me to raise and lower a "boom" across the top of the two uprights, facilitating multiple pickings each year - which is handy as i have three varieties on the one "boom".

I'm also having a go at stringing up some lines over a couple of gum tree branches that are hanging over the plants. Haven't really thought it through yet, but I'll rig it up so i can raise and lower the strings when i want to.


----------



## kaiserben

Got a lot of work done in the hop garden on Sunday: 

Decided to put 3 posts in (one in the middle, although I'm not sure whether the middle one will end up being a help or a hindrance). 

The posts were 4.2m (of 90 x 45mm treated pine).





We screwed in a 10mm stainless lag screw to the top of each post (and we fed some 9mm multi purpose rope through them). 





We dug holes roughly 40cm deep. We put the post in, then water and 20kg quick-set cement (in each hole). Waited >15 mins for it to set, then covered over with dirt. 





So the posts are roughly 3.8m above the ground. 





We covered the 2 x rows of mounds with some chicken wire fencing, laid down on top so that wildlife will be discouraged from digging up the mounds. As soon as we'd finished a wallaby came bounding through and across the wire (more than likely a bit spooked by the new stuff everywhere). 


With the main rope, we tied it to the lag screw at the top of one end post, then through the lag screw on the middle post, and then through the lag screw on the other end post, and then down to chest height where the rope can be tied off on a cleat hook (with enough excess rope to lower it all down to tie baling twine on - and to lower at harvest time). 

But we realised that was a stuff up, because firstly the middle post means only one side lowers easily. And secondly, it really needs to have excess rope at both ends if you want to be able to lower bines to ground level at harvest time. We're going to get a tree removalist to un-tie the end that's atop the far post and pull the rope down to chest level (so both ends will be tied at chest level, with (hopefully) about 4m of excess rope at each end (hopefully there's enough rope. If I've done my calculations correctly we might need an extra couple of metres - so I'll just tie on a bit of extra at each end). 

We still need to attach some baling twine between the top rope and each mound. We've got some tent pegs for the bottom end of those. 

I also planted the rhizomes yesterday, 14 cascade and 4 tettnang (there's a 3m gap before the 4 x tettnang mounds in the background of those last 2 photos). 

I've got a spare tettnang rhizome that I might put in a pot on my balcony. And decide what to do with it at a later date.


----------



## pie man

Gday all, my two hop beds, each are 1m*1.5 and beside the side of the block. I would have built more but don't have the space. Fortunately my neighbor is happy for me to attach the trellis to the side of the fence. I have EKG in the left bed and kracanup in the other, the EKG has started growing early but kracanup has not sprouted yet. Ive used chook wire "tubes" and tent pegs to protect hops and run the string from the plants to the eye bolts at the top of the trellis. Im very new to this hop growing but very keen, let me know if the tubes may cause problems later on in the season.


----------



## MartinOC

1st year, just let everything go nuts & don't expect anything crop-wise. Just watch them grow & marvel at their vigor.

After that, you'll need to make provision for invasive hop explosion into every available space.


----------



## Rocker1986

My second year Hallertau and Fuggle plants have begun sprouting up again in the last week or two.

The Hallertau plant (1st pic) has about 5 shoots. The sort of wilted looking ones are ones that actually shot up in April/May when I cut the old bines off at the ground. They just grew to there and stopped. Not sure what they'll do now but the new ones are looking healthy anyway.

The Fuggle plant (2nd pic) has about 3-4 shoots coming up which are looking pretty good too. I left that one in its pot because there's not really any room for another one of those big planter boxes. The new Cascade rhizome is in the second planter box, but it hasn't sprouted yet.


----------



## goatus

Alex.Tas said:


> Ive got some 3ish meter gal CHS that i have attached to my fence with trailer jockey wheel clamps. it means i can remove the trellis and leave the clamp on the fence after harvest till i need to erect the trellis again for the following year.
> The CHS allows me to thread a rope up the inside, and out the top, allowing me to raise and lower a "boom" across the top of the two uprights, facilitating multiple pickings each year - which is handy as i have three varieties on the one "boom".


This sounds great. Can you post photos of your rope setup?


----------



## CheekyPanda

kaiserben said:


> We dug holes roughly 40cm deep. We put the post in, then water and 20kg quick-set cement (in each hole). Waited >15 mins for it to set, then covered over with dirt.


I'm no expert on cementing wood into holes but be careful with rot. Up here the wood shrinks and the water sits around the wood rotting it. What you end up with is several big concrete blocks in your garden and a post that rots away a lot quicker due to sitting in water all the time.

I'm not saying it won't happen if you don't concrete the poles in but when you ram the earth around the poles you won't have a big concrete block where you want to replace your posts in the future.


----------



## wide eyed and legless

The first shoots to show the professional hop growers cut back to the ground, prevents downy mildew spores which may have attached themselves to the dormant bine over winter so that makes sense, I did put an attachment on last years SUYHG, but here is another one.
http://www.usahops.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=hop_farming&pageID=3


----------



## Belgrave Brewer

A bit of a tidy up and weeding today. Plenty of shoots getting ready to launch, while the Victoria is just starting to throw out some leaves.


----------



## Danscraftbeer

shit! ok its gardening next weekend then. Gotta get all the new rhizomes into their new homes.


----------



## Benn

I noticed my cat has began shedding its fur which means it's time to get my Rhizomes in the ground.
Holes were dug and prepped about 6-8 weeks ago.


Some mushroom compost to top up the holes and hopefully give the Zhomes a nice bed to start off in.


Got 9 planted throughout the yard, 4 Cascade, 3 Vic, 1 Columbus & 1 Chinnok.
Cheers


----------



## Yob

Belgrave Brewer said:


> A bit of a tidy up and weeding today. Plenty of shoots getting ready to launch, while the Victoria is just starting to throw out some leaves.


I think you're supposed to put vinegar or salt on them now, Im not sure of the concentrations or which one, you will have to experiment and let me know...


----------



## Yob

Benn said:


> I noticed my cat has began shedding its fur which means it's time to get my Rhizomes in the ground.
> Holes were dug and prepped about 6-8 weeks ago.
> 
> 
> 
> image.jpeg
> Some mushroom compost to top up the holes and hopefully give the Zhomes a nice bed to start off in.
> 
> 
> 
> image.jpeg
> Got 9 planted throughout the yard, 4 Cascade, 3 Vic, 1 Columbus & 1 Chinnok.
> Cheers


theyll never take off like that..

that soil has been exposed to Ford...


----------



## Yob

Done a whack of weeding and Mulching today myself, checked the watering lines, just a sprinkle of slow release to go and come on Spring


----------



## A.B.

Is chook poo OK to use as fert? I could google it but you guys know a few things...or so I've heard


----------



## Yob

Best if it's gone through the compost or such, it's pretty brutal stuff, kinda better if it's broken down a bit..

Good shit though...


----------



## citizensnips

Chook poo is high in nitrogen which is good for fast growing greens i.e. hops but nonetheless is hot so put it in the bottom half of your pot/hole to give it time to cool off and so young roots don't get burnt. 

Cheers


----------



## A.B.

Cheers, chook poo it is then, once it's broken down a bit. Got 100 chook so no probs with supply!


----------



## Danscraftbeer

I mixed up a combo of 
guestimations:
70% Potting mix
27% Home brew compost with lots of worms.
3% (a mix of 45%Sheep shit mix. 45% Chook shit mix and 10% Dynamic Lifter pellets)

I'm going for that dynamic beer of course.


----------



## A.B.

How about seasol once it's growing?


----------



## Yob

A.B. said:


> How about seasol once it's growing?


nom nom...


----------



## Mardoo

I've had good luck with Seasol. Apparently it's not a fertilizer, but rather a soil conditioner, so keep that in mind. You'll need poo!


----------



## MartinOC

Yob, your piccie a few posts earlier reminded me - you need to cut all the gall-wasps out of your citrus trees.

On the bright side, I've got two Fuggles shoots showing on the Nth. side of their pot...in Kinglake...in August!!!!


----------



## N3MIS15

Transplanted Cascades I started in pots last year in to new garden bed. Hope to get some hops from them this year. Will also be planting a columbus rhizome yob kindly gave me.


----------



## doctr-dan

Here's my first attempt, humble beginnings.
These were the biggest pots I could find at Bunnings filled with potting mix.
How long before I should expect to see some shoots.
Also is it easy to identify the different species, I have Mt hood and chinook i believe


----------



## Benn

I used those pots for a Vic and a Chinnok last year and they did the job OK but I'm glad to have transplanted them into the ground this season as the little Rhizome cuttings I got from Belgrave Brewer had completely filled the pot and were growing out through the drain holes by seasons end. My lack of experience means I can't accurately answer your other questions but I will suggest spreading a couple of inches of Sugar Cane mulch over the potting mix.
Cheers,


----------



## barls

doctr-dan said:


> Here's my first attempt, humble beginnings.
> These were the biggest pots I could find at Bunnings filled with potting mix.
> How long before I should expect to see some shoots.
> Also is it easy to identify the different species, I have Mt hood and chinook i believe


dan they are both 3 point leaves but the cones are slightly different.
the mt hood should of been the bigger of the two that i sent.
depending on the weather where you are you may see them as early as a couple of weeks.


----------



## Rocker1986

I used those pots last year as well for a couple of first year rhizomes. They worked well, but I transplanted one of them into a much larger garden bed this year. The other one I've left in its pot so it'll be interesting to compare the behaviour of the two plants. My other big garden bed has a first year Cascade rhizome in it, which has just begun sprouting shoots in the last few days.


----------



## kaiserben

citizensnips said:


> Chook poo is high in nitrogen which is good for fast growing greens i.e. hops but nonetheless is hot so put it in the bottom half of your pot/hole to give it time to cool off and so young roots don't get burnt.
> 
> Cheers


What's the consequences of roots getting burnt? 

I had to dig some of the holes and prepare mounds on the same day I planted rhizomes, so some of my mounds have a handful of poo pellets maybe 5 inches from the rhizome, mixed in with layers of mulch and dirt. 

Should I take drastic action? Or can I just leave it? (considering I don't really expect much of a crop this season - but hoping for a decent yield the following season).


----------



## wide eyed and legless

You can leave it be, best additive is the Seasol at the start of the season really does work in getting plants established, probably the best thing on the market. And do check your pH, it makes a difference.


----------



## drsmurto

Seasol is not a fertiliser. The NPK is 0.1/0.01/1.8%. That's almost homeopathic!

If you want to actually boost growth then things like Dynamic Lifter and Blood and bone are great for actually getting nitrogen into your plants. These are both slow release products. A product sold by Seasol called powerfeed is good for repeat applications. The NPK of powerfeed is 12/1.4/7%.


----------



## wide eyed and legless

Spot on the above post, not a fertiliser, though I didn't know anyone had claimed it to be, beginning of the growing season really gets the plants established no matter what it is one is growing, best fertiliser NPK 10-5-5 when plants kick off.


----------



## Belgrave Brewer

I buried a handful of Bounce Back about 10cm below each rhizome last year. Could be the reason my plants did so well first year. Slow release so this year I've sprinkled on top of the soil with my manure additions and will add another round of it later. I swear by it. Seamungus was recommended to me as well, so I'll try and use it in place of or alternate with my Seasol additions. Blood and bone is most excellent.
http://www.neutrog.com.au/100-organic-range/


----------



## wide eyed and legless

Bit OT but just today went around all my citrus and pome fruit trees with Maxicrop Seaweed just to let them know spring is around the corner, also sprayed my stone fruit trees with Lime Sulfur.Will get around to my hop plants later this week


----------



## Mardoo

Where do you get the Bounce Back, BB?


----------



## Belgrave Brewer

Mardoo said:


> Where do you get the Bounce Back, BB?


I get mine at Landmark in Wandin. About $18 for a 20kg bag. Well worth it. Might be a Landmark closer to you.
https://www.landmark.com.au/farm/default.html

Analysis here: http://www.neutrog.com.au/bounce-back-2/


----------



## barls

i found that power feed and amgrow are the best ones to really bulk the plants out. well that and pot ash as they start flowering.


----------



## Danscraftbeer

Brewed compost tea. It can be incredible for all garden if you do it thoughtfully. Look into it if you haven't already. Simple stuff. 
You need : a bucket. I use a 200lt tub. Water and compost. Sugar like Mollasis to peak up the microbial levels. 
A way to strain it (or not)
A descent power aerator really helps. 
Compost, with lots of worm in it is best. Strain them to get the Worm tea juice and throw the solids back into the compost pile worm unhurt haha. Worm tea if you have that on tap as well (I do) all the same thing really. 

Throw some compost in a bucket and fill it with rain water (not tap water). Add a tad of mollassis and aerate.
Its good to use from the start or 24 hours + the organic microbial activity peak. You get a big white head of froth.
You can broaden it all by adding a tad of seaweed extract (eg. Seasol) and fish emulsions (eg. Charlie Carp) as well. It all seems to act like a catalyst for the brew like yeast etc.
Its basically making a little go a long way on the Organic superiority levels. Dilute (or not) when using it.
Use it as foliar spray etc. make it a habit and feed it to your plants instead of water.
$0.02


----------



## doctr-dan

barls said:


> dan they are both 3 point leaves but the cones are slightly different.
> the mt hood should of been the bigger of the two that i sent.
> depending on the weather where you are you may see them as early as a couple of weeks.


Okay great the bigger one is on the left.
Regarding where I live, only 40mins North from you roughly depending on awesome sydney traffic


----------



## doctr-dan

Benn said:


> I used those pots for a Vic and a Chinnok last year and they did the job OK but I'm glad to have transplanted them into the ground this season as the little Rhizome cuttings I got from Belgrave Brewer had completely filled the pot and were growing out through the drain holes by seasons end. My lack of experience means I can't accurately answer your other questions but I will suggest spreading a couple of inches of Sugar Cane mulch over the potting mix.
> Cheers,


What's the sugar cane mulch do?


----------



## barls

doctr-dan said:


> Okay great the bigger one is on the left.
> Regarding where I live, only 40mins North from you roughly depending on awesome sydney traffic


as i said depends on the weather. if it warms up it will be sooner than later.
ill be checking the left over ones in mid sept if i haven't seen them before that.


----------



## Benn

This pretty much sums it up: http://www.goodfood.com.au/eat-out/news/sugarcane-mulch-hits-the-sweet-spot-20131117-2xpxj.html
When I transplanted my plants from the pots to the ground on the weekend the little eco system happening beneath the mulch was crazy, all sorts of worms & bugs etc, living under there.


----------



## Danscraftbeer

doctr-dan said:


> What's the sugar cane mulch do?


As well as mulch being the bio barrier protectant over your soil to retain moisture.
Sugar cane mulch also has residual sugars that worms and all the good microbial activity loves to feed on. Converting it all into what plants can feed on. A win win and you will be surprized how much a 50mm thick layer will be consumed. You need to top it up a few times a year.


----------



## Nullnvoid

I planted some in wine barrels on the weekend, I'm confused as to how far down they need to go, somewhere I read 30cm but another place 5cm? That's a big difference.


----------



## Mardoo

There are a lot of different opinions. I put them down low enough that the rhizome won't become exposed by erosion. I usually go about 15cm.


----------



## Nullnvoid

Cheers for that info. 

They should be far enough below the surface and higher than the bottom of the pot. I should just relax.


----------



## Nullnvoid

Cheers for that info. 

They should be far enough below the surface and higher than the bottom of the pot. I should just relax.


----------



## abyss

G'day I just planted my first Cascade and am wondering weather this will be high enough for it to climb ?


----------



## spog

abyss said:


> G'day I just planted my first Cascade and am wondering weather this will be high enough for it to climb ?


Pallet,keg,trailer,shed or antenna? 
Sorry couldn't help myself.
Can you add some kind of trellis or poles with ropes attached for the bines to grow up.
The side of the shed looks like it's around 2.7 metres high,more height would be ideal ,also take into account that the heat coming from the sheeting may cause issues and also lack of ventilation around the bines due to it being too close to the shed wall.

If you decide to grow along side the shed wall I suggest hanging some light coloured shade cloth between the shed and bines to help with heat and ventilation issues.


----------



## LiquidGold

I was trying to work out if it's a fishing rod or an antenna. Like spog said you wanna make sure you have several main ropes for the bines to climb to allow airflow and sunlight to get through all the growth.

Also, do you have drainage in that keg pot? I imagine there would have been at least one hole near the bottom for a tap but not sure if that would be enough.


----------



## abyss

Yea it's a fishing rod and I'm thinking of running some cord through it.
The rod will pull out at harvest time so I don't have to fall off my ladder picking buds.


----------



## abyss

G'day I've just made another garden bed to plant a Saaz and a Dr Ruddi and am wondering if If its ok to plant some herbs or veggies with them.
The rhizomes are going to be about 3m apart.


----------



## spog

abyss said:


> Yea it's a fishing rod and I'm thinking of running some cord through it.
> The rod will pull out at harvest time so I don't have to fall off my ladder picking buds.


I think the fishing rod won't handle the weight of the bines when their at full growth or allowing for a windy day, a mass of growth will catch a lot of wind.
Trying to remove the rod from its mount at harvest time would be difficult.
Have a think about possibly mounting some steel pipes at each end of the shed then running a wire/ rope between the 2 ,with ropes hanging from that for the hops to grow up.
At the top of one of the pipes have a pulley that the top rope runs through( the other end is tied off to the other pipe )so at harvest time you can lower the whole lot down to make picking easier.


----------



## MartinOC

I'm guessing first-year here, so much to think-about whilst the 'zomes get established before taking-off 2nd year....


----------



## abyss

spog said:


> I think the fishing rod won't handle the weight of the bines when their at full growth or allowing for a windy day, a mass of growth will catch a lot of wind.
> Trying to remove the rod from its mount at harvest time would be difficult.
> Have a think about possibly mounting some steel pipes at each end of the shed then running a wire/ rope between the 2 ,with ropes hanging from that for the hops to grow up.
> At the top of one of the pipes have a pulley that the top rope runs through( the other end is tied off to the other pipe )so at harvest time you can lower the whole lot down to make picking easier.


Thanks spog, yea I'm thinking now I'll make a more robust structure. I was getting over excited.
Another question is weather Roos and other critters eat them ?


----------



## spog

That's a good question I've never thought of animals eating the hop plants,I reckon goats would coz the bastards will eat anything.
Roo's ,Possums dunno ,although Possums might wreck it by climbing all over it.
No doubt some one here have some experience with hop wrecking pests.

Actually Roo's might...it's where the learn to hop. Boom tish.


----------



## Danscraftbeer

Mine were eaten up to 8 inches away from the fence. I guess that is the reaching length of possums. They seem desperate to eat all the vine but they wont climb out on the vines. They need a steady structure I guess so my vines waft around on strings, netting etc and don't get touched. So I hang bags of dynamic lifter pellets or stinky blood and bone at points were the vines meet up with solid climbing structures. Parrots can also nip off tips I've heard.


----------



## Mardoo

Sound advice there dansocraft.


----------



## Yob

Danscraftbeer said:


> Mine were eaten up to 8 inches away from the fence. I guess that is the reaching length of possums. They seem desperate to eat all the vine but they wont climb out on the vines. They need a steady structure I guess so my vines waft around on strings, netting etc and don't get touched. So I hang bags of dynamic lifter pellets or stinky blood and bone at points were the vines meet up with solid climbing structures. Parrots can also nip off tips I've heard.


Bines.. Hops have bines, grapes have vines, from memory, the difference being bines use the spiky hairs to attach to things to grow, vines do not.

Sorry...

2 bines with leaves from my (finally Re homed) PoR poking out and aassove cluster from a second year er.. Cascade or chinook poking out as well... Growing season is upon us!


----------



## Rocker1986

Yes, my second year Hallertau and Fuggle plants are going a little crazy with growth at the moment, shoots popping up everywhere. First year Cascade rhizome has sprouted two shoots so far too which are looking healthy as well. Never would have thought I'd be growing and brewing with my own hops but I'm really enjoying it.


----------



## wide eyed and legless

Danscraftbeer is correct about the possums they only like a fairly solid structure I have had to put the plastic spikes in various places along the fence they will eat the young top shoots of most plants including weed, non native plants do not have a natural repellent for possums.


----------



## abyss

Thanks for all input. I ended up doing this to start with.
The tube welded to the top corners will hold a length of reo bar for extra height down the track.


----------



## doctr-dan

Currently where my hops are sitting they only get sun from about 11am till about 5pm.
I'm not sure if this will change as we get closer to summer and the Suns path changes.
Is this enough time?


----------



## neal32

doctr-dan said:


> Currently where my hops are sitting they only get sun from about 11am till about 5pm.
> I'm not sure if this will change as we get closer to summer and the Suns path changes.
> Is this enough time?


The mistake I made was last year was stressing over their growth, sunlight and nutrients. Once yours is growing, unless you're actively killing it, it will grow like a weed. Inches everyday at their peak.

They are the easiest thing to grow ever.


----------



## drsmurto

My hops, up until recently, only got afternoon sun and the Victoria only late afternoon. They still grew well. 2kg dry from several plants. Now a few willow trees have dropped limbs the vegie patch and hopyard are getting a lot more sun so it will be interesting to see how they do this season.

You can overthink growing hops. They'll grow well with no trimming/tipping or fertiliser as long as you give them plenty of water. I water them as often as the tomatoes (2 hours every 1-3 days) except the drippers are fully open on the hops so they get a much better soaking.

This year I've added dynamic lifter just as they are starting to break through the surface. I've also put more effort into weeding and mulching to minimise competition. 

The main issue i face is frost. This mornings was a doosy! Almost looked like snow, everything was white and sparkly.


----------



## Benn

I'm watching a little black bird scratching away at the sugar cane mulch right now, every couple of days I go and reset it all. I just hope they don't scratch too deep and disturb the 1st year Rhizomes before they fire off.


----------



## AJ80

Benn said:


> I'm watching a little black bird scratching away at the sugar cane mulch right now, every couple of days I go and reset it all. I just hope they don't scratch too deep and disturb the 1st year Rhizomes before they fire off.


Can only recommend some form of protection from black birds as they'll only get more focussed on your hop beds as the rest of your garden dries out over spring. I lost two rhizomes last year because of this. I went with bird netting, but others have used chicken wire.


----------



## ein stein

Hi,
would it be too late to order some rhizomes soonish and plant them within the next few weeks? How late can you plant? I live around sydney latitude.
Cheers


----------



## Mardoo

If you can find rhizomes you can plant them now, but better get them in ASAP.


----------



## pvan340

POR, Australian Cluster and Saaz are all growing well at the moment.
Made a bamboo pole trellis thing, we'll see how it goes.


----------



## Belgrave Brewer

ein stein said:


> Hi,
> would it be too late to order some rhizomes soonish and plant them within the next few weeks? How late can you plant? I live around sydney latitude.
> Cheers


It's not too late, but get on it soon.


----------



## BennyDee

Hi guys, anybody have any rhizomes to sell? (Cascade maybe?) Cheers.


----------



## BennyDee

Hi guys, anybody have any rhizomes to sell? (Cascade maybe?) Cheers.


----------



## BennyDee

Hi guys, anybody have any rhizomes to sell? (Cascade maybe?) Cheers.


----------



## kaiserben

Woo-hoo! Shoots have arrived in my hop garden. (have photos, but crappy quality). 

EDIT: Pretty much exactly 3 weeks since they were planted.


----------



## DigitalGiraffe

Just finished getting my hops sorted for the coming season. Already a few little heaps popping through! Growing Saaz and Cascade. Hoping for a better season with my Saaz this time, if not I'll ditch them and run with all Cascade.


----------



## tugger

I planted 2 rhizomes about 3 weeks ago and today I found this sticking out of the mt hood pot. 
The chinook hasn't come up yet but I'm pretty stoked. 
My first hop plant.


----------



## Yob

Who's gunna tell him?


----------



## tugger

It's a weed isn't it.


----------



## barls

sorry yeah its a weed.
they come up ether purple or white not green.


----------



## spog

DigitalGiraffe said:


> Just finished getting my hops sorted for the coming season. Already a few little heaps popping through! Growing Saaz and Cascade. Hoping for a better season with my Saaz this time, if not I'll ditch them and run with all Cascade.


I see wires and a telegraph pole in the background which could be handy if your crop takes off !


----------



## Stu Brew

Good progress today.....more photos around but tired....

Almost planting time.....got it ripped into rows too...seems nothing needs to grow deep here due to the water being abundant on the surface!


----------



## WayneCP86

Almost cried tears of joy seeing these start up last week, the progress really well! Gotta thank everyonr for all the help getting going!


----------



## WayneCP86

Has to be one of the biggest emotional roller coasters Ive ever seen on a forum... bit of a giggle then hit of heartbreak...


tugger said:


> I planted 2 rhizomes about 3 weeks ago and today I found this sticking out of the mt hood pot.
> The chinook hasn't come up yet but I'm pretty stoked.
> My first hop plant. ImageUploadedByAussie Home Brewer1472453297.087259.jpg





Yob said:


> Who's gunna tell him?


----------



## WayneCP86

Sorry phone!


----------



## WayneCP86

Sorry phone triple posted...


----------



## Rocker1986

The first bine of my second year Hallertau (third pic :blink has found its way to a line and attached itself to it, and even trained itself around clockwise (why do they have to be clockwise by the way, is there any issue if they climb up anti-clockwise?). The other few should catch up over the next week or so by the looks.

First year Cascade shoots (second pic) are coming along nicely at least from what I can tell. Given they're first year I didn't expect them to jump out of the blocks like the others have.

Second year Fuggle (first pic) has shot up a heap of shoots this year compared to last year. Maybe I'll actually get a worthwhile harvest off it this season.


----------



## Stu Brew

Right more from yestd.....This is how we're looking now....Daylight hours are starting to crank up....Still a long way to go before Summer Solstice though....and I have massive amounts of work to do!! 

Really great a lot of you have early stuff coming up already. Still cold, wet, cold and miserable here mostly. Couple of weeks and things will be pushing up though. Time to get onto climbing and rigging now!!


----------



## tugger

At least from the pics above I know what to look for.


----------



## Mardoo

Rocker1986 said:


> and even trained itself around clockwise (why do they have to be clockwise by the way, is there any issue if they climb up anti-clockwise?). .


They naturally grow clockwise, by what I've read, heard, and seen. Anyone seen otherwise?


----------



## Stu Brew

Mardoo said:


> They naturally grow clockwise, by what I've read, heard, and seen. Anyone seen otherwise?


Clockwise in the southern hemisphere, anticlockwise in the Northern Hemisphere


----------



## Mardoo

Actually all mine in Australia have always grown clockwise. I'd guess after enough generations here they might shift over.


----------



## BottloBill

Few different varieties pushing up in the last week or so.


----------



## Stu Brew

Mardoo said:


> Actually all mine in Australia have always grown clockwise. I'd guess after enough generations here they might shift over.


Same deal as flushing the toilet....if we had the same type here as the US they would go in opposite directions...beans do the exact same here. And the exact opposite in the Northern Hemisphere too....as in climb clockwise.


----------



## Stu Brew

Looks relatively anticlockwise to me in a green house up north of the equator. Meaning us south of the equator experience growth of the clockwise variety on most deciduous and annual climbing vines. There are always exceptions to the rule....thats how plants work. Certainly Hops do follow this trait of growth. 

https://youtu.be/2DaQSRQB_tw


----------



## Belgrave Brewer

Mardoo said:


> Actually all mine in Australia have always grown clockwise. I'd guess after enough generations here they might shift over.


Clockwise in both hemispheres.


----------



## Fylp

Checked mine this morning and then this afternoon. The chinook grew about 10cm today. I'm guessing they like the powerfeed I gave then on Sunday. The POR and Cascade seem to be getting fatter rather than shooting up.


----------



## Mardoo

Use the Powerfeed for flowers once the burrs start.


----------



## Stu Brew

Fylp said:


> Checked mine this morning and then this afternoon. The chinook grew about 10cm today. I'm guessing they like the powerfeed I gave then on Sunday. The POR and Cascade seem to be getting fatter rather than s00hooting up.


Bulls should probably be cut back early.....Unless you're going to 7m high! Re the way they grow.....I have never been to the northen hemisphere ...just going off what I have been told. Pretty easy to see the way they want to climb and not like im moving any time soon!! 

We will be planting in the the next couple of weeks. We have opened up a bunch of ground water doing the ripping and the poles. I knew it was close. I really should be planting here late not trying to do it early! Figuring dissolved oxygen is pretty much key to getting them going now. Although you northern guys have good soil warmth and daylight hours now. We get close to 16hrs here from sun up to sun down coming into Solstice. 

Is anyone in QLD planning on adding additional light at the end of the growth cycle? Would be as easy as running some warm white outdoor CFL's for a couple of hours after sun down coming into 'summer' solstice up there . Couple of ourdoor verandah lights would probably work.....No real worries about that here. Would be quantifiable is someone actually did it up north though which is two thumbs up from me!


----------



## Rocker1986

I often do sit out on the deck on summer nights with the lights on, which is conveniently near where the hops are being grown. There is some shade cloth stuff on the western end of the deck though which might block out some of the light. In any case, I'm not really bothered by it, I'm only growing them for a bit of fun and my own use so I don't really care if the yield isn't as good as it could be.

As for the way they grow, I think I'll just let them climb the lines however they like then by the sounds of things :lol:


----------



## Brownsworthy

Hey Kelsey,

Just wondering how much flavour and aroma you got from last years crop? 

A mate of mine seems to think that I won't get anything from my hops (super alpha / Dr Rudi) because I'm too far north and I'm in Newcastle.

Cheers


----------



## yum beer

Got my crowns dug of 2 weeks ago and split up into smaller rhizomes and put into puts to start off while I prepared a better designed hop area.
Sent back to hospital to have a few stents/grafts repaired and now I can't dig/lift/pull for at least 6 weeks, so early season will be in pots.
Cluster has popped its head out yesterday, earliest I have had signs of growth but the last 2 weeks have been mild nights and warmer days.
Getting them out of the cold wet ground probably hasn't hurt either.


----------



## Rocker1986

Brownsworthy said:


> Hey Kelsey,
> 
> Just wondering how much flavour and aroma you got from last years crop?
> 
> A mate of mine seems to think that I won't get anything from my hops (super alpha / Dr Rudi) because I'm too far north and I'm in Newcastle.
> 
> Cheers


Hey mate, flavour and aroma to me was pretty much the same as it was when I'd brewed similar recipes with bought pellets. It probably could have been better, but hopefully this year I get a bigger crop and can use more of them and less Magnum to get more hop flavour and aroma from them.


----------



## AJ80

After a few jealous pangs seeing hops sprouting for others I figured I probably should check out my own hop yard. Pleasantly surprised to see my first year Victoria (cheers dr Smurto!) and wild Otway hops have already sprouted as well as my second year goldings. Only cascade, mt hood and chinook (all second year) to go!


----------



## RelaxedBrewer

AJ80 said:


> wild Otway hops


That sound really interesting. Is this your first year with them?
Where did you find them?
Any idea of flavour/aroma?


----------



## AJ80

RelaxedBrewer said:


> That sound really interesting. Is this your first year with them?
> Where did you find them?
> Any idea of flavour/aroma?


Yep, first year so have no real idea what to expect. They are apparently an old English variety called Canterbury goldings which was farmed in the Otways in the 19th century. There's a few different spots according to this: http://baysidebrewers.blogspot.com.au/2012/02/in-search-of-wild-hops.html?m=1 and they are quite easy to find growing along the creeks around the town of Forrest.


----------



## mccoullough1

Hallertau 2nd year ready to do its thing


----------



## doctr-dan

No sign for me yet


----------



## bevan

doctr-dan said:


> No sign for me yet


Me either


----------



## Rocker1986

All my plants are going well now, and starting to climb up the lines. In the first pic is my second year Hallertau which is winning the race so far, the second pic is my second year Fuggle that has sprouted more than it did last year which is good, and the last pic is the first year Cascade. Only two bines on it so far, not sure if any more will pop up but at least something has.





Apologies if these pics appear sideways... they were rotated the right way up on the computer and posted properly on Facebook, so I don't know why the hell they turn out sideways here..


----------



## drsmurto

I've been writing posts and trying to attach pics for a week now and they always get rotated 90 degrees. Getting very sick of this app. I am not going to post sideways pics so end up discarding my post. Still missing PM notifications too.


----------



## Yob

app sux balls.. upload to gallery and link from there, much better quality..

my 3rd year DS Victoria is poking through which is sad.. I really wanted to give it some love in its hole this year...


----------



## drsmurto

Yob said:


> app sux balls.. upload to gallery and link from there, much better quality..
> 
> my 3rd year DS Victoria is poking through which is sad.. I really wanted to give it some love in its hole this year...


Can i get to the gallery on the app? I can't see it.

The world needs more pics of hop bines emerging from their slumber and reaching for the sun.

Edit - if only the app sucked balls.


----------



## Yob

DrSmurto said:


> Can i get to the gallery on the app? I can't see it.


fuk knows mate, I gave that shit away about 30 mins after I used it... mostly coz it didnt suk my ballz


----------



## mofox1

You boys been into the ris tonight? :blink:


----------



## Yob

mofox1 said:


> You boys been into the ris tonight? :blink:


I have no RIS available


----------



## mofox1

Dang. How is that even possible?


----------



## Mat B

AJ80 said:


> Yep, first year so have no real idea what to expect. They are apparently an old English variety called Canterbury goldings which was farmed in the Otways in the 19th century. There's a few different spots according to this: http://baysidebrewers.blogspot.com.au/2012/02/in-search-of-wild-hops.html?m=1 and they are quite easy to find growing along the creeks around the town of Forrest.


Any chance you might be able to give me some more details on where specifically around Forrest I can find some? I'm heading down next weekend and would LOVE to get my hands on a rhizome or two. I won't have a huge amount of time to forage, as I'm mountain biking with mates who will not have the patience (no doubt they'll have no issues drinking the beers though).


----------



## kaiserben

Yob said:


> I really wanted to give it some love in its hole this year...


No judgement here.


----------



## DigitalGiraffe

Here's one of my Saaz entering the world. I have Saaz poking out of 4 of my 5 mounds and my Cascades are juuuuuust breaking the surface. With all the wind we've had here over the past week they sure are thirsty!


----------



## kaiserben

Cascade. 9 out of 14 mounds have shoots. Only single shoots so far. Some up to 5cm long now. 





Tettnang. All 4 mounds have shoots. 2 have multiple shoots. The other 2 have single shoots.


----------



## Benn

No action when I checked the mounds this morning but came home this arvo to find the first year Zhomes have began to emerge.

Cascade





Yobs Columbus 



Still more to pop yet, looks like I'll be running some strings this weekend


----------



## Rocker1986

It's interesting to note the different climates and how they grow/begin to shoot depending on location. Can't really tell in the photos I posted but my two 2nd year plants are already about a metre out of the ground up the lines, and the first year Cascade is about half that tall at the moment. They began shooting up probably about a month ago now, except the Cascade which was later.


----------



## drsmurto

One of my Victoria plants firing up. Chinook still fast asleep.


----------



## A.B.

My Chinooks are also still sleeping here in Canberra.


----------



## kaiserben

Rocker1986 said:


> It's interesting to note the different climates and how they grow/begin to shoot depending on location.


Also need to factor in how long they've been in the ground of course. 

My first shoots appeared bang on 3 weeks after planting. And latest photos are 4 and a half weeks since planting.


----------



## Rocker1986

Yes good point too. My Cascade took about 5 or 6 weeks after planting for its first shoot to appear. It was planted early-mid July. The existing second year plants began shooting about mid-late July and have just kept going up since.


----------



## Benn

Nuff said.


----------



## kaiserben

I had a left over tettnang rhizome, so I bought a big pot and some potting mix. 1 week after I planted those 18 other rhizomes I planted the spare in the pot and put it on my apartment's (north-facing) balcony. 

2 shoots have appeared there.


----------



## CheekyPanda

In Gloucester, NSW and most of my varieties have popped there heads out. So far the Cascade and Victoria are the most active. Growth of probably close to 1m in several of the Victoria.

Saaz, Perle, Tettnanger, US Goldings, Hallertau, Columbus and Chinook have all put out a shoot.

No activity yet from EKG and Centennial.


----------



## malt junkie

Yob said:


> I have no RIS available


Have RIS, will send, stay calm.

ED: avoid hair amber fluids with horns, this will only increase with-drawl side effects.


----------



## Mardoo

Well, I finally have some show! My 2nd year Willamette has gone positively apeshit, with 40+ shoots that have broken the surface in the last week (most only just). Looks like that year of doing SFA last year did it some good.


And finally my new Victoria has broken ground! After leaving it in the fridge for longer than I wanted to, it's been a slow starter. After watching for a few years now, I'm pretty confident that the longer you leave a rhizome in the fridge, the slower it starts. I've tried it a few times now, leaving some in the fridge longer and some shorter, and I'm anecdotally confident that this is the case. I'd guess it uses up its reserves more quickly out of soil than in.


----------



## Belgrave Brewer

2nd year growth, starting to see the beginnings of leaves. Victoria and Cascade in the lead, with Chinook trailing. No action from the Centennial yet, but they are rhizomes and only planted last week.


----------



## LiquidGold

I got 150ml of rain over a few hours last night. Should give the hops a good start.


----------



## abyss

I'm hoppy, I saw this at 7am this morning.


Now at 3pm Cascade

I planted the root ******* thing in the middle of the pot about two and a half weeks ago and as you can see it has sprouted at the edge, so they must be on a mission to grow.
My Saaz and Dr Ruddi also raised their first shoots today and they were planted a few days after the Cascade.
I don't even know which hops I like yet, it's gunna be fun experimenting but.


----------



## doctr-dan

This little fella poked its head out this morning


----------



## SCR29

I've got a couple of POR that are budding but no more in Brisbane


----------



## A.B.

Chinooks are up in Canberra this morning !


----------



## abyss

The full moon next Saturday should make them spring up.


----------



## Exile

Second year Cascade has started


----------



## MitchD

Second year Tettnang is also coming up in Canberra, this is just 2 of 5 clusters of shoots coming up. Last year it was one small rhizome how things change. 

Chinook, Super alpha, Cascade and Golding are all holding out.


----------



## wide eyed and legless

abyss said:


> The full moon next Saturday should make them spring up.


If you hear it growing around the kitchen door you'd better not let it in.


----------



## spog

Exile said:


> Second year Cascade has started


Frame that pic and hang it on the brew room wall,nice crisp and clear pic !


----------



## Weizguy

A.B. said:


> My Chinooks are also still sleeping here in Canberra.


I checked this arvo, after mowing the front yard (small acreage) and started weeding the hop plots (1.2 m squares), and both the Cascade and Chinook are out of the ground.

Q: Problem, the Cascade looks like parts of the rhizome are mushy. Do I dig it out and replant a bit higher after more backfill, before it gets too big.

Only weeded the two so far, but still have the Mt Hood, Hallertau, Perle and Hersbrucker to check after weed removal.


----------



## Stu Brew

Here ya go DrSmurto.

Styrian Golding are going...still need to move them though. Still raining and they were a foot under water last Thursday after that 36mm in 90 mins we got here.

Columbus crown that was potted up and enjoying itself. Columbus down the back are getting ready to kick my arse!!

Target are moving I have them in the hothouse at the moment in coir if its good enough to raise veggie seedling its good enough for the hops. Will check on them tomorrow.


----------



## Stu Brew

Les the Weizguy said:


> I checked this arvo, after mowing the front yard (small acreage) and started weeding the hop plots (1.2 m squares), and both the Cascade and Chinook are out of the ground.
> 
> Q: Problem, the Cascade looks like parts of the rhizome are mushy. Do I dig it out and replant a bit higher after more backfill, before it gets too big.
> 
> Only weeded the two so far, but still have the Mt Hood, Hallertau, Perle and Hersbrucker to check after weed removal.


If its only a part Id be inclined to cut it off and throw it away!! You dont want it spreading to the healthy portions. Make sure you used a clean and sterile knife. Make sure the bed is draining well too! maybe just add some more airy stuff like perlite to the soil roots going mushy is probably lack of oxygen getting to the roots, so your water must be pooling a bit? Even just cut it off and throw some sand or something on top something that drains well.


----------



## malt and barley blues

wide eyed and legless said:


> If you hear it growing around the kitchen door you'd better not let it in.


Would that be the Zevon Hop WEAL?


----------



## Mardoo

Yep, but they're hard to grow. They'll only grow where the 'air is perfect.


----------



## Stu Brew

Bulls on parade....still need moving these crazy critters!


----------



## Hopsta

considering buying some rhizomes tonight off ebay. is it too late to plant or go for it you reckon?


----------



## Benn

Go for it dude!
What's the worst that can happen?


----------



## Hopsta

sold... 3 x cascade rhizomes on the way.


----------



## Rocker1986

Yep.. I didn't plant my rhizomes last year until nearly November and they did fine. You shouldn't have any problems at all.


----------



## Benn

Faark we've had some rain lately, the mulch is about to float away from my Chinook.
Where's the sunshine ffs.


----------



## doctr-dan

Both my Mt hood and chinook are poking through now!
Mostly coming up around the edge of the pots.

When it comes yo putting up some wires is it as simple as one wire per vine or is that over kill?


----------



## Devhay

Whelp.. I've been trying to figure out what to do with the odd 20 sqm of dead space behind my house that just has weeds growing, then I found this thread.. Cascade rhizome purchased off ebay this morning , will turn the soil over this arvo and fill it with some of my already prepped soil and perlite mix that I've got left over from this years chili plantation


----------



## kaiserben

doctr-dan said:


> Mostly coming up around the edge of the pots.


Me too (the one I put in a pot on my balcony). Why is that? Something to do with the heat retained in the walls of the pot?


----------



## Stu Brew

I have a creek running across my hops yard.....fark this rain!!!


----------



## welly2

My hop rhizome is doing nothing. Well, that's not entirely true - I did replant it from a pot to the garden and saw some big arsed roots that weren't there before but nothing sprouting out of the top


----------



## Rocker1986

It should start sprouting soon.. patience.

As for everyone getting all that rain, you're welcome to send some of it up my way if you like, save me using the bloody sprinkler for a while :lol:


----------



## H0U5ECAT

Mine have a few little sprouts poking up now.
After last years debacle, can anyone recommend a good fertiliser?
I've replanted my Rizo from last year to a better pot and a better location but the rizo needs to be fed.


----------



## wide eyed and legless

Charlie Carp.


----------



## Weizguy

Stu Brew said:


> If its only a part Id be inclined to cut it off and throw it away!! You dont want it spreading to the healthy portions. Make sure you used a clean and sterile knife. Make sure the bed is draining well too! maybe just add some more airy stuff like perlite to the soil roots going mushy is probably lack of oxygen getting to the roots, so your water must be pooling a bit? Even just cut it off and throw some sand or something on top something that drains well.


You definitely didn't see my flood photos, but it's not been high for months.
The soil is quite well-drained, but I feel the need to dig the rhizome out and inspect it. Maybe it's a bit low with respect to the water table, and the rhizome was small when I got it 3 years ago.
I'll probably split the rhizome and replant in a few plots.
It's my only Cascade, and I heard about great yields but got nothing yet.


----------



## Danscraftbeer

Here in Southern Vic I can only report on my freak. My Aquaponic Cascade, stump?
50 cent coin at base for reference. B)
Most shoots above ground/(20mm gravel) and exposed all through winter. Its seems to be slowly waking up.

All my other Hops in dirt are under sugar cane mulch and still sleeping in. Late risers but they pay out well later in season.





Its going to be interesting wrangling this through the next season.


----------



## A.B.

Nice setup Dan, what sort of fishies?


----------



## ScottyDoesntKnow

Bought 3 chinook rhizomes off eBay, they seemed kinda small but planted them 2 weeks ago. Absolutely zero soil preparation, watered them a couple of times for a few days then flew out for work for 8 days. We've had a little bit of rain but nothing much. Got home from work this afternoon to find this. Pretty stoked for my first go, hopefully the other 2 wake up soon!


----------



## Danscraftbeer

A.B. said:


> Nice setup Dan, what sort of fishies?


Mostly Silver Perch and some Tanadanus catfish. Both top eating quality. I can vouch for the silvers good eating so far.


----------



## Stu Brew

Ignoring the 6 stitches in my hand and laid some cable today!

3rd time is so much easier. I know what im doing, how im doing it and the easiest most efficient way to do it! 

Im building the main trellis on the ground then we're going to lift it in one piece as we put the central wire in to help hold everything up nice and high! Then I can tension it all from the ground. 

This is probably the hardest bit of hops farming to be completely honest....building stupid high trellises its certainly not for those afraid of heights, or anyone with bad balance. Standing on top of a ladder with 2 points of contact holding cable in one hand and an impact driver in the other....but really its just got to be done and if I dont do it, it'll cost me $3000 for someone else to do it for me!! Separating the men from the boys......just a bit of cable!


----------



## AJ80

Cascade has just poked it's head up. Mt Hood and Chinook still sleeping...


----------



## Camo6

Stu Brew said:


> Ignoring the 6 stitches in my hand and laid some cable today!
> 
> 3rd time is so much easier. I know what im doing, how im doing it and the easiest most efficient way to do it!
> 
> Im building the main trellis on the ground then we're going to lift it in one piece as we put the central wire in to help hold everything up nice and high! Then I can tension it all from the ground.
> 
> This is probably the hardest bit of hops farming to be completely honest....building stupid high trellises its certainly not for those afraid of heights, or anyone with bad balance. Standing on top of a ladder with 2 points of contact holding cable in one hand and an impact driver in the other....but really its just got to be done and if I dont do it, it'll cost me $3000 for someone else to do it for me!! Separating the men from the boys......just a bit of cable!


Cut yourself on a corny keg Stu?


----------



## spog

Stu Brew said:


> Ignoring the 6 stitches in my hand and laid some cable today!
> 3rd time is so much easier. I know what im doing, how im doing it and the easiest most efficient way to do it!
> Im building the main trellis on the ground then we're going to lift it in one piece as we put the central wire in to help hold everything up nice and high! Then I can tension it all from the ground.
> This is probably the hardest bit of hops farming to be completely honest....building stupid high trellises its certainly not for those afraid of heights, or anyone with bad balance. Standing on top of a ladder with 2 points of contact holding cable in one hand and an impact driver in the other....but really its just got to be done and if I dont do it, it'll cost me $3000 for someone else to do it for me!! Separating the men from the boys......just a bit of cable!


Stu Brew, how'd you fair with all the rain etc the other day ?, I can't see a river running through in the pics.


----------



## Pogierob

Cascade, Columbus,Chinook,Victoria and saaz. All just popping their heads out for some sun


----------



## AJ80

AJ80 said:


> Cascade has just poked it's head up. Mt Hood and Chinook still sleeping...


Mt hood up today. Victoria is already the best part of a foot up its string.


----------



## Stu Brew

spog said:


> Stu Brew, how'd you fair with all the rain etc the other day ?, I can't see a river running through in the pics.


Oh there was river....Thing is I havnt planted yet  cause who would want to be that guy....they'd all be out at sea by now!! Things are doing well in pots at the moment....the crowns in the ground are just about to shoot. TBH im actually happy about this rain...since I have stitches in one hand im protecting im going pretty slow atm. The crowns are happy af about the rain and 'minor flooding' according to the BOM. Will update Target tomorrow...dont want to upset anyone!


----------



## Futur

Just thought I'd contribute to this thread. These are my first year plants (cascade and Hersbrucker) in a wicking bed here in Brisbane.


----------



## Nullnvoid

Finally my cascade has popped up through. First time growing and whilst not as nervous as a parent, certainly up there 

Now I best hurry to move the barrel and attach the strings. 

How do people attach them into the ground? Tent pegs? Swords? Bury a small child at the bottom?


----------



## drsmurto

Futur said:


> Just thought I'd contribute to this thread. These are my first year plants (cascade and Hersbrucker) in a wicking bed here in Brisbane.


Have you tried to grow anything that deep rooted in a wicking bed before?

Love my wicking beds for herbs and vegies but they are reasonably shallow rooted plants. Hops have a monster tap root and a habit of spreading so will take over your wicking bed completely.


----------



## Futur

DrSmurto said:


> Have you tried to grow anything that deep rooted in a wicking bed before?
> Love my wicking beds for herbs and vegies but they are reasonably shallow rooted plants. Hops have a monster tap root and a habit of spreading so will take over your wicking bed completely.


No I haven't, this is my first time using the wicking bed and first year growing hops. It has a soil depth of about 40cm and it's dedicated just to the two hop plants. So it doesn't really matter if it takes it over completely. If they don't work this season I'll transfer the rhizomes out of the bed into solid ground I guess. 

Drsmurto have you had success growing in a wicking bed before?


----------



## Stu Brew

Camo6 said:


> Cut yourself on a corny keg Stu?


Really badly..... 6 stitches in the palm of my hand going to have a nice scar too..... ******* lost a ton of work.....worst time of year


----------



## Stu Brew

DrSmurto said:


> Have you tried to grow anything that deep rooted in a wicking bed before?
> 
> Love my wicking beds for herbs and vegies but they are reasonably shallow rooted plants. Hops have a monster tap root and a habit of spreading so will take over your wicking bed completely.


Hops is WAY more prolific than an annual vegetable or fruit......containers dont really work....unless said container is 10x10m3


----------



## AJ80

Nullnvoid said:


> Finally my cascade has popped up through. First time growing and whilst not as nervous as a parent, certainly up there
> 
> Now I best hurry to move the barrel and attach the strings.
> 
> How do people attach them into the ground? Tent pegs? Swords? Bury a small child at the bottom?
> 
> ImageUploadedByAussie Home Brewer1474170334.885058.jpg ImageUploadedByAussie Home Brewer1474170368.144551.jpg


Nice one mate. Enjoy watching them grow. I use hardwood timber stakes knocked about a foot into the ground - drilled holes in the stakes and then run my strings up to the roof. Worked well last summer and have done it again this year. 

As an aside, I'd recommend getting some pea straw mulch onto those hops. Will really help come summer for water retention.


----------



## AJ80

Edit: double post.


----------



## Stu Brew

Sorry im bad at forums. Went down to check the flooding hasnt caused to many problems.....geezus

Still a bit to do on the rigging as well, getting there slowly slowly.....probably a bit to slow at this rate....


----------



## Nullnvoid

AJ80 said:


> Nice one mate. Enjoy watching them grow. I use hardwood timber stakes knocked about a foot into the ground - drilled holes in the stakes and then run my strings up to the roof. Worked well last summer and have done it again this year.
> 
> As an aside, I'd recommend getting some pea straw mulch onto those hops. Will really help come summer for water retention.


Great, thanks for the advice. I have stakes and a drill so that might be the go. 

Yeah was going to mulch was just waiting for them to poke through as I wanted to make sure I saw them. Like a proud parent.


----------



## Stu Brew

Nullnvoid said:


> Great, thanks for the advice. I have stakes and a drill so that might be the go.
> 
> Yeah was going to mulch was just waiting for them to poke through as I wanted to make sure I saw them. Like a proud parent.


We used 2m Bamboo stakes last year. Worked a treat and we harvested them from our own property! I just tied the coir twine on our top lines and they acted as our anchors. Hook eyes on the roof or under the eves should work on a roof and some short stakes should work. Its all about the twine. I have 5kms of the stuff...can probably help out with that if anyone needs it, exact same stuff we used last year!!


----------



## Benn

This 1st year Tassie Cascade is leading the race at my place, last night I set the strings up and just moved the bine over so it was hanging on by half a turn. It's been busy!


----------



## AJ80

Nullnvoid said:


> Great, thanks for the advice. I have stakes and a drill so that might be the go.
> 
> Yeah was going to mulch was just waiting for them to poke through as I wanted to make sure I saw them. Like a proud parent.


A pleasure. I'm amazed at the difference between first year and what's already shooting through on my second year plants. It's an excellent extension of the hobby.


----------



## drsmurto

Futur said:


> No I haven't, this is my first time using the wicking bed and first year growing hops. It has a soil depth of about 40cm and it's dedicated just to the two hop plants. So it doesn't really matter if it takes it over completely. If they don't work this season I'll transfer the rhizomes out of the bed into solid ground I guess.
> 
> Drsmurto have you had success growing in a wicking bed before?


Never tried growing hops in a wicking bed, my hops have been in the ground for 9 years. 

Edit - They need space to buildup the extensive root system. 40cm of soil is not a lot for such hungry plants.

My wicking beds are brilliant. Currently have 12 made from wooden onion crates and am setting another 4 up. Can survive 4 weeks without adding water in the height of summer.


----------



## Danscraftbeer

Futer. I have wicking beds made out of cut down IBC tanks 1200mm X 1000mm and 40cm deep. Cascade thirds season this time around. The first season was very impressive and same yield for the second season. They must be big crowns under ground now they have pocked up some distances from the original planting spot. The roots do go all through the beds but I do manage to grow vegies in there too but they would be better without competing with the hops.


----------



## Futur

Danscraftbeer said:


> Futer. I have wicking beds made out of cut down IBC tanks 1200mm X 1000mm and 40cm deep. Cascade thirds season this time around. The first season was very impressive and same yield for the second season. They must be big crowns under ground now they have pocked up some distances from the original planting spot. The roots do go all through the beds but I do manage to grow vegies in there too but they would be better without competing with the hops.


That's real nice to know Dan! Fingers crossed mine work out just the same 



DrSmurto said:


> Never tried growing hops in a wicking bed, my hops have been in the ground for 9 years.
> 
> Edit - They need space to buildup the extensive root system. 40cm of soil is not a lot for such hungry plants.
> 
> My wicking beds are brilliant. Currently have 12 made from wooden onion crates and am setting another 4 up. Can survive 4 weeks without adding water in the height of summer.


I have the ability to grow them in the ground, but being the lazy ass I am and knowing hops need lots of water I thought the wicking bed route would be safe!

Can I dig them up at the end of the season and take a rhizome from each and plant it elsewhere? If so I'll most likely do a comparison between them being planted in the wicking bed and straight in the ground.


----------



## Hopsta

Possibly the most boring photo ive ever posted but im excited anyway. 3 x Cascade rhizomes planted ready to climb up the deck. Better late than never!


----------



## Belgrave Brewer

Hopsta said:


> Possibly the most boring photo ive ever posted but im excited anyway. 3 x Cascade rhizomes planted ready to climb up the deck. Better late than never!


They might cook in those little black pots in the heat of summer.


----------



## Hopsta

Should be right, I've grown them like this before without any problems. Will make sure I keep them well watered on those hot days.


----------



## LiquidGold

You might need a machete to walk up the stairs if they really take off :lol:


----------



## ScottyDoesntKnow

Is that green garden tie(thin gauge wire coated in plastic) strong enough for a trellis? Only want the bines to grow on a 45 degree angle from a star picket in the ground to the height of my fence which is 2m.


----------



## spog

I wouldn't risk it the bines will have a fair amount of weight when grown and they'll catch a fair amount of wind.
Use rope as the bines will get a good hold on rope.


----------



## DigitalGiraffe

My Saaz and Cascade are finally showing some form of life.


----------



## Mardoo

Man, I'd imagine they'll go off. They love the long sunlight down there.


----------



## Rocker1986

Mine are all climbing well, the 2nd year Fuggle plant is very bushy, heaps of shoots coming up from it. The 2nd year Hallertau is growing rather interestingly though, there is one bine that has almost made it to the top of that ~3m trellis, another one beside it that would have been not far behind it if not for some arsehole critter chopping the end off it. The other 3 or 4 shoots that came up though have kind of stalled at about 20-30cm out of the ground. What's the reason for this?


----------



## Brett05

1st year hops have sprouted (3 of 4), (x3) from Hopco in Tassie & (x1) from Diggers Club in Victoria...Starting in pots as have limited space,they have just sprouted but this cool SA weather hasn't helped either...Fuggles,Cascade(US) & Pride of Ringwood.
Still got Golding's to go,will upload pics later...All planted in aged chook poo,cow poo and potting mix and a watering of Seasol for good measure....and now we wait..


----------



## A.B.

so much rain here in CBR, my (DrSmurto) chinooks are almost under water, yet I swear the growth doubled today, cant wait for some warmer weather...


----------



## bevan

Has anyone's chinooks in Victoria poked its head out yet?


----------



## ScottyDoesntKnow

Spent a bit of time building a ghetto trellis along the back fence today, mostly out of stuff I had lying around in the garage. Cut up a few bits of treated pine, ropes pulled back to star pickets in the ground next to the plants.



One of my 3 chinooks, they have all sprouted similar and noticed there are a few more poking their heads through.


----------



## Benn

bevan said:


> Has anyone's chinooks in Victoria poked its head out yet?


My second year Chinnok is slowwwwly poking it's head out but I think it would prefer a sleep in. All the rain we've had has left it with wet feet I'm afraid.


----------



## razzmeister

bevan said:


> Has anyone's chinooks in Victoria poked its head out yet?


My Chinooks are pretty similar - just starting to shoot up from the soil. Couple of them maybe one or two inches so far.
Guess they are maybe just one of the slower varieties to get going?


----------



## Belgrave Brewer

bevan said:


> Has anyone's chinooks in Victoria poked its head out yet?


Just starting to come out this week. Chinook are late starters.


----------



## Stu Brew

Rain aint bad for hops boys.....they just dont like being left in stagnant water. Mine literally grow in a creek all winter. Creek = flowing water, flowing water = dissolved oxygen. Just like all plants roots do not like to be drowned in warm oxygen depleted water. Cold rain, and flowing water in winter shouldnt be any problem for anyones hops! If anything they should actually enjoy it...the higher above the 35th the more you will need to worry about things like 'wet feet' because its the warm rain that will cause you problems not the cold winter rains! Hope that helps a few people.


----------



## Stu Brew

Belgrave Brewer said:


> Just starting to come out this week. Chinook are late starters.


Still got them in my fridge. Ive got shoots on everything you sent me. Halletau, Red Earth and Perle so cheers. Im starting to think the ssp of the hops is what will mean they start early or late. I would assume that the varieties will all perform a bit differently. 

So a var. cordifolius from Eastern Asian origins will be a pretty different type of rhizome than for example a var. neomexicanus from western North America. Im hoping to get my hands onto the Washington State open source microsattelie data of hops rhizome genetics. We will be sending them off to get checked on as soon as we have a database for comparison. See where all the Aussie hops have actually come from in the first place. Im pretty interested in finding out!


----------



## Danscraftbeer

bevan said:


> Has anyone's chinooks in Victoria poked its head out yet?


My Chinooks are the only ones that haven't popped up yet. 2nd season. They were the first to pop up last year.


----------



## Stu Brew

Danscraftbeer said:


> My Chinooks are the only ones that haven't popped up yet. 2nd season. They were the first to pop up last year.


Our soil temps going up and down like a yoyo atm. Lots that came up two weeks ago has stopped moving now. There is a specific soil temp there once hit they will start to move really fast. Ive been experimenting again this year. Everything in the hothouse is very happy...everything outside is ok but the big swings in temp from warm to cold are playing with them a bit. We had good sun for a bit then it dropped off....this late frost stuff will stop them growing. They will perk up as soon as the soil warms up again though.


----------



## bevan

Thanks for the info, nothing happening with my chinook. It looked pretty sad when I re potted it (pot was broken) in june. Got it for free off AHB. Was hoping it would spring back to life with a good water, see how it goes over the next month I guess.


----------



## Stu Brew

bevan said:


> Thanks for the info, nothing happening with my chinook. It looked pretty sad when I re potted it (pot was broken) in june. Got it for free off AHB. Was hoping it would spring back to life with a good water, see how it goes over the next month I guess.


No worries. Smurto should back me up on this. Dissolved oxygen starts to drop off in water at 16° somewhere between 12-16 is perfect for most plants.....Its all a balancing act though. Soil pH, Sunlight hours, Water ppm, These are the usual things we look at for plants. I have run and experiment for close to a year now with hollow water, as in soft as shite. 10-40ppm no nutrients and lots of dissolved oxygen. This system has kept a chillie plant alive over winter, when the chillies in the soil have all rotted out in the middle due to the soil temp getting too low! 

Dissolved oxygen is the friend of the hops farmer....probably more so than daylight, pH, soil etc.....im am convinced on this...and yes i will have to experiment more, and do it all properly. However in this first year i am very happy with the results from my original hypothesis to do with growing hops in literally just water and no nutrients. :super:


----------



## AJ80

bevan said:


> Has anyone's chinooks in Victoria poked its head out yet?


To join the chorus, my chinook was last up last year and same again this year. It's interesting to note the different growth rates in my hops. Victoria, goldings and Canterbury goldings are are growing like the clappers while Mt Hood (my best producer last year) and cascade are only just breaking the surface with two bines each. Fascinating plant.


----------



## fdsaasdf

First time grower with a Victoria plant in Brisbane that I'm led to believe is 2 years old. Currently potted in a 0.75m^3 vessel; transferred into that vessel and harvested 6 rhizomes off it about a month ago.

My plant has about 25 shoots, most are about an inch or so long and about 5 are around 4 inches long. Plenty of sunlight, excellent drainage and daily watering. Growth has occurred over the last 2-3 weeks - not really moving yet.

None of the harvested rhizomes have shot yet but I'm not expecting much of them - any growth will be a bonus so I can give plants away to friends in future.

I have read conflicting advice on how to manage the growth. At what stage should I trim the shoots back? How many bines should I be aiming for?


----------



## Rocker1986

I don't know if it's best practice or not, but I just leave mine to do whatever the **** they want...


----------



## Pogierob

bevan said:


> Has anyone's chinooks in Victoria poked its head out yet?


----------



## Rocker1986

This Hallertau bine is almost at the top already, while the other ones near the ground are growing very slowly. Weird.


----------



## Stu Brew

Rocker1986 said:


> I don't know if it's best practice or not, but I just leave mine to do whatever the **** they want...


Yep id say let them go. The main reason they chop back in commercial situations is for picking. Certain machines can take certain sizes, lots of growers dont like fiddling with their machines between crops so they'll try and grow to a size the machine can easily handle. When you have a ton of space you can do things like that. In a backyard....just let them go nuts! More leaves mean more photosynthsis which means more flower bracts which means more flowers!!


----------



## Stu Brew

So these are the Styrian Golding that i unknowingly planted on a spring that opens up in winter...as well as being in the off flow for the bloody creek......doesnt seem to have effected things much....as I said dissoveld oxygen is you friend....you can see how we the soil is...its think but not clay. I imagine its similar to the hunter in nutrients like all our best australian soil is...low in nitrogen but decent in everything else!! 

So this is the best example i have found of how a hops 'rhizome' works....shoots one side go up to the sky, shoots the other go down until they find a good source of non stagnant water(which is what wicking beds do rely on stagnant water with dissolved oxygen) so they can start to plump up the crown! If your crowns are getting thicker each year you're doing the right things!! Ground runners are great for propagating but unless they get to 22 nodes they wont ever produce good flowers! 30+ is optimal and that requires height!


----------



## AJ80

Stu Brew said:


> So these are the Styrian Golding that i unknowingly planted on a spring that opens up in winter...as well as being in the off flow for the bloody creek......doesnt seem to have effected things much....as I said dissoveld oxygen is you friend....you can see how we the soil is...its think but not clay. I imagine its similar to the hunter in nutrients like all our best australian soil is...low in nitrogen but decent in everything else!!
> 
> So this is the best example i have found of how a hops 'rhizome' works....shoots one side go up to the sky, shoots the other go down until they find a good source of non stagnant water(which is what wicking beds do rely on stagnant water with dissolved oxygen) so they can start to plump up the crown! If your crowns are getting thicker each year you're doing the right things!! Ground runners are great for propagating but unless they get to 22 nodes they wont ever produce good flowers! 30+ is optimal and that requires height!


As an aside, have you had a chance to brew with your own styrian goldings? Many similarities to those shipped over from Europe? One of my all time favourite hops!


----------



## fdsaasdf

Stu Brew said:


> Yep id say let them go. The main reason they chop back in commercial situations is for picking. Certain machines can take certain sizes, lots of growers dont like fiddling with their machines between crops so they'll try and grow to a size the machine can easily handle. When you have a ton of space you can do things like that. In a backyard....just let them go nuts! More leaves mean more photosynthsis which means more flower bracts which means more flowers!!


Ok thanks for the advice. NFI what I would do with a few dozen bines other than cover my house and the place next door! Looks like I'm up for a substantial trellis instead of a string line or two...


----------



## doctr-dan

Mt Hood and Chinook coming along now, it's about time I figure out how I'm going to run some wires!

Should I move the pots a bit further apart so they don't grow into each other?


----------



## wide eyed and legless

For those who are finding that their hops are not appearing to quickly, a little tip, cover with black plastic to heat the soil up.


----------



## N3MIS15

First year Columbus rhizome finally doing its thing.


----------



## twinathon

First of the Hallertau just starting to shoot. Waiting on a few more Hallertau to come up along with a couple of Goldings.


----------



## Stu Brew

fdsaasdf said:


> Ok thanks for the advice. NFI what I would do with a few dozen bines other than cover my house and the place next door! Looks like I'm up for a substantial trellis instead of a string line or two...


So get a few other pots with like little stakes in them....trail out the other wanna be leaders....into said pots cover bine in soil with a foot sticking out chop it off at the top...next year you'll have rhizomes to sell....or you could let them take over the neighbours place too...that would be kinda amusing from an urban standpoint maybe they know some awesome brewer?? Everyone loves hops dont they?


----------



## Rocker1986

doctr-dan said:


> Mt Hood and Chinook coming along now, it's about time I figure out how I'm going to run some wires!
> 
> Should I move the pots a bit further apart so they don't grow into each other?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> image.jpg


I would move them further apart yeah. Last year when I only had my two potted ones I had them about 4 or 5 metres apart from one another so they didn't get tangled up with each other. Once they really get going they start throwing out lateral shoots and shit.


----------



## barls

doctr-dan said:


> Mt Hood and Chinook coming along now, it's about time I figure out how I'm going to run some wires!
> 
> Should I move the pots a bit further apart so they don't grow into each other?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> image.jpg


just drill holes in the pot to run the strings through.
thats what i did for the first year.

2 of mine have just poked their heads up still waiting on chinook.


----------



## Benn

This little Cascade makes 9 out of 9 to pop this season. Good times


----------



## kaiserben

Stu Brew said:


> So get a few other pots with like little stakes in them....trail out the other wanna be leaders....into said pots cover bine in soil with a foot sticking out chop it off at the top...


Could you dumb this down for me so I'm 100% certain I understand what you're suggesting? 

When you have a spare leader you don't cut it off, you lay it down on the ground and basically bury it at some point, but keep a foot at the end above the dirt. Is that right? 

And then a new rhizome will form where you buried it?


----------



## wide eyed and legless

Correct, if you aren't sure just google layering for plants.


----------



## kaiserben

I'm assuming this is just some sort of spider and not a pest I need to get rid of?? 

(spider is light green and small, about the size of a 5 cent piece)


----------



## wide eyed and legless

Yes spiders are good, the reason I don't sulphur bomb my greenhouse's is as well as getting rid of the black hats the white hats suffer collateral damage.


----------



## HopAssault

This little fella just popped his head out of the dirt today. My first time growing so I'm stoked it's off to a flying start. 
It was planted last Monday, these little suckers take odd quickly. You could almost sit and watch it grow.. 

I was fertilising the lawns today with some dynamic lifter and threw a handful of it into the pot where the hops are living, I read (afterwards) it may throw the pH of the soil out of whack? Can anyone confirm that? Cheers!


----------



## wide eyed and legless

Its a slow release fertiliser so you won't get any change in pH unless you go and tip a load into the pot.


----------



## Stu Brew

Target.....no not the shop with the slave labor crap.......

Wife makes worm tea so i gave them some of that.....then some of the nutriboost as well...still in the hot house, which is not dropping below 10° at night....damn....wifes worm tea is damn good!!


----------



## ScottyDoesntKnow

So what's the best time to take some cuttings and layer to try and produce additional plants? Cheers


----------



## LiquidGold

I would think anytime in the growing season with Spring being optimal. So pretty much now if you already have the growth to do it. With layering you don't cut until there are roots established.


----------



## ScottyDoesntKnow

Sorry, just read the post further up the page about layering properly. I was more thinking of when to cut sections of bines and bury them in the same spot to try and grow another plant. Layering actually sounds like a better plan.


----------



## Bruer

So I've got some second year POR and Cascade. What's the go with pruning back the first shoots etc? Can I dip these in root powder and try to strike them?


----------



## tugger

So after an embarrassing false start we have some action on both plants.


----------



## barls

it won't take long. I've got shoots up with leaves on all my plants. the tallest is at 5 inches. i need to get my strings up tomorrow.


----------



## Danscraftbeer

I'm tying a string a day at the moment. 
I hope to make a nice shade canopy of hops over my tiny backyard. Eco Cooling for the back of my house with the brewing bonus.


----------



## Benn

Those Zhomes you gave me are off to a good start DansCB, combined with my other plant I got off Belgrave Brewer last year, I should have a little wall of 'Victoria' happening in the back yard.


----------



## spog

In the latest issue of Practicle Hydroponics.com.au is an article on hydroponic hop growing.


----------



## Mardoo

Danscraftbeer said:


> I hope to make a nice shade canopy of hops over my tiny backyard. Eco Cooling for the back of my house with the brewing bonus.


Just the best shade plant ever for the side of a house. Fast growing. Make hops. Die off in Autumn. Dropped the temp in our sun-facing rooms by about 5C.


----------



## Rocker1986

Mine are all going nicely and the weather is beginning to warm up properly now too so hopefully that means some more growth occurring.

First year Cascade is slower than the others as expected, but is heading in the right direction.

Hallertau in the second photo has the one bine all the way to the top while the rest of it isn't doing much. The short bine to the left of it had its end chewed off by something recently and has just begun to re-shoot up from that point.

And the Fuggle plant in the pot is going nuts as well. Rather a contrast to last season where it was nothing like this, being a first year then as well.


----------



## menoetes

Damn Rocker, you have me worried now. I planted mine in August and haven't seen any activity yet. Watered and fertilized regular with Seasol but probably not getting as much sun as they would like (given a vicious tree branch blocking their sun in the afternoon). Maybe my brown thumb is thrashing my eternal optimism in my gardening skill once again... I just want them to grow


----------



## Mardoo

Seasol is great, but it isn't actually a fertiliser. It's a soil conditioner, and helps the plants utilise nutrients in the soil. The Seasol company does make fertilisers, but they're labelled as such. Get yourself some dynamic lifter pellets for fertiliser. Make sure your hops are never in standing water. Hops love water, but hate wet feet.


----------



## hidara

First attempt at Hydro Hops


----------



## Rocker1986

menoetes said:


> Damn Rocker, you have me worried now. I planted mine in August and haven't seen any activity yet. Watered and fertilized regular with Seasol but probably not getting as much sun as they would like (given a vicious tree branch blocking their sun in the afternoon). Maybe my brown thumb is thrashing my eternal optimism in my gardening skill once again... I just want them to grow


That's a shame mate! I think my Cascade one was planted in August too, or maybe late July, can't exactly remember but somewhere around there. The other two are 2nd year plants. How far below the surface did you put the rhizome(s)? I planted mine about an inch below. Just in potting mix mostly, along with a bit of chook poo and some Osmocote herb fertiliser once they shot up a bit. The two big plots get sun most of the day, but the potted one gets shaded in the mid/late arvo from trees in the neighbours' yards. Hasn't appeared to slow it down though.


----------



## kaiserben

Anything to worry about with those leaves? I didn't notice any insects. 24 hours earlier the leaves were green and intact. 

(I'll just point out that the only time they get wet/watered is at sunset)


----------



## Belgrave Brewer

kaiserben said:


> 14536822_10154604184272959_1893320995_o.jpg
> 
> Anything to worry about with those leaves? I didn't notice any insects. 24 hours earlier the leaves were green and intact.
> 
> (I'll just point out that the only time they get wet/watered is at sunset)


Don't water them at sunset...you're allowing moisture to be around overnight and that's not good. Try and water in the mornings so they have a good chance of being dry overnight.


----------



## RelaxedBrewer

hidara said:


> First attempt at Hydro Hops


Any more detail on the setup. I have been thinking about setting something like this up.


----------



## drsmurto

Mardoo said:


> Seasol is great, but it isn't actually a fertiliser. It's a soil conditioner, and helps the plants utilise nutrients in the soil. The Seasol company does make fertilisers, but they're labelled as such. Get yourself some dynamic lifter pellets for fertiliser. Make sure your hops are never in standing water. *Hops love water, but hate wet feet.*


My hop plantation (vegie patch, chook run and half the backyard) was underwater on the weekend due to the flooding. The Victoria seems to be fine, the Chinook emerged from the ground looking a little grumpy to be woken up with cold water. Time will tell how they deal with this but they have been copping it for the past week, it's been a swamp and is only now drying out.

In addition to cleaning up after the flood, I need to set up some string for the hops, Victoria is now about 30cm and reaching for the sky. All the fertiliser (horse manure and dynamic lifter) has been washed away along with the topsoil so will need to return some nutrients to the garden.


----------



## Belgrave Brewer

DrSmurto said:


> My hop plantation (vegie patch, chook run and half the backyard) was underwater on the weekend due to the flooding. The Victoria seems to be fine, the Chinook emerged from the ground looking a little grumpy to be woken up with cold water. Time will tell how they deal with this but they have been copping it for the past week, it's been a swamp and is only now drying out.
> 
> In addition to cleaning up after the flood, I need to set up some string for the hops, Victoria is now about 30cm and reaching for the sky. All the fertiliser (horse manure and dynamic lifter) has been washed away along with the topsoil so will need to return some nutrients to the garden.


I'm feeling for you. I hope it dries out soon.


----------



## BottloBill

Finally starting to see some upward growth with mine


----------



## A.B.

This may sound like a silly question, but do hops twist their way up the cord clockwise or anti or whatever way the want? I'm starting to train my 30cm high Chinook, but don't want to start it up the wrong way round...


----------



## BottloBill

A.B. said:


> This may sound like a silly question, but do hops twist their way up the cord clockwise or anti or whatever way the want? I'm starting to train my 30cm high Chinook, but don't want to start it up the wrong way round...


 clockwise mate


----------



## Stu Brew

77 in.....that takes us to 107....plus the rest.....Thanks for the support! Love all'yall!!


----------



## Danscraftbeer

A.B. said:


> This may sound like a silly question, but do hops twist their way up the cord clockwise or anti or whatever way the want? I'm starting to train my 30cm high Chinook, but don't want to start it up the wrong way round...


If you get it wrong training and winding them manually the Hops will unravel themselves.
Clockwise in their direction they are growing vertically or horizontally.
Hehe so that means you have think lying on your back looking up the vertical string they are climbing. I'm sure some people get confused with this. Or did I say anticlockwise? :huh: I just looked at my first climbing Tettnang and its going anti clockwise!!!
Actually I just let my hops train me then. Whatever way they like to go... -_-


----------



## Mardoo

Edit: Repetitivewise. Didn't notice there was another page.


----------



## Rocker1986

I just let mine do what they like and they all trained themselves around the lines clockwise.


----------



## hidara

RelaxedBrewer said:


> Any more detail on the setup. I have been thinking about setting something like this up.


http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/92502-hydroponic-hops/#entry1407728

I found it hard to get scientific info online, so will keep the topic above alive in the hope that people with more experience than me will their in their two cents worth.


----------



## A.B.

Rocker1986 said:


> I just let mine do what they like and they all trained themselves around the lines clockwise.


Cheers. I'd had a couple of beers when I asked that question, wondering if they twist the other way in the northern hemisphere.


----------



## RelaxedBrewer

hidara said:


> http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/92502-hydroponic-hops/#entry1407728
> 
> I found it hard to get scientific info online, so will keep the topic above alive in the hope that people with more experience than me will their in their two cents worth.


You got me excited and I did a heap of reading and research into it last night. I am going to setup my own system with ~3 plants as a test.

I will keep you updated.


----------



## hidara

.


----------



## hidara

RelaxedBrewer said:


> You got me excited and I did a heap of reading and research into it last night. I am going to setup my own system with ~3 plants as a test.
> 
> I will keep you updated.


Please do. I'll warn you though.... You may find yourself checking in on them a few times a day and in my case, failing miserably to get my wife as excited as me when they have a growth spurt!


----------



## Danscraftbeer

A.B. said:


> Cheers. I'd had a couple of beers when I asked that question, wondering if they twist the other way in the northern hemisphere.


This did my head in a little so I checked my new Tettnang and some growth photo's of Victoria from last year and its confirmed. My hop bines spiral counter clockwise.
As long as this little piece of info is correct for clarity: http://namethatplant.net/article_asthevinetwines.shtml

Yep. that's counter clockwise.




So is that.




$0.02


----------



## Mardoo

That's actually clockwise.  No, really. Messes with your head, doesn't it?


----------



## kaiserben

That reference is surely wrong. 

Take a look at good ol' wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bine_(botany)


----------



## Danscraftbeer

Oh boy... :unsure:
so the argument simply is: Do you reference it as the direction is growing to. Or the direction it is growing from?????
Perfect example of contradictory information there. I'll take Darwin over wiki.

Quote: _Twining direction can be determined by looking at (or imagining) the vine twining around a branch or pole.* Look at the pole or branch from the base (from the direction from which the vine is growing).*_


----------



## drsmurto

The correct answer is, whatever the plant wants to do. If you attach it one way and it wants to go the other way, it will.

You people need to start herding cats.


----------



## Lyrebird_Cycles

I think it would be easier to simply say that the direction is the same as a left hand screw thread.


----------



## Mardoo

So, foliar feeding. Does anyone do it and can you explain what you use for hops?


----------



## Camo6

Mardoo said:


> So, foliar feeding. Does anyone do it and can you explain what you use for hops?


Haven't done much foliar feeding with my hops but witnessed great success using Miracle Gro sprayed directly on the leaves of their cousins. Bought some the other day for my veggies and it's not as blue as it used to be but hopefully still as effective.


----------



## BottloBill

Camo6 said:


> Haven't done much foliar feeding with my hops but witnessed great success using Miracle Gro sprayed directly on the leaves of their cousins. Bought some the other day for my veggies and it's not as blue as it used to be but hopefully still as effective.


 I am somewhat disappointed with the performance of the new miracle grow formula tbh.


----------



## Camo6

BottloBill said:


> I am somewhat disappointed with the performance of the new miracle grow formula tbh.


Not what I want to hear. The old stuff was the bomb.


----------



## BottloBill

Camo6 said:


> Not what I want to hear. The old stuff was the bomb.


 The old stuff also used to state that it contained minerals and such found on the moon. I used the old formula with my first year crop and it outperformed 2 part Canna solutions. I brought the new stuff for 2nd year cropping and it actually caused burning.


----------



## ein stein

First year hops.
Clockwise from right:
Cascade (something has been chewing the leaves overnight)
Chinhook
Chinhook


----------



## Futur

Does anyone know what this is on my cascade plant?


----------



## ein stein

Futur said:


> Does anyone know what this is on my cascade plant?


Caterpillar or grass hopper chewing on your leaves, check the underside of your leaves the little bugger may still be there, i found a small grass hopper on mine.


----------



## Futur

ein stein said:


> Caterpillar or grass hopper chewing on your leaves, check the underside of your leaves the little bugger may still be there, i found a small grass hopper on mine.


Great, thanks!


----------



## fdsaasdf

I wonder what's going on with my Victoria plants... Still have a couple of dozen shoots from the main plant but have had for over a month now and none are above 6 inches yet; have some small leaves emerging from the harvested rhizomes but nothing substantial. 

Close to full sun from 9am-5pm, leaves are bright green in colour, soil is primarily potting mix conditioned with cow + chicken manure... In large concrete pots that seem to be well-drained, have had great success with chilli plants in the same pots before so I don't think wet feet is the problem.

What am I missing?


----------



## drsmurto

fdsaasdf said:


> What am I missing?


Patience.


----------



## fdsaasdf

Fair enough DrSmurto, can't ask for advice from a more credentialed source so I'll just have to wait and see.


----------



## Danscraftbeer

If they look that healthy above ground but aren't growing much the growth is happening underground in the root system.
Preparing for the above ground performance. B)


----------



## Belgrave Brewer

Clockwise. Both Hemispheres. I've probably done more research than needed on this subject. I've seen conflicting evidence to this which was later corrected.

All of my hop plants are bursting with growth, other than Chinook and Centennial which have yet to arise. No vertical growth yet, they are just sitting around and waiting for the right time to surge. This is what they do, so be patient as Dr Smurto has said...they'll start growing soon.


----------



## hidara

I thought I read somewhere that during the day they lean towards the sun and follow it from east to west and straighten up at night. If the sun is to the south this causes them to wind anticlockwise and in Australia they tend to wind clockwise.......


----------



## Belgrave Brewer

hidara said:


> I thought I read somewhere that during the day they lean towards the sun and follow it from east to west and straighten up at night. If the sun is to the south this causes them to wind anticlockwise and in Australia they tend to wind clockwise.......


And this is where assumptions were made, in writing. Hops will follow the sun, but they will do so in a clockwise motion. The hop plant will follow its natural tendency first, and the sun second. The clockwise motion is viewed from above.


----------



## mofox1

Finally put up the trellis last night, tying off the last strings now. Went with jute from Bunnings... Maybe not a great idea, single strands pulled apart with a bit of effort, so i used 4 individual strands per line. Beam at top stands a modest 4.2m high. I went higher with bamboo last year and it was just a pain to stabilise. Will work on the second trellis today, if I get the chance.




It's a bit over due, first shoots erupted almost 2 weeks ago. One week ago it looked like this:



Currently looks like this with around 40 shoots coming up. Needless to say the cull will be ruthless.


----------



## Camo6

@Mofox, I take it the cat5e didn't give you as quick a growth as expected?

I used the thicker twine from Bunnings doubled over and twisted in a drill and am reusing it this year as it's still fine. 
Now that I've repotted some zomes in the new veggie patch I might get a decent yield this year.


----------



## Curly79

Got a little Victoria in a pot that is free to a good home. Pick up Melbourne/Northern Suburbs/Possibly anywhere as work is all over the shop at the moment. Cheers. [emoji481][emoji481]


----------



## Nullnvoid

Curly79 said:


> ImageUploadedByAussie Home Brewer1475916168.921759.jpg
> Got a little Victoria in a pot that is free to a good home. Pick up Melbourne/Northern Suburbs/Possibly anywhere as work is all over the shop at the moment. Cheers. [emoji481][emoji481]


I'm keen. Do you go near Clayton or Cockatoo in your "all over the shop"?


----------



## Curly79

Clayton on Monday funnily enough Rus[emoji106]


----------



## Nullnvoid

Curly79 said:


> Clayton on Monday funnily enough Rus[emoji106]


Ohh how lucky is that. I'll pm you.


----------



## mofox1

Camo6 said:


> @Mofox, I take it the cat5e didn't give you as quick a growth as expected?
> 
> I used the thicker twine from Bunnings doubled over and twisted in a drill and am reusing it this year as it's still fine.
> Now that I've repotted some zomes in the new veggie patch I might get a decent yield this year.


Jeez... you got a good memory - I think that was from a couple years ago. I'd really like to go wireless, but just can't see it happening. 

Wind is blowing around quite strong out now, and the frame is rock solid. Next year I will find some decent agri quality sisal baling twine.

Edit - I hope you've put some brick / concrete barriers around the hops, otherwise the vegie garden will just be the hop garden next year!! Two years growth and I saw runners coming out 2 - 3m away from the plant.


----------



## Camo6

mofox1 said:


> Jeez... you got a good memory - I think that was from a couple years ago. I'd really like to go wireless, but just can't see it happening.
> 
> Wind is blowing around quite strong out now, and the frame is rock solid. Next year I will find some decent agri quality sisal baling twine.
> 
> Edit - I hope you've put some brick / concrete barriers around the hops, otherwise the vegie garden will just be the hop garden next year!! Two years growth and I saw runners coming out 2 - 3m away from the plant.


Haha. I've tried wireless broadbean but had better results with cable.

Yeah, made sure they are contained. I was using 2 halves of a 200l drum and I just cut the bottoms out and used them as containers. Should be easy to catch any strays. 
I'm also considering just replanting every couple of years. My best yields seem to be in the first couple of harvests although this might change now they can dig a bit deeper.


----------



## Mardoo

Finally got my trellis up today. 4 1/2 meters, bamboo. This will be the highest they've ever been able to go  Bamboo poles lashed with slightly flexible cord. Hopefully I built enough flex into it to handle the wind, without it flopping over. I wanted to use rawhide, but thought the possums might eat it. If I can get s good price on it I might give that a go next year. It stretches when wet and then tightens as it dries. 

We rent, so I had to see to only a couple attachment points on the house. Two into the eaves and two tied to posts in the ground. Good windy day to remind me of how strong it needs to be. 

My Willamette has been gaggin' for it. The Victoria, weeeell, maybe one day soon. Now to make the irrigation bits for the pots.


----------



## MartinOC

Geez Mardoo!!! That reminds me of those towers built by Vanuatu Land-Divers!

I've got plans for my pots this year, but it involves a bit of light clearing of a few inconsequential twigs to actually get the pots in situ between large trees (left & right in the piccie).


----------



## Mardoo

You going to run a cable between the trees?


----------



## MartinOC

Mardoo said:


> You going to run a cable between the trees?


Yep! A cable between the trees (wide straps around them to protect the trees themselves) & as high as I can get them. Cable will be tensioned with a ratchet-strap, so I can lower the cable for harvest.

Each variety will have a length of bamboo suspended horizontally under the cable to spread the individual bines & allow them some breathing-space.

That's the plan....


----------



## mofox1

What are folks using for hop lines?

Bunnings didn't have the sisal I've used previously, so I bought some thinner jute which I used four strands per line... Has a (belated) close look at it last night and found the individual fibres were only a couple inches long. The lines I've got up on the trellis are already beginning to stretch and I'm worried that they'll just pull apart after a bit of weight/wind/time.

Will probably restring them this weekend with something stronger if someone can recommend a product + supplier in E / SE melb open on Saturday.


----------



## kaiserben

mofox1 said:


> What are folks using for hop lines?


Baling twine from Bunnings.


----------



## Mardoo

I use this. Not cheap but I've never had any trouble whatsoever with it. If you're keen you can even unwind it from the bines and re-use it next year. I was keen one year 

https://www.bunnings.com.au/whites-outdoor-50m-soft-flexi-plant-tie_p3320936


----------



## bevan

Mardoo said:


> I use this. Not cheap but I've never had any trouble whatsoever with it. If you're keen you can even unwind it from the bines and re-use it next year. I was keen one year
> 
> https://www.bunnings.com.au/whites-outdoor-50m-soft-flexi-plant-tie_p3320936


Yob recommended the same sort of stuff (green though) from the Reject shop.


----------



## Belgrave Brewer

bevan said:


> Yob recommended the same sort of stuff (green though) from the Reject shop.


I might have some coconut coir left over from last year if anyone needs some. I've upgraded to what the commercial guys use.

The stuff I have available is thinner so I doubled it up. Comes in 20m lengths, so cut in half and double up and you can get 2 strings out of each roll.


----------



## Benn

https://www.bunnings.com.au/whites-outdoor-100m-jute-twine-plant-tie_p3320946
I'm using a similar product to this except it comes in a 270m roll. Cheap as chips, found it with the plants etc. in the garden section at bunnings. Worked fine last season & can be bundled up with the dead bine and burnt, composted etc.


----------



## mofox1

Benn said:


> https://www.bunnings.com.au/whites-outdoor-100m-jute-twine-plant-tie_p3320946
> I'm using a similar product to this except it comes in a 270m roll. Cheap as chips, found it with the plants etc. in the garden section at bunnings. Worked fine last season & can be bundled up with the dead bine and burnt, composted etc.


That's what I would have bought had they stocked it at my two locals... Might see if it had just run out, or try a different store.

Edit - AHA! Just realised you mentioned the garden section... I was in a completely different section. Of course it must have been silly of me to look where all the other rope/twine/string was.


----------



## mofox1

Mardoo said:


> I use this. Not cheap but I've never had any trouble whatsoever with it. If you're keen you can even unwind it from the bines and re-use it next year. I was keen one year
> 
> https://www.bunnings.com.au/whites-outdoor-50m-soft-flexi-plant-tie_p3320936





kaiserben said:


> Baling twine from Bunnings.


Was planning on avoiding the plastic stuff, but if needs must... Something beggars something choosers.


----------



## AJ80

I've gone with this stuff:

https://www.bunnings.com.au/grunt-3mm-x-60m-assorted-colour-utility-cord_p4310579

Second year in a row using the same cord with almost no visible wear. Yes it involved stripping off the bines, but it really didn't take long. The strength of the cord pretty much eliminates the risk of broken lines on a windy day.


----------



## Rocker1986

I used this stuff for mine https://www.bunnings.com.au/zenith-3-2mm-x-30m-stainless-steel-balustrade-wire-rope_p4310364 seems to have worked fine so far, the hops are climbing up it well. Should last for years too.


----------



## osprey brewday

Gave up on the rope and going to try this 5.5 mts cascade doing well at the base


----------



## spog

Mardoo said:



> Finally got my trellis up today. 4 1/2 meters, bamboo. This will be the highest they've ever been able to go  Bamboo poles lashed with slightly flexible cord. Hopefully I built enough flex into it to handle the wind, without it flopping over. I wanted to use rawhide, but thought the possums might eat it. If I can get s good price on it I might give that a go next year. It stretches when wet and then tightens as it dries.
> We rent, so I had to see to only a couple attachment points on the house. Two into the eaves and two tied to posts in the ground. Good windy day to remind me of how strong it needs to be.
> My Willamette has been gaggin' for it. The Victoria, weeeell, maybe one day soon. Now to make the irrigation bits for the pots.
> 
> 
> 
> ImageUploadedByAussie Home Brewer1475991523.137849.jpg


Guess who's picking hops without getting out of bed ?


----------



## mofox1

Benn said:


> https://www.bunnings.com.au/whites-outdoor-100m-jute-twine-plant-tie_p3320946
> I'm using a similar product to this except it comes in a 270m roll. Cheap as chips, found it with the plants etc. in the garden section at bunnings. Worked fine last season & can be bundled up with the dead bine and burnt, composted etc.


Wee! I found the sisal... Stocked in store in the garden section, just not listed online. Spent the better part of 4 hours twisting two strands together for 12 x 5m lines.

I've replaced the jute on the first trellis and about to put up the second trellis (lazy cascade bugger is only just poking a couple of shoots the mulch now, so plenty of time if don't finish it this weekend). The sisal is MUCH better at holding tension and going slack.


----------



## mofox1

mofox1 said:


> The sisal is MUCH better at holding tension and *not* going slack.


^Stupid word brain.


----------



## DigitalGiraffe

My hops started budding fine and the Saaz are slowly making progress but my Cascade (Bottom left of photo) was doing well but seems to be turning light green/borderline yellow? It's growing in a mound where Hersbruckers thrived last season and the mound was topped up with composted cow manure and compost prior to planting.

Any suggestions to what may be going wrong or what I can do to get it back? Excess nitrogen? Wet feet? Wind drying the soil out too quick? Top 1cm dries out pretty quickly but the rest of the mound is nice and warm and moist.

I've never had this happen in previous years so I'm at a bit of a loss as nothing has changed? Any fellow Tassie hop growers experiencing this?


----------



## Rocker1986

Got this crappy looking shit on some of the leaves towards the bottom of my Hallertau bines. Doesn't seem to be really affecting anything above about 40cm from the ground though. What is it and how do you treat it?


----------



## Mardoo

Finally got around to making my irrigation heads for this year. I haven't been satisfied with my more bodged together ones. This is the unit I use per barrel/crown. I just use the various Pope connectors with weeper hose and cheap garden hose.

I've always used the clamps on the weeper hose, as you can see I did on the garden hose. However, it's just that much thicker and rougher surfaced than garden hose that it can be a real bitch to get the teeth on the Pope clamps to grab. Yesterday? CBF'd. 

I ran a 24-hour trial with the weeper on and no blowouts yet. Since I use the weeper at a very low pressure I think it'll keep holding. If not I'll just grab some hose clamps.


----------



## Stu Brew

mofox1 said:


> Jeez... you got a good memory - I think that was from a couple years ago. I'd really like to go wireless, but just can't see it happening.
> 
> Wind is blowing around quite strong out now, and the frame is rock solid. Next year I will find some decent agri quality sisal baling twine.
> 
> Edit - I hope you've put some brick / concrete barriers around the hops, otherwise the vegie garden will just be the hop garden next year!! Two years growth and I saw runners coming out 2 - 3m away from the plant.


I distribute and sell 40kg WLL coir twine $5 for 20m....we use it on our field here. Works very well, and can be composted after use.


----------



## Stu Brew

MartinOC said:


> Yep! A cable between the trees (wide straps around them to protect the trees themselves) & as high as I can get them. Cable will be tensioned with a ratchet-strap, so I can lower the cable for harvest.
> 
> Each variety will have a length of bamboo suspended horizontally under the cable to spread the individual bines & allow them some breathing-space.
> 
> That's the plan....


Try pulling the trees closer together with the ratchet lower down, tie ya cable then let the tension go and bingo bango bongo....tight line!


----------



## ein stein

Digital Giraffe - Thats Classic Nitrogen deficiency - your soil pH is probably way too low and you're locking out the N

Rocker - Not sure looks like a mosaic virus or possibly Calcium deficiency??

heres a link for a visual guide, not best pics but its ok.

Feel free to get a second opinion from a real horticulturalist.


----------



## Stu Brew

Rocker1986 said:


> Got this crappy looking shit on some of the leaves towards the bottom of my Hallertau bines. Doesn't seem to be really affecting anything above about 40cm from the ground though. What is it and how do you treat it?


Look under teh leaves, im 99% sure that is spider mite. White oil will fix them, you want to get onto it before they have a chance to spread. Id say probably just a nice hiding spot for them early....they may have gotten blown or rained off or the plant has picked up enough vigor now that they wont be a problem. Keep and eye on it though! White oil spray will work well for this top and bottom of the leaf.


----------



## Rocker1986

Thanks for that mate, I'll give that a go, pretty sure we've got some of that stuff here. If not I'll pick some up. That leaf in the photo now has a few holes in it as well. I haven't looked underneath it yet really, what should I see if it is spider mites?


----------



## Belgrave Brewer

Big day mulching and cleaning up a bit. Lots of growth happening but mostly at ground level. Hoping to get the cabling up this coming weekend so I string the hops in a V formation.


----------



## LiquidGold

Rocker1986 said:


> Thanks for that mate, I'll give that a go, pretty sure we've got some of that stuff here. If not I'll pick some up. That leaf in the photo now has a few holes in it as well. I haven't looked underneath it yet really, what should I see if it is spider mites?


Spider mites usually leave webbing and you should see lots of small black or red dots that are the mites themselves. You could always do a quick image search for spider mite damage on beans to get a better idea of what to look for.

Checking under the leaves is always the first thing to do when something doesn't look right. One year I had some leaves looking a bit strange and when I looked underneath I found a bunch of little caterpillars having a munch.





My hops are finally getting some growth after having poked their head up a while back, trying to make sure to give them plenty of water this time around. Done some weeding and mulching but still need to get fresh bamboo and put up some strings.


----------



## DigitalGiraffe

ein stein said:


> Digital Giraffe - Thats Classic Nitrogen deficiency - your soil pH is probably way too low and you're locking out the N
> 
> Rocker - Not sure looks like a mosaic virus or possibly Calcium deficiency??
> 
> heres a link for a visual guide, not best pics but its ok.
> 
> Feel free to get a second opinion from a real horticulturalist.


Cheers, thats what I was leaning towards. Bit odd considering I gave the mound a healthy dose of composted cow manure and organic compost prior to planting. Testing the soil ph is always on my list of things to do that I never get to. Thanks again!


----------



## Danscraftbeer

Not much to see yet. Some have climbed 2 feet. Little backyard is going to be a mass of hops this season.
I'm trying this method with the utility cord https://www.bunnings.com.au/grunt-3mm-x-60m-assorted-colour-utility-cord_p4310579
I'm sure I got it for $9 a roll. I've been using it for a few years it seems to last for years too. It does stretch under weight and shrinks back with no weight as well but its rated for 100+kg.
I made it so you just tension it whenever you may need. Coupla nails for a cleat in a plank of wood. The cord runs through eye screws in the eves to the back fence. When a bine gets high enough I give it a vertical runner from the rim of the pot to the top strings. Hops are in the black pots. I hope this takes the shape I'm imagining it can.
Different colour string for different hops. Harvesting you just undo the strings and let them all drop to the ground. B)


----------



## Rocker1986

Thanks LiquidGold. I did have a quick look under the affected leaves before I went back to work earlier and found some green catepillars, similar to the ones in that photo but bigger, and only one or two on each affected leaf. The appearance of the leaf there and mine are quite similar too. I sprayed them with some Yates Success until I can either find or buy some more white oil. I'm guessing they didn't like it much because they all started falling off the leaves almost immediately. Just glad it's not bloody mildew...


----------



## Stu Brew

Rocker1986 said:


> Thanks for that mate, I'll give that a go, pretty sure we've got some of that stuff here. If not I'll pick some up. That leaf in the photo now has a few holes in it as well. I haven't looked underneath it yet really, what should I see if it is spider mites?


Very small spiderweb like webbing under the leaf and some tiny tiny (less than 1mm) bugs under on and around the webbing....


----------



## tugger

After 2 weeks it's nearly over the fence.


----------



## Stu Brew

BTW guys. I sell this twine to anyone interested. Belgrave Brewer and I both used it last year. Tons better than sisal, sustainable, strong and you can throw it in the mulch after you use it. The company i distribute from makes sure their workers get paid well too. So its not slave labor like Bunnings would be using for their strings and twines. 

I have about 4kms left in 20m rolls. Anything over 10 rolls I can do $4 ea anything under 10 $5ea

Each roll is 20m in length, its 3.5mm thick with a working load limit of 45kg.

Send me a PM if you would like to grab some.


----------



## Stu Brew

Well I planted some Perle out the front. I will do some container growing this year. Might put some into the veggie patch to help with shade it has a huge trellis around the edge of it anyways. 

Here are some photos from the master class I held in hops growing the other week. Dont share a lot here photo wise.

Cheers Stu


----------



## Rocker1986

Stu Brew said:


> Very small spiderweb like webbing under the leaf and some tiny tiny (less than 1mm) bugs under on and around the webbing....


Cool, thanks mate. I didn't see any web like stuff but one leaf did have what looked like an egg sac on it. Some other leaves had green caterpillars on their underneath sides.

Had another look just before and there were a number of small green caterpillars on one leaf, that looked exactly like the ones in the photo LiquidGold posted above.

At least these bastard things are easily treated. I was a bit worried that it might have been mildew or something.


----------



## Stu Brew

Rocker1986 said:


> Cool, thanks mate. I didn't see any web like stuff but one leaf did have what looked like an egg sac on it. Some other leaves had green caterpillars on their underneath sides.
> 
> Had another look just before and there were a number of small green caterpillars on one leaf, that looked exactly like the ones in the photo LiquidGold posted above.
> 
> At least these bastard things are easily treated. I was a bit worried that it might have been mildew or something.


Egg sack? Crap what did it look like? You may have some beneficials moving in....they really seem to like hanging out on my hops and killing anything trying to eat them! Lady bugs instars do a great job on anything small like mites and aphids. Caterpillars are probably as easily controlled with cultural methods like pulling them off by hand. Especially at this stage...Lady bug instars look like mini orange and black crocodiles....they look scary but one of the best things you can have. Im thinking if you cant see any activity maybe just pull off any effected leaves if they are only the bottom few. No point in using anything like white oils on a very small portion of the plant imo.


----------



## Rocker1986

Kinda brown slightly raised patch on the underside of the leaf. That leaf was pretty buggered, and it was the same one that the numerous small green caterpillars were on.

I might just leave the leaves there for now and either spray the fuckers or pull them off as I see them, if they're busy attacking those low leaves at least they aren't attacking the ones further up the bine.


----------



## mofox1

Stu Brew said:


> BTW guys. I sell this twine to anyone interested. Belgrave Brewer and I both used it last year. Tons better than sisal, sustainable, strong and you can throw it in the mulch after you use it. The company i distribute from makes sure their workers get paid well too. So its not slave labor like Bunnings would be using for their strings and twines.
> 
> I have about 4kms left in 20m rolls. Anything over 10 rolls I can do $4 ea anything under 10 $5ea
> 
> Each roll is 20m in length, its 3.5mm thick with a working load limit of 45kg.
> 
> Send me a PM if you would like to grab some.


Looks like great stuff! Will consider the offer, thanks. If a few folks from nearish to me want some we could likely save a bit on postage...


----------



## Stu Brew

mofox1 said:


> Looks like great stuff! Will consider the offer, thanks. If a few folks from nearish to me want some we could likely save a bit on postage...


Fine by me. Its actually the pro twine just not precut coir 5mm. The precut stuffs strength isnt actually that much higher but its way bulkier(10kgs more on the WLL) and we string from the ground here like 20th century Hallertau so the 3.5mm lengths suit us really well here. I just went nuts and bought WAY to much of it this year!! Still got a few kms worth to get rid of too last count I had 5.2kms and we only need 2kms worth.


----------



## Stu Brew

Rocker1986 said:


> Kinda brown slightly raised patch on the underside of the leaf. That leaf was pretty buggered, and it was the same one that the numerous small green caterpillars were on.
> 
> I might just leave the leaves there for now and either spray the fuckers or pull them off as I see them, if they're busy attacking those low leaves at least they aren't attacking the ones further up the bine.


How big is it now....id be all for just pulling anything on the lower effected places off and burning them. They are only the early leaves anyways. Which is why im thinking they may have been attacked. Sorry for so many questions. How long has it been in the ground or is it just planted rhizome this season?


----------



## MartinOC

mofox1 said:


> Looks like great stuff! Will consider the offer, thanks. If a few folks from nearish to me want some we could likely save a bit on postage...


Mick, I've had a chat with Stu & will go for 10 rolls.

Want to combine forces/postage?


----------



## Rocker1986

Stu Brew said:


> How big is it now....id be all for just pulling anything on the lower effected places off and burning them. They are only the early leaves anyways. Which is why im thinking they may have been attacked. Sorry for so many questions. How long has it been in the ground or is it just planted rhizome this season?


Pretty much the same size as it was yesterday or whenever it was I spotted it. The small caterpillars had all disappeared off it last time I looked too.

This plant is a second year Hallertau plant. It was in a pot last year but I moved it to a bigger home over the winter. The other plant being affected although nowhere near as much is a first year Cascade. The second year Fuggle that I left in its pot has hardly been touched by these things. Maybe they all hang out in the area of the yard where the other two plants are.

I had small amounts of attacks on the early growth leaves last season as well and the plants were not affected by it, so they should be alright.

Some piece of shit chewed the end off one of the bines that was also making its way up a line, it has now sprouted again from where it was cut off and is slowly making its way up again. Hopefully it gets left alone this time <_<


----------



## doctr-dan

Finally got some wires up, just using left overs


----------



## Bruer

My second year cascades are starting to go nuts. POR lagging a bit. 1st year kracanup and Goldings yet to pop up.


----------



## Stu Brew

Rocker1986 said:


> Pretty much the same size as it was yesterday or whenever it was I spotted it. The small caterpillars had all disappeared off it last time I looked too.
> 
> This plant is a second year Hallertau plant. It was in a pot last year but I moved it to a bigger home over the winter. The other plant being affected although nowhere near as much is a first year Cascade. The second year Fuggle that I left in its pot has hardly been touched by these things. Maybe they all hang out in the area of the yard where the other two plants are.
> 
> I had small amounts of attacks on the early growth leaves last season as well and the plants were not affected by it, so they should be alright.
> 
> Some piece of shit chewed the end off one of the bines that was also making its way up a line, it has now sprouted again from where it was cut off and is slowly making its way up again. Hopefully it gets left alone this time <_<


Try planting some Basil aroudn the bases of the effected ones. The smell from Basil confuses a lot of bugs....so they will keep away from it? I think you'll be alright, once they start actually growing quickly...has been a long cold winter which is weird for Australia!


----------



## Stu Brew

ein stein said:


> Digital Giraffe - Thats Classic Nitrogen deficiency - your soil pH is probably way too low and you're locking out the N
> 
> Rocker - Not sure looks like a mosaic virus or possibly Calcium deficiency??
> 
> heres a link for a visual guide, not best pics but its ok.
> 
> Feel free to get a second opinion from a real horticulturalist.


Only mature leaves will show signs of diseases....but hey....you're a real horticulturalist....you didnt even ask about soil pH which is where any calcium deficiency would be coming in. Guess this is why people are listening to your advice? Over the actual qualified guys....... Good try though....you'll finish cert 2 eventually!!


----------



## BottloBill

Stu Brew said:


> Only mature leaves will show signs of diseases....but hey....you're a real horticulturalist....you didnt even ask about soil pH which is where any calcium deficiency would be coming in. Guess this is why people are listening to your advice? Over the actual qualified guys....... Good try though....you'll finish cert 2 eventually!!


pfft!


----------



## BottloBill

You really can't speak for the whole of Australia, We didn't really see any kind of winter here in Newcastle TBH. I would say a colder than usual ground temp is the cause of most late showings.


----------



## Stu Brew

BottloBill said:


> pfft!


Elaborate please.....Cause pfffft....I am talking hops plants...if your shit has deficiencies and diseases at this stage...RIP THEM UP AND BIN THEM....so you dont screw the whole industry! Best advice I can give you....dont try 'fix' them....cause it wont work. In horticulture the advice you would get is....if something doesnt like where its growing...pull it up and try again somewhere else...Its quite simple....


----------



## BottloBill

So your trying to tell me you went through testing of rhizome pathogens when you collected all your root stock for your yard? I can honestly say you have done well with your setup despite the serving you got from certain members when you started out. I can also honestly say you have a massive chip as a result and you just don't know when to lie down.....build a bridge and move on bloke!


----------



## BottloBill

Oh please tell me what's wrong with my Cascade


----------



## Stu Brew

BottloBill said:


> Oh please tell me what's wrong with my Cascade


A. Pots WAY to small. 

B. Should have multiple shoots at that height. 

C. Probably wont get you more than 200g of hops. 

Just my advice.....but yeah I have 160 in the ground....at least you're trying!! 

Im impressed though....1 plants a good start! 

Make sure you give it some good slow release Nitrogen at that height...Neutrong Seamungus is a good option in pellets. That should help boost it...and im talking 2kgs now and then 2-3kgs when its at 6 foot  

Got to string this lot in the next week....then ferts then mulch....guess its a bit different for me. Honestly though get them into the ground...they just dont like pots...they want to run and climb under and above the ground...Best way to keep them healthy imo.


----------



## Stu Brew

Some of my spares in the hothouse look about that big atm! 

Soil is still not warm enough for big movement here. Has been a strange season. They will boost soon, as soon as the soil hits temp they'll be up 6m before I can blink a few times. 

Coir is good as an early medium helps to create some new fibrous roots especially if you're adding things like worm tea and vitamins. Young plants thrive on things other than NPK nutrients. The reason I use coir is because its sustainble and its washed of heavy metals and EC checked. Always in that case at the perfect pH for Hops and holds enough water but cant hold to much! Great stuff. We raise all our veg seeds here in the same stuff. 

Size at this stage isnt that much chop.....I know its cool, but we're still a long way from Summer Solstice for a hops plant 

(edit more info on coir)


----------



## BottloBill

Stu Brew said:


> A. Pots WAY to small.
> 
> B. Should have multiple shoots at that height.
> 
> C. Probably wont get you more than 200g of hops.
> 
> Just my advice.....but yeah I have 160 in the ground....at least you're trying!!
> 
> Im impressed though....1 plants a good start!
> 
> Make sure you give it some good slow release Nitrogen at that height...Neutrong Seamungus is a good option in pellets. That should help boost it...and im talking 2kgs now and then 2-3kgs when its at 6 foot
> 
> Got to string this lot in the next week....then ferts then mulch....guess its a bit different for me. Honestly though get them into the ground...they just dont like pots...they want to run and climb under and above the ground...Best way to keep them healthy imo.


That's just one of many lol.....I am by no means a commercial grower nor do I have the room for it. That particular plant is a first year and suffered from use of a slow release fertiliser believe it or not.
I started using fish emulsion on it a week ago!!!! Here check out the Chinook section this season....cute ha!


----------



## mofox1

I'm going to go have a beer now, you guys should too...


----------



## BottloBill

mofox1 said:


> I'm going to go have a beer now, you guys should too...


sounds good....but I don't drink when I'm working please have an ale for me please


----------



## Camo6

mofox1 said:


> I'm going to go have a beer now, you guys should too...


Sounds like some already have...


----------



## Stu Brew

BottloBill said:


> That's just one of many lol.....I am by no means a commercial grower nor do I have the room for it. That particular plant is a first year and suffered from use of a slow release fertiliser believe it or not.
> I started using fish emulsion on it a week ago!!!! Here check out the Chinook section this season....cute ha!


Can you do me one favor and check your soil pH. Im not tring to have a dick swinging comp on this stuff. I genuinely want to see people growing kilos in their back yards!! pH is the key to soil....soil health is the key to good plants! Im not trying to have arguments....I have legit run my own Hort business for over a decade before i bought a property and started growing hops. Im really stoked to be specialising in something(hort is stupid, you're floundering until you have a specialty). 

pH.....Number 1 thing you look at. Get it between 5.5-6.8 for hops. Sulphate of Ammonia will really help a lot of you guys not worried about organic  lowers pH fast and is a GREAT source of nitrogen. 

Other than that to lower pH you can use sulphur but it takes a while. 

Hops also do not like built up salts in the soil....so anything like i just said. Sulphate of Ammonia is not a LONG TERM solution to pH. You need to look at your soils pH content your local water. 

All in all. In the real world of Horticulture. If I had plants showing deficiencys early....I would just do what I do and ignore it. If the plant was healthy the year before...and if you have checked you pH and done all the rest of it....you shouldnt be worried....potentially and experienced horticulturalists know this....leaves on plants can exibit all sorts of weird and wonderful 'deficiencies' if you're only looking for them, and not thinking well it was 4° the other night...my hops wont really be to keen on that....as 3 foot juniors!


----------



## Rocker1986

Stu Brew said:


> Try planting some Basil aroudn the bases of the effected ones. The smell from Basil confuses a lot of bugs....so they will keep away from it? I think you'll be alright, once they start actually growing quickly...has been a long cold winter which is weird for Australia!


I think they're ok now, that Success spray looks to have done the job on the caterpillars (as it did last year too), I've been checking the plants every day and haven't seen any return. On the packaging it says it keeps working as a residual thing as well so maybe that's why. I'll spray them periodically until they start really taking off. I think once they start growing properly they'll be alright too, they were last year. Even when the grasshoppers moved in they didn't really do much damage because the plants were growing so vigorously anyway. The winter here wasn't particularly cold but the weather is up and down a bit at the moment. We have a few days in the high 20s then it decides to go back to low 20s... I'll just be glad when it stabilises and stays warm.

I have noticed a few little black spots on the underside of some leaves that look like bugs, wondering if it might be worth giving them a bit of white oil just in case they're mites or something.


----------



## RobH

My Cascade is about 1.5 meters tall


----------



## ein stein

Stu Brew said:


> Only mature leaves will show signs of diseases....but hey....you're a real horticulturalist....you didnt even ask about soil pH which is where any calcium deficiency would be coming in. Guess this is why people are listening to your advice? Over the actual qualified guys....... Good try though....you'll finish cert 2 eventually!!


what i said was i wasn't sure what was wrong with rockers plants and he should feel free to get an opinion from a real horticulturalist, implying that i am not one, i was only sure what N deficient looks like from my days using shitty acidic bags of barky potting mix. but as long as people are getting their advice from you, Stu, atleast they are getting it from a REAL A-hole.


----------



## scooterism

Hallertau on the Gold Coast, 4 yr old plant.


----------



## BottloBill

A doubling in height over three days, 47cm on the 19th Oct and now at 1000cm today in a 60 litre pot.


----------



## scooterism

scooterism said:


> Hallertau on the Gold Coast, 4 yr old plant.



Should or do I need to trim back some of the bines?


----------



## Danscraftbeer

Its hard to say. Its a call for the gardener to make. I have let them just go and found that many bines that are skinny and weaker will climb but don't bare any hops at all, but they do take up nutrients. Then again a broader lateral bush can put out lots of hops too.
One thing is you can cut off lots of short bines and it only helps the larger bines. You can propagate those cuttings too if you want.


----------



## mofox1

If you've been growing for 4 years, then you've more experience than I... however I try try to keep my bine to line count at 3 or 4 max. Simply because if the line is too crowded it prevents the laterals from growing.

I tend to let them have a go up to the first meter, but the weedy, thin looking ones get progressively removed.

I've got around 40+ shoots come up now for my Chinook. Only six lines. That's worse odds than Russian Roulette.


----------



## Stu Brew

Rocker1986 said:


> I think they're ok now, that Success spray looks to have done the job on the caterpillars (as it did last year too), I've been checking the plants every day and haven't seen any return. On the packaging it says it keeps working as a residual thing as well so maybe that's why. I'll spray them periodically until they start really taking off. I think once they start growing properly they'll be alright too, they were last year. Even when the grasshoppers moved in they didn't really do much damage because the plants were growing so vigorously anyway. The winter here wasn't particularly cold but the weather is up and down a bit at the moment. We have a few days in the high 20s then it decides to go back to low 20s... I'll just be glad when it stabilises and stays warm.
> 
> I have noticed a few little black spots on the underside of some leaves that look like bugs, wondering if it might be worth giving them a bit of white oil just in case they're mites or something.


Just dump some worm tea or something on them.....wait for the light....getting warmer here now....they'll go when they're ready!!


----------



## Stu Brew

scooterism said:


> Should or do I need to trim back some of the bines?


How long until summer solstice there?? Probably needs a lot of nitrogen....they're heavy feeders!! Stay away from salt based though...as salts will build up in a pot and they wont be keen on that!


----------



## Mightypns

Cascade few yrs old.



Victoria (I think) second year.


----------



## kaiserben

Are the brown spots something I need to worry about?


----------



## Rocker1986

BottloBill said:


> A doubling in height over three days, 47cm on the 19th Oct and now at 1000cm today in a 60 litre pot.


Looks a bit short for a 10 metre high plant.  It's nice when they start taking off though.


----------



## BottloBill

Rocker1986 said:


> Looks a bit short for a 10 metre high plant.  It's nice when they start taking off though.


 My bad 100cm


----------



## Mardoo

2nd year Willamette is going mad, closing quickly on 3 metres (well, including the pot). 1st year Victoria is still sleepy. Too long in the fridge before planting, methinks. She'll perk up before too long.


----------



## Stu Brew

So me trellis is done!!  guess its all a swinging comp from here? 

Really not to keen on pinning myself against home growers!

Bit of a mow mow today works well we set things up to fit the rideon right down the guts of the lines!!

Yes its not like my stuff is 8 foot yet.....but thats all parallels of southern!!


----------



## Stu Brew

ein stein said:


> what i said was i wasn't sure what was wrong with rockers plants and he should feel free to get an opinion from a real horticulturalist, implying that i am not one, i was only sure what N deficient looks like from my days using shitty acidic bags of barky potting mix. but as long as people are getting their advice from you, Stu, atleast they are getting it from a REAL A-hole.


All good....im still better at horticulture than land management...so we're all aiming for something mate!!


----------



## kaiserben

I'm a bit worried about the brown spots on the leaves of a few of my plants. Is this something I need to worry about?


----------



## ein stein

kaiserben said:


> hop_spots.jpg
> 
> I'm a bit worried about the brown spots on the leaves of a few of my plants. Is this something I need to worry about?


Doesnt look too healthy mate, not anything i have encountered before tho.


----------



## Rocker1986

Not sure what that might be, but is there any bugs or shit on the underside of the leaves? Mine started looking unhealthy recently, thought it might have been some disease or deficiency somewhere, nope. Checked underside of the leaves. ******* caterpillars.


----------



## Belgrave Brewer

kaiserben said:


> hop_spots.jpg
> 
> I'm a bit worried about the brown spots on the leaves of a few of my plants. Is this something I need to worry about?


I'd check for the obvious things like catepillars, aphids, etc. first. It looks like the leaves are being tapped.


----------



## Benn

I was just in Masters Hardware (Cranbourne) heaps of cheap garden stuff; soaker hoses, fittings etc. 
The plumbing section is all 60% off (as is the electrical section) I bought a couple of much needed 30m hoses and deluxe sprayer trigger things. Think I'll do some thinking/pondering first then go back and get some bits and pieces to make up a semi auto watering system.


----------



## kaiserben

Rocker1986 said:


> Not sure what that might be, but is there any bugs or shit on the underside of the leaves? Mine started looking unhealthy recently, thought it might have been some disease or deficiency somewhere, nope. Checked underside of the leaves. ******* caterpillars.





Belgrave Brewer said:


> I'd check for the obvious things like catepillars, aphids, etc. first. It looks like the leaves are being tapped.



Nothing at all, that we can see. 

From Googling, I suspect some sort of leaf spot fungus. We'll avoid getting the leaves wet when watering from now on. Not sure whether I need to treat them, or even destroy the infected plants, or just let the infected leaves die off and keep everything else as dry as possible.


----------



## Coodgee

my hop plants failed. They sprouted about a week after they went in the ground but they seemed to get trampled/eaten by something. they were really fragile and weak. Even after I put a fence up they still seemed to get knocked around by something. Then the remnants just shrivelled up and died. oh well.


----------



## Rocker1986

That's a shame!

Mine sprouted up and have sort of stopped growing for now, however in the last day or so I've noticed my Hallertau has started sprouting fresh shoots, there are 3 or 4 of them, and I think the Cascade has a new one popping up as well. Might help if this stupid weather would just stay in the high 20s maximums instead of dropping back to low 20s for a day or two every few days. Bloody annoying.


----------



## Bruer

Hi all. What's the best way to ween out bines and select the strongest to go forth and make me some hops? Which ones should I clip out. I've got them in a big pot. I've got five strings for them to climb but about 25 bines reaching for the stars.


----------



## Belgrave Brewer

kaiserben said:


> Nothing at all, that we can see.
> 
> From Googling, I suspect some sort of leaf spot fungus. We'll avoid getting the leaves wet when watering from now on. Not sure whether I need to treat them, or even destroy the infected plants, or just let the infected leaves die off and keep everything else as dry as possible.


If it is a fungus, you'll want to carefully cut all affected leaves away and remove from the area as it can spread.


----------



## Belgrave Brewer

Coodgee said:


> my hop plants failed. They sprouted about a week after they went in the ground but they seemed to get trampled/eaten by something. they were really fragile and weak. Even after I put a fence up they still seemed to get knocked around by something. Then the remnants just shrivelled up and died. oh well.


There's a good chance some will sprout again if the rhizomes had multiple buds. I'd figure out what is eating/trampling them and work out how to stop it as you may be surprised on a second coming from your hops.


----------



## Belgrave Brewer

Rocker1986 said:


> That's a shame!
> 
> Mine sprouted up and have sort of stopped growing for now, however in the last day or so I've noticed my Hallertau has started sprouting fresh shoots, there are 3 or 4 of them, and I think the Cascade has a new one popping up as well. Might help if this stupid weather would just stay in the high 20s maximums instead of dropping back to low 20s for a day or two every few days. Bloody annoying.


Patience. If they.re up, they are just waiting for the day to get longer before shooting upwards. I have good growth above the ground, but very little has shot towards the sky.


----------



## Belgrave Brewer

Victoria, Cascade and Chinook. Victoria and Cascade came up weeks before the Chinook and have slowly been filling out with very little movement upwards. Chinook has just come out to play and is shooting straight for the sky. Amazing how different they are.


----------



## Danscraftbeer

kaiserben said:


> hop_spots.jpg
> 
> I'm a bit worried about the brown spots on the leaves of a few of my plants. Is this something I need to worry about?


They kind of look stunted too, maybe shocked. Have you fertilized them heavily? I think its a common fault of new eager growers. to over fertilize to early and burn or shock the roots.
and definitely don't get water on the leaves on a sunny day that can burn them like that too. Droplets can burn like a magnifying glass.


----------



## Rocker1986

Belgrave Brewer said:


> Patience. If they.re up, they are just waiting for the day to get longer before shooting upwards. I have good growth above the ground, but very little has shot towards the sky.


Yeah I'm not in any hurry, last season they didn't go mad until late December/early January. Just keeping up the watering at the moment. I had another look today and there appears to be a number of shoots getting ready. Interestingly the first bine that stuck its head up ended up climbing all the way up the 3m trellis. It looks kind of funny with one long bine and similar ground level growth to your pics surrounding it :lol:

The varying temperature is more annoying me personally.. one day it's warm, the next it's cold etc. It's unusual for up here.


----------



## tugger

The mt hood is heading for the sky. 
The chinook is following nicely. 
I think I must have fluked the soil mix. 
It's mostly composted grain and grass clippings with a bag of Bunnings potting mix.


----------



## welly2

It's growing! Finally! Cascade plant.


----------



## Belgrave Brewer

Danscraftbeer said:


> They kind of look stunted too, maybe shocked. Have you fertilized them heavily? I think its a common fault of new eager growers. to over fertilize to early and burn or shock the roots.
> and definitely don't get water on the leaves on a sunny day that can burn them like that too. Droplets can burn like a magnifying glass.


The water droplets on a sunny day has been debunked. They'd need to be sitting 5mm above a leaf for them to concentrate sunlight and burn a plant. Water on leaves overnight daily from watering late however can cause problems.


----------



## Belgrave Brewer

Rocker1986 said:


> Yeah I'm not in any hurry, last season they didn't go mad until late December/early January. Just keeping up the watering at the moment. I had another look today and there appears to be a number of shoots getting ready. Interestingly the first bine that stuck its head up ended up climbing all the way up the 3m trellis. It looks kind of funny with one long bine and similar ground level growth to your pics surrounding it :lol:
> 
> The varying temperature is more annoying me personally.. one day it's warm, the next it's cold etc. It's unusual for up here.


They tend to stop growing vertically around the summer solstice and start working on laterals. Plenty of time for them to reach their height. If that 1st 3m bine is second year, I'd be cutting it off as it is a bullshoot and won't produce near the crop as the second coming of bines.


----------



## Rocker1986

It is a second year, yeah. The plant was in a pot last year but I moved the crown to a bigger home over the winter. So just chop the whole bine off at ground level or so?


----------



## Belgrave Brewer

Rocker1986 said:


> It is a second year, yeah. The plant was in a pot last year but I moved the crown to a bigger home over the winter. So just chop the whole bine off at ground level or so?


If you have plenty to work with that's what I'd be doing. They have longer inter nodal spaces so yield will be less, and are meant to break easier as they are more hollow in the center.


----------



## Rocker1986

Thanks mate. I'll keep an eye on these shoots that are popping their heads out, and also if more appear. If it looks like there will be a good number of them then I'll go and chop that tall one. it has a shoot coming out of it right near the soil too actually, so if I chop it off above that it should focus its energy more on the new shoot it has, I'm guessing?


----------



## Stu Brew

My shoulder hurts....and only half way through stringing....oh well nothing a couple of bevvies wont fix! 

So I just went ahead and mulched my crowns with Upsurge.....burnt all the grass off....and they love it....screw weeding


----------



## BottloBill

Growing faster than anticipated. I will need to erect my other structure sooner than later so the Cascade doesn't grow into the Chinook section


----------



## ein stein

Left and Middle: On their strings, in a disused stock race for protection from deer.
right: a cloned cascade that struck roots and is ready to re-pot


----------



## Rocker1986

I decided to cut down the existing bines on my Hallertau plant since they were doing **** all anyway except being eaten by caterpillars, and there are also a heap of new shoots popping up. These photos show the small shoots coming through (there are some just poking through that can't be seen there) and also a heap of buds on the bottom of one of the bines that was cut down. Hopefully these shoots go better!


----------



## Futur

Does anyone have any laterals yet? I've got quite a few and they're starting to get long.


----------



## Rocker1986

I have a couple starting to sprout on my Fuggle plant, but that's about it at this point.


----------



## Danscraftbeer

> Does anyone have any laterals yet? I've got quite a few and they're starting to get long.


Out of the rest of my breeds my first year Goldings have laterals low on a high early climber. Like a Christmas tree shape I'm imagining it will become.
Should I cut them off or leave them? Let lower growth go or just the higher growth? prune the lower growth?
Decisions decisions.?


----------



## Danscraftbeer

^ Added. The decision is. If you want decoration and leafy mass then let it all go.
If you want more hop yield then trim lower growth and let the higher main bines put out more yield?
I am just a learner in a small backyard at the moment but that is the choice in the basic sense.


----------



## Futur

My plants so far. Are they looking decent for this time of year? These are first year plants and my first time growing hops. 

Do the laterals need to be trained on the main vine or just leave them?


----------



## Belgrave Brewer

Futur said:


> My plants so far. Are they looking decent for this time of year? These are first year plants and my first time growing hops.
> 
> Do the laterals need to be trained on the main vine or just leave them?


Don't train the laterals, just let them hang. I'm really surprised to hear some of you have laterals already. All of you must be much farther north. I haven't even started training mine up the string yet. I have a lot to do in the next week or so.


----------



## BottloBill

Cascade just hit the 3.5 metre mark


----------



## BottloBill

I will need to take some of the shoots out of the Chinook and do some cuttings 
Potted Goldings laying low for now.


----------



## sp0rk

Just wondering if anyone has heard about Neomexicanus seeds being imported into Australia yet? (I'm way too lazy to organise importing some myself)
I'm thinking if they grow well in Texas and New Mexico, they should grow fairly well in the Hunter/New England region


----------



## Rocker1986

My garden this year; in the pot on the left behind the seat is my 2nd year Fuggle, in the left hand silver box is my 2nd year Hallertau, which I chopped the initial bines off the other day to allow the new shoots coming up all over it to take priority, and on the right silver box is my first year Cascade. The Fuggle and Cascade have started sprouting tiny laterals, or what I figure are laterals anyway.. will wait and see what they end up doing first.


----------



## abyss

Looks like a nice place to enjoy a cold one mate.


----------



## LiquidGold

I like how you got the lawn strips going on.


----------



## doctr-dan

One of the bines seems to be dying from the top down??
Any suggestions?


----------



## Danscraftbeer

Mine are copping a hammering from repetitive westerly winds up to 55 knots lately. So much so some climbing tips have gone limp and looks like I'm going to lose the tips. Though I think my stringing technique is working well as in like a bungy shock absorbsion in the wind.
A first year Goldings has climbed over 2m now with low laterals and so has Cascade.
Chinook finaly got out of bed and climbing with fat bines.
Tettnang has multiple climbers.
Red earth popped up early and now dormant with multiple ground level shoots.


----------



## abyss

Mine are a couple of months old now. Next season I'll make large raised beds and transplant them.
Growing these things for the first time is a lot of fun.
The photos are Saaz, Dr Rudi, Cascade.
Would it be too late to plant more ?


----------



## Rocker1986

abyss said:


> Looks like a nice place to enjoy a cold one mate.


Thanks mate, yeah I definitely enjoy a few out there or on the deck above where my kegerator sits (beside the shadow on the right).




LiquidGold said:


> I like how you got the lawn strips going on.


Yeah I've got one of those 45 cylinder mowers. I like the striped effect too, sometimes for shits n giggles I put a checkerboard effect on it


----------



## Wachey

Is it worth while taking some cuttings from the lower laterals?


----------



## Camo6

Wachey said:


> Is it worth while taking some cuttings from the lower laterals?


Do you have the space and/or demand?


----------



## doctr-dan

Any ideas on this guys ?


doctr-dan said:


> One of the bines seems to be dying from the top down??
> Any suggestions?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> IMG_0508.JPG


----------



## Lyrebird_Cycles

Camo6 said:


> Do you have the space and/or demand?


Speak to me of cuttings.

I had caterpillars eat out the meristems of two of my bines, one survived the other didn't. If I can take cuttings off one of the other (healthy) bines that would be great. What treatment do they need, when should they be cut, anything else that I need to know?


----------



## Rocker1986

Bloody caterpillars... they've been an issue in my plants too although they haven't caused enough problems to kill them. I poisoned the bastards and they haven't returned yet. I had one or two bines that had their ends chewed off by something and they began shooting again from nodes lower down.


----------



## Lyrebird_Cycles

Yeah the one that survived has just begun resprouting, hopefully it will get going soon. It is ~30 cm tall while its mate in the same pot has just passed two metres.

Got the rest of the trellis up yesterday, I put a 3.2 metre crossbar at the top of the 6 metre tall chimney on the north side of the house and ran strings down to the bines. My wife says it looks very nautical, kinda appropriate for Williamstown.

While I'm here can someone give me a rough metric for how much soil / potting mix is needed in litres per bine when grown in pots? I don't think I have enough and if I'm going to add more it is probably best to do it now.


----------



## Danscraftbeer

^ Yes that is the question.


Wachey said:


> Is it worth while taking some cuttings from the lower laterals?


I am but its no trouble for me, I've got pvc cylinder thingies in my Aquaponics I just dunk them in and they sprout mega roots etc. 
I could put out dozens of them, maybe sell em on ebay? I'm not sure it would be worth it but anyone in my vicinity pick up on this
could pick up some propagated Cascade cuttings from me. I don't have any room to really take advantage of this. 
Payment would just be, oh, a bottle of your good beer? PM etc. The offer is genuine.


----------



## Danscraftbeer

Rocker1986 said:


> Bloody caterpillars... they've been an issue in my plants too although they haven't caused enough problems to kill them. I poisoned the bastards and they haven't returned yet. I had one or two bines that had their ends chewed off by something and they began shooting again from nodes lower down.


I'm sure I remember you saying you use Dipel? Its the go. Use it as a regular control thing. I only use it every 4 weeks maybe as the moth/caterpillar colony control. Or if those buggers get over the top its more like once a week foliar spray. 
Forget humanity when it comes to gardening pests its more like population control.


----------



## Rocker1986

Not Dipel but I use Yates Success. I normally spray the leaves once a week or so as it does work as a residual control as well as killing them on contact if there are any on the plants. It does a good job though.


----------



## Benn

I have a Second year Chinook that is going crazy, not so much in height but in mass, it's a healthy green Afro of bines. Several of which have began climbing the 4x 4meter strings I have in place. So far there are about 12-15 bines of varying size and thickness. What should I do? Do I let the 4 leading bines climb and cut the rest off at the ground or cut off the longer thinner bines that have began to climb in favour of the much thicker bines that have recently emerged? 
I have a similar situation developing with my Victoria & Cascade plants as well.
Cheers

Edit: Regarding the Chinook, I could also add more strings if need be, plenty of room for that.


----------



## Danscraftbeer

Benn said:


> I have a Second year Chinook that is going crazy, not so much in height but in mass, it's a healthy green Afro of bines. Several of which have began climbing the 4x 4meter strings I have in place. So far there are about 12-15 bines of varying size and thickness. What should I do? Do I let the 4 leading bines climb and cut the rest off at the ground or cut off the longer thinner bines that have began to climb in favour of the much thicker bines that have recently emerged?
> I have a similar situation developing with my Victoria & Cascade plants as well.
> Cheers
> 
> Edit: Regarding the Chinook, I could also add more strings if need be, plenty of room for that.


That is all good questions?
About space conservation. Getting the most out of small spaces.
I am a keen learner of this.
I'm thinking to let it all go. Any weak skinny climbers should be cut and removed. Otherwise think climbers can go as far as they can. Buy then its 1/2 to 3/4 through the season and you could cut the tips if they go too far. Then favour all the flowering.


----------



## fdsaasdf

After 5 weeks of SFA my plant decided that summer has arrived and it's time for action. The initial couple of dozen shoots seem to have all frozen at 10cm or less - they're still bright green - but I have 5 new shoots that have emerged since Tuesday and the tallest of these just hit 6 inches today. None of the harvested rhizomes appear to be happy, I got a couple of tiny leaves pop up a few weeks ago but they're dry and shrivelled now.


----------



## Belgrave Brewer

Benn said:


> I have a Second year Chinook that is going crazy, not so much in height but in mass, it's a healthy green Afro of bines. Several of which have began climbing the 4x 4meter strings I have in place. So far there are about 12-15 bines of varying size and thickness. What should I do? Do I let the 4 leading bines climb and cut the rest off at the ground or cut off the longer thinner bines that have began to climb in favour of the much thicker bines that have recently emerged?
> I have a similar situation developing with my Victoria & Cascade plants as well.
> Cheers
> 
> Edit: Regarding the Chinook, I could also add more strings if need be, plenty of room for that.


The first growth longer and faster growing shoots on second year plants and older are bull shoots. They should be cut back as they are fast growers which have a more hollow center and a longer distance between nodes. They will still produce hop cones, but have a tendency to break easier and produce less cones due to the longer node distance. Train the second growth and cut the thinner bines as they come out. You are wanting to force any growth into the ones you train up. 

On first year rhizomes, let most of the bines grow to assist in root development.


----------



## Benn

Thanks for your input BB, 
The Chinook in question is a Rhizome I got from you last season.
I've also got one of your Victoria Zhomes from last season as well that is going similarly well as the Chinook. Good stock


----------



## Belgrave Brewer

Benn said:


> Thanks for your input BB,
> The Chinook in question is a Rhizome I got from you last season.
> I've also got one of your Victoria Zhomes from last season as well that is going similarly well as the Chinook. Good stock


Was that the monster Chinook rhizome that was over 30cm long? It'll be a beast.  Happy growing!


----------



## Benn

Just little ones in small pots that I picked up from the tap house last September.


----------



## drsmurto

The growth this year has been amazing if not a little scary. First year fertlising them after 10 years of thinking that horse manure in winter was sufficient.


----------



## BottloBill

DrSmurto said:


> The growth this year has been amazing if not a little scary. First year fertlising them after 10 years of thinking that horse manure in winter was sufficient.


most picture's being displayed are showing masses of thick lower growth this season.
I cut back all my Hersbrucker as the first growth was pretty ordinary, just chucked one in a shallow dish with only tap water.


----------



## Belgrave Brewer

DrSmurto said:


> The growth this year has been amazing if not a little scary. First year fertlising them after 10 years of thinking that horse manure in winter was sufficient.


Flood plain nutrients?


----------



## drsmurto

Belgrave Brewer said:


> Flood plain nutrients?


There could be something in that. The other plants that were flooded (raspberries, boysenberries, apples, pears, rhubarb) are also going gangbusters although i have been fertilising them too.


----------



## Dave70

DrSmurto said:


> The growth this year has been amazing if not a little scary. First year fertlising them after 10 years of thinking that horse manure in winter was sufficient.


Don't suppose you've got any rhizomes that may have been tucked away in the fridge for sale? - I know I'm a bit late to the party. 
The Chinook and Cascade you supplied a few seasons back are still going from strength to strength, despite my at times, appalling indifference.


----------



## drsmurto

Dave70 said:


> Don't suppose you've got any rhizomes that may have been tucked away in the fridge for sale? - I know I'm a bit late to the party.
> The Chinook and Cascade you supplied a few seasons back are still going from strength to strength, despite my at times, appalling indifference.


Sorry mate, sold out early this year.


----------



## goatus

DrSmurto said:


> The growth this year has been amazing if not a little scary. First year fertlising them after 10 years of thinking that horse manure in winter was sufficient.


What are you feeding those monsters and how often?


----------



## drsmurto

goatus said:


> What are you feeding those monsters and how often?


Dynamic lifter once a month. I'm sure the commercial growers can jump in with what they use. It's been a wet spring so far so no doubt that is helping.


----------



## HopAssault

I've noticed these small brown marks popping up all over my plant, they start off a mottled brown colour then slowly turn to small holes, is this caused by pests or do I have something else on my hands? 
The white powder on the leaves is just veggie dust that was applied prior to the photos.


----------



## Belgrave Brewer

HopAssault said:


> I've noticed these small brown marks popping up all over my plant, they start off a mottled brown colour then slowly turn to small holes, is this caused by pests or do I have something else on my hands?
> The white powder on the leaves is just veggie dust that was applied prior to the photos.


Looks like they are being munched on by something. Check the underside of the leaves for the culprit.


----------



## HopAssault

Belgrave Brewer said:


> Looks like they are being munched on by something. Check the underside of the leaves for the culprit.


Thanks mate. Found this little fucker and his whole family tucking in to my leaves. Fed 'em to the ants. 
They are good at blending in, took me a while to find them all. 

Aside from physically destroying these guys, is there another way of keeping them at bay?


----------



## Rocker1986

I use a spray called Success from Yates. It kills them on contact but also (so the packaging says anyway) absorbs into the leaves and acts as a residual control of them as well. I usually spray it on the plants about once a week or so but once they start going strongly I don't worry too much about it.


----------



## Danscraftbeer

HopAssault said:


> Thanks mate. Found this little fucker and his whole family tucking in to my leaves. Fed 'em to the ants.
> They are good at blending in, took me a while to find them all.
> 
> Aside from physically destroying these guys, is there another way of keeping them at bay?


I use Dipel (Yates Caterpillar Killer) because I use it on my aquaponics and food garden and its Organic certified. Non Toxic.
Its also absorbed into the plant. The caterpillars die after eating it but if you use it say every 3 weeks you wont have caterpillars.
But its only harmful to caterpillars.


----------



## ScottyDoesntKnow

I bombed mine with a tomato and vegetable caterpillar and insect powder, hopefully it works because they started strong but growth had been pretty much non existent the last month. It was probably a mixture of the caterpillars and no watering for the week every fortnight im away at work. I noticed the top of one of the rhizomes has been exposed in the soil, must have been at least 10-20 nodes there! whereas when I first planted there might have been maybe 3 or 4 on the entire cutting.


----------



## BottloBill

Since when do laterals sprout and grow six inches overnight :blink:


----------



## BottloBill

I spy with my little eye something beginning with B


----------



## Mardoo

So do I need to get little eyes installed for burr spotting? I'm not sure I have the right equipment for growing hops. [emoji15]


----------



## Camo6

BottloBill said:


> Since when do laterals sprout and grow six inches overnight :blink:





BottloBill said:


> I spy with my little eye something beginning with B



Is that what six inches looks like? (TWSS)


----------



## BottloBill

Camo6 said:


> Is that what six inches looks like? (TWSS)


 That's the very top. I will get a piccy of the laterals located lower down, which are now an easy 12 inches


----------



## BottloBill

Laterals stretching out


----------



## Rocker1986

My Fuggle plant has a number of laterals at various stages of growth. The lighter coloured leaves in these pics.


----------



## LiquidGold

I've had an outbreak of little green grasshoppers which are chewing holes all through my leaves. Only retaliation so far has been the two finger squeeze method. The plants are growing so quick I'm hoping it won't be too much of an issue but I've read a bit about neem oil working against chewing and sucking insects while not harming beneficials (unless directly sprayed). Anyone have any experience with it?


----------



## Matplat

Righto, my Victoria is just starting to make some serious tracks, bloody glad I put the string lines up over this weekend. I noticed this morning that there is one bine that looks decidedly thicker than the others, and I've read about trimming back the lesser bines.

Last year when I did that the plant seemed to then focus on growing new bines at the base from where I had trimmed them, and pretty much stopped growing vertically, so I'm a little hesitant to start hacking. I'l post a photo this afternoon, but just wondering peoples thoughts.


----------



## Matplat

The aforementioned Victoria.... note the size of the bine on the left compared to the others....


----------



## Belgrave Brewer

Matplat said:


> The aforementioned Victoria.... note the size of the bine on the left compared to the others....


The larger bine could be a bull shoot. If you have enough bines to train and plan to cut back the rest, cut that one off. Bull shoots tend to break easier and have a farther distance between nodes so will produce less of a yield.


----------



## Benn

Belgrave Brewer said:


> The larger bine could be a bull shoot. If you have enough bines to train and plan to cut back the rest, cut that one off. Bull shoots tend to break easier and have a farther distance between nodes so will produce less of a yield.


Whoops, I must have read read your post wrong the other day when I was asking about my Victoria. I cut all the thin bines off in favour of the thicker darker bines I just cut back some more new shoots last night. The thing is going crazy.


----------



## Belgrave Brewer

Benn said:


> Whoops, I must have read read your post wrong the other day when I was asking about my Victoria. I cut all the thin bines off in favour of the thicker darker bines I just cut back some more new shoots last night. The thing is going crazy.


You want the healthier, thicker bines, but not the bull shoots. From the photo, it looks like a bull shoot as the node distance appears to be much larger than the others. You'll be fine, the other 2 bines appear to be normal. If you have a third like that, train it and cut the bull shoot. If not, no big stress.


----------



## Benn

Cheers BB, I'll post a Pic tonight.
..I promised myself that this season I wouldn't obsess over my hops like I did last season. Just water them, feed them and let them do their thing. 
That went out the window weeks ago, I can't fucken help myself!


----------



## Matplat

Belgrave Brewer said:


> The first growth longer and faster growing shoots on second year plants and older are bull shoots. They should be cut back as they are fast growers which have a more hollow center and a longer distance between nodes. They will still produce hop cones, but have a tendency to break easier and produce less cones due to the longer node distance. Train the second growth and cut the thinner bines as they come out. You are wanting to force any growth into the ones you train up.
> 
> On first year rhizomes, let most of the bines grow to assist in root development.


So am I to understand, you spend most of the season cutting back new growth at the base, to promote growth in the 3-4 bines that are growing in height?

Last year it really seemed like it never stopped trying to grow new bines... but perhaps that was because I wasn't ruthless enough in cutting them back?

I will cut off that bull shoot this afternoon.


----------



## Belgrave Brewer

Matplat said:


> So am I to understand, you spend most of the season cutting back new growth at the base, to promote growth in the 3-4 bines that are growing in height?
> 
> Last year it really seemed like it never stopped trying to grow new bines... but perhaps that was because I wasn't ruthless enough in cutting them back?
> 
> I will cut off that bull shoot this afternoon.


Last year was my first year so I let everything grow to help establish root development. The plan this year is to cut everything back except what goes up the strings. I'll just do that as part of my weeding management over the growing season. I've gone 3 bines per string, 2 strings per plant, and left a spare in case one gets damaged. I spent 10 hours this week cutting back 120 plants. My plants are in mounds though, not in pots.


----------



## Belgrave Brewer

Benn said:


> Cheers BB, I'll post a Pic tonight.
> ..I promised myself that this season I wouldn't obsess over my hops like I did last season. Just water them, feed them and let them do their thing.
> That went out the window weeks ago, I can't fucken help myself!


Good luck not obsessing. LOL


----------



## Rocker1986

Mine's going along reasonably well. The Fuggle plant has a number of laterals on it now, and the Hallertau "second coming" shoots are coming up quite quickly as well. Not sure what's going on with the Cascade but being a first year rhizome I'm just pretty much letting it do whatever it likes. It has a lot of lateral shoots poking out of it, plus 2 or 3 new shoots coming out of the ground (which can't be seen in the pic)

Not the greatest of pics but here goes; Fuggle first, Cascade second, Hallertau third


----------



## Danscraftbeer

Benn said:


> I promised myself that this season I wouldn't obsess over my hops like I did last season. Just water them, feed them and let them do their thing.
> That went out the window weeks ago, I can't fucken help myself!


Let them go feral but attend to them when you can or they go a bitty crazy ha.
Gotta post some pics but the variables are freaky in my garden at the moment. 
First to pop up 8 weeks ago were 1st year Red Earth that has been dormant ever since. In total contrast is the last to pop up was a second year Chinook. A very late start to break out of bed only 3 weeks ago. It has gone berserk as the most growth in like a few weeks. 7mm thick multiple climbers with multiple laterals. It is totally freaky.


----------



## Benn

The Victoria Rhizomes I got of you are flying along for 1st Years, Combined with Belgrave Brewers Vic from last year they are slowly forming a "neighbors be gone" screen across the back yard.
Red Earth; 2017 season is still in it's infancy but, I wouldn't mind a snippet for next years crop if you end up harvesting Zhomes.


----------



## Belgrave Brewer

Danscraftbeer said:


> Let them go feral but attend to them when you can or they go a bitty crazy ha.
> Gotta post some pics but the variables are freaky in my garden at the moment.
> First to pop up 8 weeks ago were 1st year Red Earth that has been dormant ever since. In total contrast is the last to pop up was a second year Chinook. A very late start to break out of bed only 3 weeks ago. It has gone berserk as the most growth in like a few weeks. 7mm thick multiple climbers with multiple laterals. It is totally freaky.


Yeah, that's Chinook. So different from other varieties. Late to the party and then 1st to hit the top wire.


----------



## tugger

What do u guys recommend I spray with. 
I have small green caterpillars eating my leaves.


----------



## Rocker1986

I use Yates Success with great.... success  on the leaves for caterpillars.


----------



## abyss

My Saaz and Dr Rudi are going apeshit but the Cascade has been attacked by something and has been dormant for a while, but there are more shoots coming up now.
I'll get some Yates Success today.


----------



## abyss

My Dr Rudi was nearly at the top of the frame a couple of days ago so not being able to reach the top I taped the landing net to a length of reo bar and managed to sit on top. Then I got some trap line with a snapper sinker on the end and chucked it through the hole and tied it back to the frame so it can't swing around in the wind.

These plants rock.


----------



## abyss

Dr Rudi.


----------



## LiquidGold

Dipel for caterpillars if you want to go organic


----------



## abyss

LiquidGold said:


> Dipel for caterpillars if you want to go organic


Where do you get that mate ?


----------



## wide eyed and legless

LiquidGold said:


> Dipel for caterpillars if you want to go organic


Or thumb and forefinger


----------



## abyss

wide eyed and legless said:


> Or thumb and forefinger


Good idea, lucky I still have both of those.


----------



## LiquidGold

The big green shed stock it. It can be kinda hard to find but its tucked away near the other organic products like eco oil in the the pesticides section.


----------



## Brett05

S.A....Grow there anywhere in pots...even if your in a rental.
First year Cascade(US) & Fuggles(UK)...


----------



## abyss

LiquidGold said:


> The big green shed stock it. It can be kinda hard to find but its tucked away near the other organic products like eco oil in the the pesticides section.


Thanks Mate, I'm going in to town to get some band aids anyway.


----------



## ein stein

Belgrave Brewer said:


> Yeah, that's Chinook. So different from other varieties. Late to the party and then 1st to hit the top wire.


Exactly what my first year chinooks are doing



abyss said:


> ...Cascade has been attacked by something and has been dormant for a while, but there are more shoots coming up now.
> ...


Exactly what my first year Cascade is doing.


----------



## Danscraftbeer

LiquidGold said:


> Dipel for caterpillars if you want to go organic


Its called Catapillar Killer by yates in the big green shed as the shelf grab scenario goes. 
Its a little green box with 4 sachets. Follow the rehydration ratio instructions. (I'll use rain water and add fresh compost tea to the mix). I use a 5lt pump pressure sprayer, with the spray arm thing you can get under and over the leaves.
By my experience if you use it after invasion it can kill in a few days, then a week or two to really see the better results of caterpillar free growth. It seems to last in your leaves for a few weeks as protection.
So if you've got heavy moth/butterfly's then the odd spray over your garden basically prevents the problem.


----------



## Belgrave Brewer

Crap Spring this year in Victoria, but finally starting to see some upwards growth. Hopefully things start kicking on this week.


----------



## abyss

Belgrave Brewer said:


> Crap Spring this year in Victoria, but finally starting to see some upwards growth. Hopefully things start kicking on this week.




Cool set up mate, you've got me thinking about a similar set up for next year.


----------



## drsmurto

Growth rate is crazy.


----------



## abyss

I have been liquid fertilising my hops and vegetables every two weeks on the full and new moon with thrive and seasol and everything is powering.
I am using the flower and fruit thrive on my tomatoes etc but still using the higher nitrogen one on my greens and hops and am wondering when to change to the flour and fruit for the hops ?
If my hops flower as good as the tomatoes I'll be hoppy.


----------



## Belgrave Brewer

abyss said:


> Cool set up mate, you've got me thinking about a similar set up for next year.


Let me know if you need any advice.

How many plants/varieties are you growing?


----------



## ein stein

Belgrave Brewer, Is there a specific reason you have the posts at the end of the rows set at an angle?


----------



## Belgrave Brewer

ein stein said:


> Belgrave Brewer, Is there a specific reason you have the posts at the end of the rows set at an angle?


The end poles carry the majority of the top wire strain, and all the strain of the hop plants. The hop plants can become very heavy in rain, and wind also adds strain. All the center poles hold everything up, but the cables crossing them are free to slide. The angling of end poles help to counteract the weight, they are anchored to the ground with guy wires and 1.4 meter screw anchors into the ground.


----------



## ein stein

I see, I really dont have much of an idea how heavy they can actually get.


----------



## abyss

Belgrave Brewer said:


> Let me know if you need any advice.
> 
> How many plants/varieties are you growing?


I've only got three 1st year plants in pots so far,Saaz, Dr Rudi and Cascade. I was in too much of a hurry to get started.
Next year I want to plant POR, Cluster and Enigma if I can find them. 
I'm thinking of building a huge steel frame with endless ropes hanging down or string some wire cable between some spotted gums. I want maximum height.
I'll make large raised beds out of logs or colour bond for the rhizomes to keep them in and weeds out.

My main question is when to start using the flower/fruit type fertiliser as two of the Bines are already over four meters high with laterals going mad. Should I wait until the cones start to form or give it to em sooner ?


----------



## Mardoo

ein stein said:


> I see, I really dont have much of an idea how heavy they can actually get.


He's growing commercially, so lots of plants. Also, 30 meters of hop risers can generate a fair bit of wind load, so there's also that to consider.


----------



## Aydos

Has anyone got any rhizomes they are willing to split at all? I think mine are dead as they haven't come out of the ground yet.


----------



## Robbieb

This is my first year growing hops and it looks like mine are lagging behind a bit.
Pic 1 is a Cascade which I got from Diggers club towards the end of last year, it died back to the rhizome almost as soon as I got it home. It wasn't doing much until about a week ago but has shot up since then.
Pic 2 is my set up, I just have 1 pot for Cascade and 1 for Chinook and have tied some string to the roof for them to climb.
Pic 3 is Chinook from a rhizome I got from Dr Smurto this year. The first shoot was doing well until the slugs and snail annihilated it last week, now the other 2 have started to pop up.

Does it look like they are lacking nutrients? or is this just normal for new plants? 

Also, should I cut that first Chinook shoot back and let the other ones go?

Thanks for any help!
- Rob


----------



## Rocker1986

abyss said:


> and am wondering when to change to the flour and fruit for the hops ?
> If my hops flower as good as the tomatoes I'll be hoppy.


When you start to see burrs.


----------



## abyss

Rocker1986 said:


> When you start to see burrs.


Ok thanks Rocker I'll keep watching.


----------



## Rocker1986

Same here, my Fuggle plant has a number of laterals on it now so probably not too long before burrs start to appear. The other plants are further behind, but they are catching up pretty quickly.


----------



## Belgrave Brewer

Robbieb said:


> This is my first year growing hops and it looks like mine are lagging behind a bit.
> Pic 1 is a Cascade which I got from Diggers club towards the end of last year, it died back to the rhizome almost as soon as I got it home. It wasn't doing much until about a week ago but has shot up since then.
> Pic 2 is my set up, I just have 1 pot for Cascade and 1 for Chinook and have tied some string to the roof for them to climb.
> Pic 3 is Chinook from a rhizome I got from Dr Smurto this year. The first shoot was doing well until the slugs and snail annihilated it last week, now the other 2 have started to pop up.
> 
> Does it look like they are lacking nutrients? or is this just normal for new plants?
> 
> Also, should I cut that first Chinook shoot back and let the other ones go?
> 
> Thanks for any help!
> - Rob


Hi Rob,
It's been cold and wet in the Dandenong Ranges so hops are off to a slow start. Generally for first year plants, let everything grow to help develop the root system. What kind of soil are they in? I'd get a liquid fertiliser with a good N-P-K and trace minerals and give them a feed every few weeks.


----------



## Rocker1986

Cascade has a few new shoots starting to get moving. This is a first year rhizome so it's just being left to its own devices.

Third pic is 2nd year Hallertau. I'd cut off a couple of early "bull shoots", and now these newer ones are starting to make a move and looking good.

Last pic is a 2nd year Fuggle plant which has a number of laterals on it now. Probably start seeing some burrs near the end of the year.


----------



## doctr-dan

I read a couple of people cutting off bull shoots? Are they not good?


----------



## Robbieb

Belgrave Brewer said:


> Hi Rob,
> It's been cold and wet in the Dandenong Ranges so hops are off to a slow start. Generally for first year plants, let everything grow to help develop the root system. What kind of soil are they in? I'd get a liquid fertiliser with a good N-P-K and trace minerals and give them a feed every few weeks.


Thanks Belgrave Brewer,

They are both in a potting mix for vegies. I had previously given them some seaweed fertiliser that was high in N but not much else, so I got some Yates Thrive today which has a bit of everything in it and gave them some of that.


----------



## Belgrave Brewer

doctr-dan said:


> I read a couple of people cutting off bull shoots? Are they not good?


They break easier as they are not as flexible and have a more hollow center, and, the distance between nodes is greater so yield will be lower. They still produce hops so work with what you have. There's a more detailed response earlier in this topic.


----------



## Belgrave Brewer

Robbieb said:


> Thanks Belgrave Brewer,
> 
> They are both in a potting mix for vegies. I had previously given them some seaweed fertiliser that was high in N but not much else, so I got some Yates Thrive today which has a bit of everything in it and gave them some of that.


Nitrogen is what they really crave right now, but a well balanced fertiliser will help with macro and micro nutrients. They'll want more Potassium and less Nitrogen as soon as you see burrs. Cheers.


----------



## Futur

So I've got a heap of burrs on both my plants. Isnt it too early in the season to be getting burrs already??


----------



## Belgrave Brewer

Futur said:


> So I've got a heap of burrs on both my plants. Isnt it too early in the season to be getting burrs already??


I've seen Queensland growers with burrs already. I'm in VIC and my Cluster has burrs on the bine, but not the laterals. Depends on where you are and what kind of growing season it has been. It could also be a sign of plant stress.


----------



## Futur

Looking healthy!


----------



## Danscraftbeer

Goldings. (From Grainer) Not bad for a first year in a pot.




Chinook. 2nd year (from DrSmurto) Last to start and fastest growth now dwarfing everything else in growth. Laterals as thick as the main bines.
This could have something to do with the carcass, skins and waste of a 7 foot shark I buried adjacent to the grow bed about 6 months ago. The roots must have been looking for food then bang! away it went. Oh, its next to a compost pile as well. The crazy way they tangle and twine together building their own structures. Everywhere but were I want them to go so daily wrangling at the moment.


----------



## Rocker1986

Futur said:


> Looking healthy!


Indeed! That's about where my Fuggles are at at the moment, just no burrs yet. Plenty of laterals though. My other two varieties are behind but shooting up quickly, so it won't be long before they catch up. Got a good dose of rain yesterday too which should do them good. Would like a lot more of it though!


----------



## Futur

Rocker1986 said:


> Indeed! That's about where my Fuggles are at at the moment, just no burrs yet. Plenty of laterals though. My other two varieties are behind but shooting up quickly, so it won't be long before they catch up. Got a good dose of rain yesterday too which should do them good. Would like a lot more of it though!


Nice! The won't take long I'm sure. I kinda ignored my hops for a few weeks, just fertilised every week or so. Then I looked at them the other day and there was burrs everywhere. I'm pretty impressed so far with both plants since they're first year and are both on par with each other.


----------



## drsmurto

Danscraftbeer said:


> Goldings. (From Grainer) Not bad for a first year in a pot.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Chinook. 2nd year (from DrSmurto) Last to start and fastest growth now dwarfing everything else in growth. Laterals as thick as the main bines.
> This could have something to do with the carcass, skins and waste of a 7 foot shark I buried adjacent to the grow bed about 6 months ago. The roots must have been looking for food then bang! away it went. Oh, its next to a compost pile as well. The crazy way they tangle and twine together building their own structures. Everywhere but were I want them to go so daily wrangling at the moment.


No, that's just normal Chinook growth. Last to break the surface but when it does it grows fast enough you can almost see it.


----------



## Lyrebird_Cycles

Lyrebird_Cycles said:


> can someone give me a rough metric for how much soil / potting mix is needed in litres per bine when grown in pots? I don't think I have enough and if I'm going to add more it is probably best to do it now.





Danscraftbeer said:


> ^ Yes that is the question.


Well I can now definitely say that 6 - 8 litres per bine is not enough; both sets were quite rootbound.

Fortunately my wife looked at them this weekend and said "we'll repot those" so we moved them to new pots of about 70 litres. That's about 18 litres per bine, hopefully that will be enough. Most of them are nearing the top of the wire which is at about 5.5 meters.


----------



## Matplat

Rocker1986 said:


> Indeed! That's about where my Fuggles are at at the moment, just no burrs yet. Plenty of laterals though. My other two varieties are behind but shooting up quickly, so it won't be long before they catch up. Got a good dose of rain yesterday too which should do them good. Would like a lot more of it though!


Bummer, that means I'm lagging behind even for Brisbane standards.... I'm sure you've said earlier, but what fertiliser are you using? Just Seasol or something? So far, they've just had chook manure pellets.....

Also, I've noticed holes appearing in the leaves, did you say you were using "Success" for pest control?


----------



## Mardoo

If you get holes on just the lower leaves it's almost always snails. They don't usually climb very high on hops.


----------



## Mardoo

If you get holes on just the lower leaves it's almost always snails. They don't usually climb very high on hops.


----------



## Matplat

Higher up unfortunately, looking around on them this morning, I found a tiny cricket/grasshopper/jumpy thing, it was dispatched with a quick flick of the finger. I doubt it was working alone though.


----------



## Rocker1986

I use that Osmocote herb and vegetable fertiliser on mine. Usually just a small handful every couple of months once they start growing. I use the Success spray as well yes, it's more for caterpillars than grasshoppers, I've also noticed over the last week or two some small holes in some leaves and some leaves chewed completely off and I did find a small green grasshopper on a bine the other day, but otherwise they've largely been left alone by the pests so far.

The Hallertau and Cascade plants have had a bit of a growth spurt in the last few days after that big storm on Saturday and the smaller ones the past couple of nights, it's good to see.


----------



## Matplat

Righto, I think I actually have some of that osmocote in the garage! Might throw a handful on this morning...


----------



## fdsaasdf

My Victoria (which is from matplat) seemed to start quite late for BNE and has about half a dozen shoots around 1.5m now. I have done one treatment of Powerfeed a few weeks ago and plan to do another this weekend.

I've had a few leaves with small holes, and noticed grasshoppers on the plant a number of times but they've been squished. No sign of snails.


----------



## kaiserben

It seems that bloody wallabies have been chewing my tips!

Have had to beef up my security system (ie surround each mound with a ring of chicken wire)


----------



## mofox1

Hops aren't doing too shit this year. They laugh at my 4.2m crossbeam and attempt to grow higher.

Decent laterals from about 1.5m as well. If The weather stays sane it might actually be a decent crop!


----------



## Mardoo

Awesome. I may steal your trellising next year. Do you have them guy-wired?

Interestingly, my Willamette started gangbusters this year, up to 3 meters before any other Melbournians I saw in this thread. Now, they've been at a standstill for about 3 or 4 weeks. They just grew like hell, then all the bines stopped growing. I'm very curious to see what they'll do.

On the other hand, my 1st-year Victoria had about 2 bines that were about 15cm max 5 weeks ago. Now there are 6 bines, most at 4.5 metres, 1/2 metre laterals all the way up, and 3 new, solid bines on the way up.


----------



## Benn

Willamette!? Can I have first dibs on a Rhizome if you decide to sell some?


----------



## Mardoo

Yeah, no worries.


----------



## Danscraftbeer

Damb possums! within their tiny brain capacity found a way to some of my Cascade and Tettnang and ate about 15 tips off last night!!! 
Darn that to labour me some today and sacrifice a few old socks. Filled with a cup of Dynamic Lifter pellets. Screwed them to strategic access points and wet them to stink. Sprayed everything and everywhere with garlic chilli spray and Skat.
Choke on that possums.


----------



## Matplat

Noticed a few burrs in their infancy this afternoon, but i dont have any laterals yet. Will vegetation growth continue much, or should I start hitting them with a more potassium oriented fertilizer?


----------



## Rocker1986

My gut feeling would be to wait for laterals and burrs on those before hitting it with the flowering fertiliser. I've got a couple of burrs on my Hallertau plant for some reason, but also no laterals yet. They will get there though. My Fuggle plant has a heap of laterals but no burrs yet :lol:

These are some pics I got earlier today of my plants. 1. 1st year Cascade, 2. 2nd year Hallertau, 3. 2nd year Fuggle (hard to see the laterals as they've grown up on the mesh too)


----------



## abyss

Rocker those yellowish leaves on your Fuggles don't look right mate.


----------



## Ferg

Chinook & Cascade thanks to Mofox. Struggled to get any sort of super structure up for the hops so took the easy option of buying this thing from Bunnings. Hops are now at the point where they need to be encouraged to grow horizontally, not sure they are going to be too keen to grow downwards on the other side..


----------



## Rocker1986

abyss said:


> Rocker those yellowish leaves on your Fuggles don't look right mate.


They do look a bit wrong I agree, although the same thing happened with my Hallertau last year and it was still fine and produced a fair few flowers in the end. Those bines are the first ones that shot up this season, so I don't know if it's normal for them to do that when newer ones start growing or not, but I'm happy to leave it for now and just see what happens.


----------



## Brownsworthy

Some plants can suffer from iron deficiency and a symptom is yellowing or browning of the leaves I'd try some iron folate I've used it before on a variety of plants and it has returned the leaves back to green again.


----------



## Brownsworthy

My super alpha or Dr Rudi is going well. The longest of the bines is around 4-4.5m and laterals around 30-40cm and have a few small burrs.


----------



## wide eyed and legless

Brownsworthy said:


> Some plants can suffer from iron deficiency and a symptom is yellowing or browning of the leaves I'd try some iron folate I've used it before on a variety of plants and it has returned the leaves back to green again.


Could be, but I'd be putting my money on magnesium deficiency.


----------



## Rocker1986

I have been meaning to give them a bit more fertiliser but I keep forgetting... must remember tomorrow. Maybe throw some epsom salts on it too.. . :lol: kidding.


----------



## Nullnvoid

These are mine, Victoria in the little pot I got off curly79 and cascade in the drum. 

After seeing everyone's photos mine are not taking off the same. I am watering them once every couple of days. Is this not enough or too much? They are in a nice and sunny position. 

They are first years so nor expecting a lot but thought they would be doing better than this when comparing with everyone else.


----------



## ScottyDoesntKnow

I'm no Don Burke but I'd say you need to get them out of those pots and into the ground instead, those pots look pretty small. My 3 first year chinook started off quickly then went idle for what felt like 2 months. Haven't put much effort into them, not much watering etc but they are going well now, got probably 12 really healthy looking bines with the longest about 3m.


----------



## Nullnvoid

Yeah the small one I can understand, as I just dumped it there and haven't expected it to go as well as it has, considering it started after the other two. But the ones in the wine barrel I thought had enough space.

Not keen to put them in the ground if I can help it at this stage.


----------



## LiquidGold

Rocker1986 said:


> I have been meaning to give them a bit more fertiliser but I keep forgetting... must remember tomorrow. Maybe throw some epsom salts on it too.. . :lol: kidding.


Epsom salts is a good source of magnesium for plants actually so it would't hurt to dilute some into the water your watering with, or apply as foliar spray late in the day.


----------



## Curly79

Nullnvoid said:


> Yeah the small one I can understand, as I just dumped it there and haven't expected it to go as well as it has, considering it started after the other two. But the ones in the wine barrel I thought had enough space.
> 
> Not keen to put them in the ground if I can help it at this stage.


I wouldn't be too worried Russ. It's been a strange season for me too. We've only had a handful of warm days down here when you think about it. . My POR is going well but victoria and cascade which have been in the ground for 3 years are slow as. Wouldn't be surprised if they fire up soon but if not don't stress they will go better next year


----------



## Matplat

Maybe I'm predisposed to think I'm doing worse than everyone else... but in recent photos it seems I might not be tracking too badly. In the following order: victoria, then cascade then EKG. There is an overgrown garden in front of the cascade and EKG so cant get good photos from a distance.


----------



## Danscraftbeer

Matplat. I have Hallertau, Red Earth and Tettnang that look equal to yours. The pics I posted on the last page were the exceptional.
My third year Cascade and the Aquaponics cascade are in-between on growth so far. They were usually the star previous years. 



I'll recomend just a little more than water at the moment. I make compost tea, worm tea if you have it. Sea weed extract. All well diluted.
I'm warry of using fertilizers other than in tiny amounts. Like 1/10 of recommended doses once a week with normal watering is about it.
Never add any strong doses and don't over water either. If the soil is moist when you stick your finger in then leave it. 
As for pots I put a tray underneath. Fill that tray, watch them suck it up if they are dryish or the hops are thirsty.
$0.02


----------



## Matplat

Thanks Dan, so far they have been surviving on the load of chook manure pellets that I threw on them at the beginning of the season, but last weekend i gave them some of the slow release osmocote pellets... i think I have some seaweed solution in the shed though....


----------



## Matplat

Victoria burrs....


----------



## wide eyed and legless

This is something you can use on any fruit trees including citrus, hops or leafy vegetables, feeds and adds mineral s and trace micro elements.
1/2 cup Charlie carp.
1 cup seaweed concentrate.
3 teaspoons of zinc sulphate
3 teaspoons of epsom salts. (magnesium sulphate)
mix well into 10 litres of water. DO NOT USE AT THIS STRENGTH!

For a foliar feed, mix 1/2 litre with 5 litres of water. Spray over and under leaves, this will feed through the leaves and whatever drips down will be taken up by the root system.

A big thank you to Mr Cundall


----------



## drsmurto

Chinook just starting to form burrs. Struggling to keep it from taking over the garden at the moment. Beginning to think fertilising was a bad move...

There is supposed to be access past the plant to get to the apple trees behind and access to the Victoria plants. May need the chainsaw to get through.


----------



## Benn

Strewth!


----------



## doctr-dan

Wow!


----------



## Danscraftbeer

DrSmurto said:


> Chinook just starting to form burrs. Struggling to keep it from taking over the garden at the moment. Beginning to think fertilising was a bad move...
> 
> There is supposed to be access past the plant to get to the apple trees behind and access to the Victoria plants. May need the chainsaw to get through.


 :lol: I have to say I was confused when you threw on added surface fertilizers this season. Are your chooks not shitting enough?


----------



## Futur

Cones ahoy!
When will they be ready to pick?


----------



## Rocker1986

Off the top of my head, usually ready when they start to feel dry and papery. Also look for the yellow lupulin powder. You can also crush one up in your fingers and smell it, it should smell like the pellets you buy although obviously fresher. 

If any of that is wrong, please correct it.


----------



## Mardoo

From the interviews I've read, there's something the new generation hop growers do when talking about the previous generation who passed the farm on to them. When talking about how amazing their forebears were, they unconsciously rub their thumb and index finger together. Hops are dry and papery when they're ready. Not brown (too far), maybe a bit yellow, not fresh and juicy. Pick a cone and roll it between your thumb and index finger. Then pull it apart and smell it, as Rocker mentioned. Use your senses. You can also snap the centre stalk of the cone. If it breaks, that's either ripe or too far. If it bends, that's not far enough. It's all about oil development, lupulin development, and the bine withdrawing moisture from the cone. And that little roll will tell you almost everything you need to know, in my experience. 

One note is that the greatest flush of oils comes near the end of ripening. You want those oils, so too soon is not good.


----------



## wide eyed and legless

Plump oil filled glands.


----------



## Matplat

How long do we think the prime picking window of opportunity is?


----------



## Mardoo

It depends on the weather in a given year and how ripe you want them when you harvest. My experience says usually about 3 days, as much as a week. But then they don't all reach peak condition at once. Honestly picking them only at peak condition is a pain in the butt, IMHO. I wait until the majority are at peak and then cut the bines down. Different strokes. 

Belgrave Brewer advised me to wait as long as possible for maximum oil development. The longer you wait, the shorter your window.


----------



## Belgrave Brewer

Mardoo is correct that each year will be very different weather wise, and that the window can also vary greatly based on weather.

The bittering oils develop early while the aroma/flavour oils continue to develop and increase as the cones ripen.

I'm mostly using my hops late in the brewing process so I'm looking to get the most flavour and aroma from them, which means I pick as late as I can. If you pick too early, you'll also get more grassy notes which some people find undesirable, and the drying process will take longer. Regardless, it is a short window.

Here's a great video I found last year that gives you a good indication on when to pick. If you can, try and pick when the cones are ready and not the pick the entire plant at once. That's the advantage you have as a home grower over the commercial guys who pick it all at once.

https://youtu.be/TlsT-x19III


----------



## Matplat

That also works well, because I plan to dry in a dehydrator, which hopefully won't fit the entire harvest at once!


----------



## Belgrave Brewer

Matplat said:


> That also works well, because I plan to dry in a dehydrator, which hopefully won't fit the entire harvest at once!


If you can, try and dry below 38C as that is where volatiles begin to blow off. I used my dehydrator last year for first pickings and could cram about 1kg into the 9 tray unit. Works great for small quantities.

I'm looking at over 800kg yield wet if we have a good year so have basically built a dehydrating room and will have to stagger my picking in order to get it all off the bine and dried in time.


----------



## Rocker1986

I need to build, or rather finish building, my drying rack over my holidays to be ready for the harvest early next year. Last year I just dried them on dinner plates as I didn't have many. The yield increased when I hit the plants with Maxibloom though.

Some of the bines on my Hallertau and Cascade plants have burrs on them already, but nothing in the way of laterals yet. What's the reason for this?

They are looking good now though, a number of bines climbing up the trellises. IN this photo is Hallertau on the left and Cascade on the right (bit hard to see its bines due to the bloody green background though)


----------



## Matplat

Belgrave Brewer said:


> Here's a great video I found last year that gives you a good indication on when to pick. If you can, try and pick when the cones are ready and not the pick the entire plant at once. That's the advantage you have as a home grower over the commercial guys who pick it all at once.
> 
> https://youtu.be/TlsT-x19III


That's an awesome video, I actually feel like I know what to look for now!


----------



## drsmurto

My drying regime involves 2 fly wire screen doors sitting on milk crates. Although this year i am hoping to use more of them straight from the bine and pass some on to a local brewery.


----------



## Matplat

By the looks of your chinook, I think you'll have to donate some to prevent wastage!


----------



## Rocker1986

My drying rack is a bit the same really. Just fly screen "drawers" in a frame. Shouldn't be too much to build.


----------



## AJ80

Laterals are starting to appear on my Mt Hood and Chinook. Cascade and Goldings are not quite at the top of their strings. First year hops (wild Otway goldings and Victoria) are growing well, but am not yet confident of any crop off them.


----------



## Matplat

As I don't have any fly screens to re-purpose, I was trying to work out the cost of making a mini oast house to fit over a fan. I then looked up second hand dehydrators and realised one of them could be had for less money and less mucking about, albeit at less volume...


----------



## Matplat

Double...


----------



## Rocker1986

I just got a roll of flyscreen from the big green shed to use for mine.


----------



## Belgrave Brewer

After a very slow start due to a cold and wet Spring things are starting to look normal for this time of the year in VIC. Probably still a week behind, but they'll catch up in time. 4 days until the solstice, the longest day of the year.


----------



## Schooner_downunder

Cascade, Chinook & POR starting to hit their strides... Scored 3 M electrical pipe from Masters for $ 10 each and set a few eye hooks at the top.


----------



## Matplat

Have you got two types of hop on one of those 'masts'? Or is there another out of the shot?


----------



## Schooner_downunder

Matplat said:


> Have you got two types of hop on one of those 'masts'? Or is there another out of the shot?


POR is on the far left mound and I have cascade in the right mound. The Chinook are in pots going up the line on the far right of the right pole. Noticed the bines making their way out now!!


----------



## Robbieb

My hops have picked up now. The chinook is taller than me, hard to believe that's just 1 months worth of growth.


----------



## Rocker1986

These are some burrs that have formed on my 1st year Cascade plant. It hasn't really started sprouting any laterals yet. Up in the air whether to start applying the flowering fertiliser yet or wait until it sprouts some proper laterals. :unsure: What do the learned folks here reckon?


----------



## Matplat

Rocker1986 said:


> These are some burrs that have formed on my 1st year Cascade plant. It hasn't really started sprouting any laterals yet. Up in the air whether to start applying the flowering fertiliser yet or wait until it sprouts some proper laterals. :unsure: What do the learned folks here reckon?


I'm interested in the answer to that question too, cos my plants look pretty much the same!


----------



## gunn

My chinook bolted so early, didnt seem to put much effort into laterals - should still get a decent harvest.

DrSmurto could you share your thoughts on a IIPA with these?


----------



## Rocker1986

My Hallertau has started sprouting laterals now, along with the handful of burrs/flowers that appeared. I'll just keep an eye on them over the next few weeks, which won't be too hard since I'm on 4 weeks holidays.

And this here is a perfect example of why I put the mesh covers over the soil in these things... :lol: this is the Hallertau plant.


----------



## Brownsworthy

C'mon Kelsey! You've spent plenty of bloody time restoring that reel mower to have a perfect lawn but you've neglected the bloody edges. 
Now do yourself a favour and get the bloody wipper snipper out and tidy that up!


----------



## Danscraftbeer

Rocker1986 said:


> My Hallertau has started sprouting laterals now, along with the handful of burrs/flowers that appeared. I'll just keep an eye on them over the next few weeks, which won't be too hard since I'm on 4 weeks holidays.
> 
> And this here is a perfect example of why I put the mesh covers over the soil in these things... :lol: this is the Hallertau plant.


What is that bird? It looks big enough to eat!


----------



## barls

don't eat it they taste like crap. its ether a brush turkey or a water hen


----------



## drsmurto

gunn said:


> My chinook bolted so early, didnt seem to put much effort into laterals - should still get a decent harvest.
> 
> DrSmurto could you share your thoughts on a IIPA with these?


Awesome! I've made a few IIPAs using only homegrown hops. Bursting with flavour. Only downside is the 5L of beer the dry hop soaks up. Worth it though.


----------



## fdsaasdf

Danscraftbeer said:


> What is that bird? It looks big enough to eat!


It's a scrub turkey. When they die even crows won't eat them. They are the precise reason I have my edible gardens surrounded with fencing wire, and planted my hops in an old concrete sink 2 feet off the ground...


----------



## fdsaasdf

DrSmurto said:


> Only downside is the 5L of beer the dry hop soaks up. Worth it though.


I've never used fresh whole cones but have wondered about this. Is there any way to delicately press them to extract the deliciously infused product without oxidising the beer?


----------



## Rocker1986

Brownsworthy said:


> C'mon Kelsey! You've spent plenty of bloody time restoring that reel mower to have a perfect lawn but you've neglected the bloody edges.
> Now do yourself a favour and get the bloody wipper snipper out and tidy that up!


 yeah I really have to get those sorted lol. It's bloody nutgrass, the shit grows like crazy.


----------



## Danscraftbeer

fdsaasdf said:


> I've never used fresh whole cones but have wondered about this. Is there any way to delicately press them to extract the deliciously infused product without oxidising the beer?


I am challenged with this thought too. As well as seeing all that yellow Lupulin still left in the flowers of the dry hop leftovers. 
I may go chef more and chop them up instead of leaving them whole? To get more value out of those laboured hops etc.
It would have to be pretty darn sanitary chopping though (sanitary knife and chopping surface) and I don't want to blitz or blend them in any of my kitchen machines either. All that sticky yellow resin that's not going in your beer would be hard to clean off I imagine.


----------



## drsmurto

I use dried hops, never used wet hops directly in a beer, only via an ice extract process. Will be doing a wet hop harvest beer this season though.

I dry hop with flowers using a hop bag with a heap of marbles to keep the bag submerged. Never attempted to squeeze the bag. After the first time i brewed extra to account for the loss.


----------



## Matplat

I put commercial pellets in a bag for the dry hop in the only IPA I have made. sank straight to the bottom and stayed there. was a tasty beer, but nowhere near as hoppy as 100g dry hop should have effected.

Dunno if it's the same for flowers, but now I only dry hop loose and cold crash to stop them going down the bottling tube.


----------



## ScottyDoesntKnow

Home from work today to find this. Feel like a proud parent.


----------



## Mardoo

…and Daddy said, "Go spread your seed, boy."


----------



## ScottyDoesntKnow

But don't come crying to me when you can't pay child support.


----------



## Futur

So turns out my crop had a large infestation of downy mildew. I've sprayed with copper and culled a lot of the infected plant but wish I had known about this earlier. Many of the laterals have been stunted and the cones also, damnit.


----------



## Rocker1986

Bugger. Mine haven't had this problem so far, either this season or last season. My Hallertau plant has finally decided to sprout some laterals and is looking pretty good at the moment. I think it's enjoying its new bigger home this year. Minimal flowers but I won't be harvesting them anyway as there are only a handful on it. I'll wait until it starts producing what I'd expect to be the actual flowering before worrying about harvest.


----------



## Belgrave Brewer

Rocker1986 said:


> Bugger. Mine haven't had this problem so far, either this season or last season. My Hallertau plant has finally decided to sprout some laterals and is looking pretty good at the moment. I think it's enjoying its new bigger home this year. Minimal flowers but I won't be harvesting them anyway as there are only a handful on it. I'll wait until it starts producing what I'd expect to be the actual flowering before worrying about harvest.


Those laterals will produce plenty of flowers in time, you may surprised on the size of your crop this year.


----------



## Rocker1986

Yeah, I was pretty surprised to get what I got off it last year and that was just a first year plant in a pot, so I'm expecting more this year given it is in a bigger home and can grow higher and it's a second year. How much more I'm not sure, but I'll find out in time of course. Looking forward to seeing what it does produce though.


----------



## AJ80

DrSmurto said:


> I use dried hops, never used wet hops directly in a beer, only via an ice extract process. Will be doing a wet hop harvest beer this season though.
> 
> I dry hop with flowers using a hop bag with a heap of marbles to keep the bag submerged. Never attempted to squeeze the bag. After the first time i brewed extra to account for the loss.


Any infection issues dry hoping with home grown flowers good doctor?

Also, the first burrs have just appeared on my Chinook and Mt Hood. Cascade starting to throw a few laterals and the goldings is falling well behind.


----------



## drsmurto

AJ80 said:


> Any infection issues dry hoping with home grown flowers good doctor?
> 
> Also, the first burrs have just appeared on my Chinook and Mt Hood. Cascade starting to throw a few laterals and the goldings is falling well behind.


No different to commercial hops so no, never had an infection from dry hopping.


----------



## AJ80

Just the reassurance I was looking for. Thanks!


----------



## drsmurto

Finally remembered where the videos of the 10 minute IPA we made using my homegrown chinook. 400g in a 40L batch. Smell was amazing!

Link


----------



## Matplat

I've noticed that burrs are only growing higher up, on my EKG they only start about 6' and up... will they grow lower later on? Seems like alot of wasted plant at the moment....


----------



## Rocker1986

That sounds about right. My Hallertau plant only really grew flowers in the top half of it last year although there were the odd small groups of flowers lower down.


----------



## Mardoo

That's why you generally need over 2m of height. Many hops don't produce laterals below that point. However, not all. My Victoria has them down to about 1m. Be interesting to see whether those ones produce.


----------



## drsmurto

Mardoo said:


> That's why you generally need over 2m of height. Many hops don't produce laterals below that point. However, not all. My Victoria has them down to about 1m. Be interesting to see whether those ones produce.


It's not height, it's the length of the bines. Grow them along the ground and they'll happily produce cones on the ground. Like most climbing plants, they also make a great ground cover. The cones grown on the ground tend to get less sunlight so are often pale and lacking lupilin. Cones grown on upright bines are exposed to more sunlight and grow better. 

Or grow dwarf hops.......


----------



## wide eyed and legless

For some reason the dwarf hops only do well in rows of seven


----------



## malt junkie

wide eyed and legless said:


> For some reason the dwarf hops only do well in rows of seven


 .... and some have personality issues.


----------



## Rocker1986

Yeah the laterals on my Hallertau are growing well under 2m, one bine has them growing out almost at ground level. The ones up higher just sprouted into burrs so I don't know whether they'll sprout laterals later or not once the flowers fall off or whatever :unsure: Same deal on the Fuggle, laterals all over it from top to bottom.


----------



## drsmurto

malt junkie said:


> .... and some have personality issues.


----------



## Matplat

Maybe I should extend my line somehow.. the ekg is flopping around up the top now that it's passed the top of the line, must be a good 6-700mm past by now...


----------



## ein stein

The poorly planned plantation as of today: not doing too much training, just keeping the different varieties separated and letting the chinook form their own lattice.






The cascade clone as it was last week


----------



## wide eyed and legless

There should be a RSPCH, why will people insist on putting a plant with a lateral moving rhizome in a pot.


----------



## ein stein

wide eyed and legless said:


> There should be a RSPCH, why will people insist on putting a plant with a lateral moving rhizome in a pot.


because they're first year plants that i am growing for the first time and picked them up on the spur of the moment, i'll drop them in the ground next yeah when i pick a good spot but thats really my business


----------



## Rocker1986

Space can be a factor too. Last year I had two first year plants in pots, and this year I grabbed a Cascade rhizome as well. Over winter I bought two big planter boxes, built higher trellises for them and moved one existing plant into one and put the Cascade in the other. I left the other existing plant in its pot due to lack of space. The ones in the big boxes are definitely doing better, but sometimes you have to work with what you've got.


----------



## Brownsworthy

wide eyed and legless said:


> There should be a RSPCH, why will people insist on putting a plant with a lateral moving rhizome in a pot.
> [,quote]
> 
> Because they are extremely invasive and essentially a noxious weed...maybe.


----------



## abyss

ein stein said:


> because they're first year plants that i am growing for the first time and picked them up on the spur of the moment, i'll drop them in the ground next yeah when i pick a good spot but thats really my business


That's exactly my situation Mate.
We can learn for next season. Just like brewing cans of beautiful goo it is still rewarding.


----------



## capsicum

We're off for what will hopefully be another good growing season in Busselton WA. Got some perle, cascade and POR.

I've got it pretty good, put these in the ground in 2013 at my parents' place shortly before moving to Karratha. Since mum uses the area to grow flowers when they die back in winter my old man is always adding plenty of manure and compost. Now back in Perth but I think I'll keep letting him look after them in exchange for a keg now and then!


----------



## Danscraftbeer

Compact gardening December 2016.
1st year Tettnang early to start off but slow as a wet week in growth. Maybe its origin genetics get confused with fluctuating Melbourne weather.




Aquaponic Cascade. Also late to get going and more latteral than climbing so a bit of string engeneering to spread it out. This harvested in April last year.





Potted Hops are Red Earth (slow growth 1st year). Goldings (fast growth 1st year). Hallertauer (Medium growth 1st year). Cascade in wicking beds in the netted section.
Chinook at right back.
Dont get confused by the Ivy over the back fence.







I tr‏ied to make corrydors etc. A bit harsh on bare skin though.





Ah Chinook. Who needs trellisis. As to reputation its the last to sprout, then the fastest to grow and first to flower this year.




Clustering with burs now. (right, over the shed)


----------



## Matplat

Cascade cones! Looks like there are currently around 60 burrs/cones on the plant so far, hopefully this figure improves between now and harvest time....


----------



## Belgrave Brewer

So the (dwarf) Cluster rhizomes I purchased in 2015 struggled through the 2015/16 season but I ended up with a decent harvest in 2016. 2nd year in the ground and they've all surpassed the 5 meter mark and growing quite well. Lot of burrs and some pretty impressive cones developing. I'm not sure what was Dwarf about them...some have already grown over a meter over the top wire at 5 meters and continue to lengthen. Anyway, pretty happy with them as I've just had my first beer with a fresh hop in it and it's only January 1st.


----------



## BottloBill

She's back (3rd year Hersbrucker) pure monster. Progressive photo's a couple of weeks between each shot and is also hanging over the wall another metre in places.


----------



## Rod

how much hop yield do you get from 1 plant


----------



## ScottyDoesntKnow

Huge variables Rod, plant age, growing conditions, location to the equator etc. I've got 3 first year plants and live in less than ideal growing conditions for hops, if I get enough yield for a wet hopped pale ale 20l batch I'll be pretty happy.


----------



## Rocker1986

My Hallertau is going well, shooting out a few laterals and some more burrs are appearing now. The Cascade plant has produced a number of burrs, about half of which have now turned into cones, and they look reasonably sized too. It's also shot out a new bine in the last day or so. I've started hitting both plants with the flowering fertiliser as of today, so we'll see what happens.

Hallertau plant



Cascade plant



Cones on the Cascade plant


----------



## Benn

First year cascade:


Nothing out of the ordinary as far as height of growth but the leaves seem pretty large compared to some of my other plants. My first year Victoria's are the same with some leaves nearly twice the size of my hand.


----------



## Rocker1986

I haven't noticed much difference between the size of the leaves on my Cascade and Hallertau plants although the Hallertau is second year. They both have some pretty big leaves on them, but the main difference is the shape of them. The Hallertau ones seem to have 'fatter' sections that are closer together, a bit like the Victoria leaf photo, whereas the Cascade leaves seem to have thinner sections that are further apart. None of them is nearly twice the size of my hand though. :lol:


----------



## Benn

I wish I'd never decided to grow hops, they've taken a hold over my mind.


----------



## Rocker1986

The only thing I wish is that the bloody flowers would all be ready to harvest at the same time...


----------



## Mardoo

Ha, Benn, that's why I cut back to two varieties! Easy to get a bit obsessive. But then here is that third variety which started as a volunteer from my scrap pile…which I may or may not have nurtured a bit…

Does setting it up with fertiliser and irrigation count as nurturing?


----------



## wide eyed and legless

Benn said:


> I wish I'd never decided to grow hops, they've taken a hold over my mind.


At least they are legal.


----------



## AJ80

Cascade starting to burst with burrs and catching up to the Chinook and Mt Hood. Goldings seems to be falling behind again compared with the other three. My first year plants (Victoria and wild Otways goldings) are putting on a late burst of growth, but yet to start throwing laterals. Really hoping to get a small harvest off the wild hops.


----------



## Benn

Mum & Dad live on 100 acres 5 mins from my house, I've already spoken to them about fencing off a little corner for some poles and trellis, its a disease!


----------



## Danscraftbeer

Darn possums again arghh!!!! 3 years they have never gone to the trouble of getting to my hops like this. Curse them for making me chore to prevent this anymore. I even have one of those expensive sonic things pointed at the vulnerable hops. I cant expect much from the Tettnang, they weren't going that strong anyhow now look at them. You couldn't see the sky through the mass of foliage before this. Now mere twigs arghh!!!!
They also ate a good wack of my Aquaponic Cascade the fuzzball scumbags. Hopefull the wire will do the trick not that there's much more they can reach to eat.


----------



## Matplat

******* grasshoppers have eaten off the top growing tips from my cascade and EKG. I feel your pain!


----------



## Rocker1986

I've started seeing grasshoppers on mine now too. They're mostly only small things about 10mm long or so at this point. They've only put holes in some leaves but the tips are mostly fine so far. Some tips that have already reached the top of the trellis have been chewed off but I don't really care about those because they're already up there. They were all over the plants last year too but didn't seem to affect the growth too much. Will monitor the situation, but unfortunately I can't be there 24/7 to kill the fuckers if I see them on there.


----------



## Curly79

P.O.R is going well this year. My Victoria and Cascade are piss poor though. They Havnt had much love over winter the last two years. What is the best way and time to give them a good dose of horse poo? Also I've been away for two weeks and come back to this. 

Little buggers been munching the hell out of it. Can only see small black insects on it? Gunna mix up some Vasili's special pest spray and see how that goes. Cheers lads[emoji481]


----------



## wide eyed and legless

I wouldn't be worrying to much about leaf damage, the best time to fertilise is some all purpose in the winter, and then some nitrogenrich fertiliser as they come up in spring how big are they now?


----------



## Curly79

About 10 ft tall I Spose. I normally give them a bit of Seasol once a fortnight.


----------



## wide eyed and legless

If there is no sign of any buds yet give them some Power Feed, Seasol is no a fertiliser but it is good for keeping your plant and the root system healthy.


----------



## Curly79

Will do. Thanks


----------



## wide eyed and legless

One thing I forgot to mention if you are in Melbourne don't be out fertilising the hops while it is hot, below 27 degrees. DO NOT FERTILISE YOUR PLANTS ABOVE THAT TEMP.


----------



## Danscraftbeer

Can there be anything bad about spraying SKAT (Aluminium Ammonium Sulphate) over my hop bines and foliage? I really don't like the idea. I would spray them at dusk.
Otherwise any way I can stop possums. I am at a loss. They have practically destroyed my Tettnang and Aquaponic Cascade. They have a taste for them now and keep hacking it more every night. They've never climbed out over the bines and strings before. Now they are and breaking kinking all the bines and eating all tips and foliage. I'm now worried there going to find ways to all my other hops as well.


----------



## Mardoo

I was advised to use blood and bone meal to repel possums. Worked a treat! They decimated my plants one year not long ago, totally out of the blue. Never had before. They stopped immediately when I did the following. 

Blood and bone scattered on the soil around the base, or for your aquaponics ones in small containers around the base. Old socks with 1/2 cup or more of BB meal in them tied on your trellises or scattered along the route the possums are using to access the hops. Renew it once a week for four weeks, then every second week after that.

They apparently don't like strong smells of rot. Dynamic Lifter pellets seem to work well too. I use a combination of the two now as an occasional top dressing. Haven't had problems since. I also recently heard socks filled with dog hair work great, but haven't tried it. I myself don't think BB meal smells bad, but I'm happy they do!

Good luck, and I hope this works as well for you as it did for me!


----------



## wide eyed and legless

Possums always 'tip' any plant, this year I thought I had covered my bases using the plastic spikes sold in Bunnings to prevent birds from landing where they shouldn't, I put them out so they couldn't reach my Runner Bean tips, worked well, but my first pollinated pumpkin (which I grew vertical) got eaten but now I have protected that walkway with spikes so should be OK. The plastic bottles on your horizontal wires will work as long as the bines are trained around the bottles so they can still spin.


----------



## Danscraftbeer

Yeah I've got the Dynamic lifter in socks at all structural access points and in the foliage as well. All around the bases etc. I thought that did the trick but it now doesn't deter them. They must literally step over it. I wet them to make them stink more but it just seems to only be an unpleasant smell to me all around my garden. Fecking possums there's a million other trees for them to eat I cant understand why they're so hell bent on my hops.
My idea of spraying them with skat is so the foliage tastes like shit and they wont eat it. I've tried wire mesh barriers, spikes, a $300 something sonic deterrent. Pretty deflating on the gardening efforts. I really cant see what will work if they really want to eat them they will. Even to climb down the fence, along the ground and up another way. These things are relentless this year more than ever. I've spent a wack on wire mesh to cage up everything else I grow but I cant cage up the entire backyard.
I just don't know. The fecking things are beating me this year.


----------



## Benn

Commiserations, That sux DansCB,
Foliar spray with Seasol? It stinks.


----------



## fdsaasdf

Possums are pricks. I've not heard of many people successfully using aromatic repellents.

Unrelated to hops but a few years ago I managed to keep them away from my cable/power line into the house using a large plastic drum lid (~18inch diameter) suspended on the line so they can't easily swing past. Stopped them from making a noise on my roof. Maybe you can do something similar?


----------



## Mardoo

Danscraftbeer said:


> Yeah I've got the Dynamic lifter in socks at all structural access points and in the foliage as well. All around the bases etc. I thought that did the trick but it now doesn't deter them. They must literally step over it. I wet them to make them stink more but it just seems to only be an unpleasant smell to me all around my garden. Fecking possums there's a million other trees for them to eat I cant understand why they're so hell bent on my hops.
> My idea of spraying them with skat is so the foliage tastes like shit and they wont eat it. I've tried wire mesh barriers, spikes, a $300 something sonic deterrent. Pretty deflating on the gardening efforts. I really cant see what will work if they really want to eat them they will. Even to climb down the fence, along the ground and up another way. These things are relentless this year more than ever. I've spent a wack on wire mesh to cage up everything else I grow but I cant cage up the entire backyard.
> I just don't know. The fecking things are beating me this year.


Bugger, that's shit. Tried fox urine? I've also heard that works, but haven't tried it. It can bring more foxes though, so if you have cats or chickens, not the best idea.


----------



## Rocker1986

Jeez, I thought we had the bloody things bad living under the house, knocking shit over and sometimes breaking it every time they come in and out. Actually it is pretty ******* annoying, but I'd probably be more pissed off if they ruined my hops plants. So far they haven't gone near any of them, either this season or last season.

I climbed up on the Cascade planter box earlier and picked one of the cones. It wasn't ready yet, but I just wanted to see how big it was. Probably about 4cm long or so.



There are a number of these clumps of cones or burrs on the plant now too, so I've started using the flowering fertiliser on them.


----------



## drsmurto

Yesterday on the left, Dec 13 on the right. Covered in burrs. Going to be an epic crop.

Re - fertilising. I add horse manure over winter. This is the first year i added any fertiliser in the growing season. Started adding dynamic lifter every 4 weeks once the first shoot appeared. Switched to potash once burrs formed.


----------



## BottloBill

DrSmurto said:


> Yesterday on the left, Dec 13 on the right. Covered in burrs. Going to be an epic crop.
> 
> Re - fertilising. I add horse manure over winter. This is the first year i added any fertiliser in the growing season. Started adding dynamic lifter every 4 weeks once the first shoot appeared. Switched to potash once burrs formed.


your going to be very busy with that lot


----------



## Benn

Smurto, do you do the commercial thing and limit overall bine numbers (per plant) by cutting back excess bines early on in the season or do you let them all grow freely?


----------



## Curly79

DrSmurto said:


> Yesterday on the left, Dec 13 on the right. Covered in burrs. Going to be an epic crop.
> 
> Re - fertilising. I add horse manure over winter. This is the first year i added any fertiliser in the growing season. Started adding dynamic lifter every 4 weeks once the first shoot appeared. Switched to potash once burrs formed.


When you fertilise with manure Smurfo do you just dump it on top of the cut back bines or do you spread it around the edges? Then cover the whole lot with mulch?


----------



## drsmurto

Benn said:


> Smurto, do you do the commercial thing and limit overall bine numbers (per plant) by cutting back excess bines early on in the season or do you let them all grow freely?


No cutting back. They do as they please.



Curly79 said:


> When you fertilise with manure Smurfo do you just dump it on top of the cut back bines or do you spread it around the edges? Then cover the whole lot with mulch?


Cut back then cover the whole area with a thick layer of horse manure.

For those not aware, the first of the Chinook rhizomes was planted mid 2007 so they are very well established.


----------



## AJ80

DrSmurto said:


> No cutting back. They do as they please.
> 
> 
> Cut back then cover the whole area with a thick layer of horse manure.
> 
> For those not aware, the first of the Chinook rhizomes was planted mid 2007 so they are very well established.


I'd love to know just how many Chinook plants growing around Australia are descended from yours...I'm tipping it'd be a lot.


----------



## Robbieb

My Chinook is sprouting a few laterals, no signs of flowers yet though.
I've been training it daily to grow horizontally. The one day I didn't, a bine grew up to the hot tin roof which burnt the head right off.


Hops frame the view from my bedroom window now which is nice!


----------



## Belgrave Brewer

Hops are starting to fill out now. Laterals everywhere, Cluster in flower phase, Chinook with loads of burrs, Cascade and Victoria just starting to burr and the Centennial has come on strong for 1st year rhizomes. I do have some hermaphrodite in some of the Cluster...now 2 years in a row. There's nothing Dwarf about this Cluster in it's second year, easily over the 5 meter top wire and looking to grow higher like all the other varieties, and, throwing out some sizable cones.


----------



## Nullnvoid

Not sure if this is a "how long is a piece of string" question, but how often should I be watering my plants. Once a day, twice a day? And obviously that don't like to sit in water but they need a fair bit?

Cheers


----------



## Nullnvoid

Not sure if this is a "how long is a piece of string" question, but how often should I be watering my plants. Once a day, twice a day? And obviously that don't like to sit in water but they need a fair bit?

Cheers


----------



## Mardoo

I'd say once a day, unless we're having a string of hot days and then twice a day. Yes, in peak growth season they need a fair bit, around 10L a plant, or more even. Not precisely sure as I use weeper hoses. I usually do weepers on very low overnight in max growth season - which is now. But the amount they need is directly tied to their stage of growth. In winter/hibernation I don't water at all here in Melbourne. I did a relatively detailed post about watering in the first few pages of this thread. Don't feel like repeating the whole thing at the moment, but I can tell you next time we catch up, if you can't find it.


----------



## Benn

I have 9 plants and nothing setup in terms of auto/semi auto watering. Every 2-3 days I use the garden hose to slowly soak all the plants, if there's a particularly hot day(s) forecast I'll give them all an extra drink the night before. In between watering, so almost daily, I check the soil moisture by fingering it so as not to dry them out unknowingly.
Not an ideal situation with 9 plants but it'll get me through this season.

Edit: Mine are planted in the ground, last year I had 2 plants growing in pots and watered morning and evening.


----------



## Nullnvoid

Mardoo said:


> I'd say once a day, unless we're having a string of hot days and then twice a day. Yes, in peak growth season they need a fair bit, around 10L a plant, or more even. Not precisely sure as I use weeper hoses. I usually do weepers on very low overnight in max growth season - which is now. But the amount they need is directly tied to their stage of growth. In winter/hibernation I don't water at all here in Melbourne. I did a relatively detailed post about watering in the first few pages of this thread. Don't feel like repeating the whole thing at the moment, but I can tell you next time we catch up, if you can't find it.


Thanks! I'll go back and look! One of the plants has a drip feeder and the other is just in a pot. Ironically it's doing the best, but it is a different variety.



Benn said:


> I check the soil moisture by fingering it


I hope you buy it dinner first


----------



## Rocker1986

I've got one of those soaker sprinklers, it's about 15m long and it runs from one planter box to the other and back 3 times. The holes in it are faced down towards the soil and the hose is connected to a timer at the tap. I just give them 20-25 minutes each morning when I leave for work, and the one in the pot gets a watering can full every morning. Seems to work well, they're certainly looking pretty happy at the moment. In the dormant season I don't really water them much at all.


----------



## Mardoo

Mardoo said:


> I did a relatively detailed post about watering in the first few pages of this thread.


OK, I was tripping. It was last year's plantation thread.

http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/87275-2016-hop-plantations-show-us-your-hop-garden/?p=1316873


----------



## Nullnvoid

Awesome! Thanks  I had started looking, but only got up to page three so far. It was interesting reading up to that point


----------



## Rocker1986

Cascade is really flowering up, surprised at it being a first year plant.


----------



## doctr-dan

Rocker1986 said:


> Cascade is really flowering up, surprised at it being a first year plant.


OH MY GOD...... look at those buds ..."..


----------



## Rocker1986

It has started sprouting proper lateral shoots lower down the bines than where these cones are too, so should get another harvest at some point.

Originally when I saw burrs on the Cascade I didn't think I'd bother harvesting them because I figured they'd just be a small amount similar to the Hallertau, but that's certainly changed since!

My Hallertau plant has more bushy growth on it and it does have a handful of cones on it but nothing worth picking. Will wait for the proper flowering on that one.


----------



## Danscraftbeer

Its interesting seeing the varied crop cycles of locations. I only have burs on 2nd year Chinook being the last to sprout too.
My 3rd year Cascade may just have the first sign of flowering. The rest will probably harvest in 2 to 3 months from now.


----------



## Rocker1986

Even the crop cycles of two different varieties right next to each other in the same garden is rather interesting. Very different so far. The Hallertau plant seems to have focused more on growth first; all 6 lines have at least 2 bines on them, with a few laterals starting to appear, and even some fresh bines poking up out of the soil. Not many flowers, a handful or two at best. The Cascade started a bit slow, but then it exploded with growth and shot these big, thick bines straight up the lines which then produced all the flowers seen in those photos. It has shot up another fresh bine in the last week which is already half way up the line and already has laterals on it too. Crazy growth.

Last season I took the last harvest from the Hallertau plant at the end of March I think it was. I'll be interested to see how much the Cascade flowers up on the lateral shoots when it gets to that stage too. These current flowers feel like they'll probably be ready to pick in about a week or two at this point.


----------



## Matplat

I think I definitely need different fertilizer, vertical growth has all but stopped, and current flower 'density' is nowhere near what you've got Rocker.... I'm starting to resign myself to the fact that this season is pretty much a bust, I was expecting more from second year plants.


----------



## Mardoo

Power feed for fruit and flowers. Foliage feed with liquid potash. That should get you there.


----------



## drsmurto

Mardoo said:


> Power feed for fruit and flowers. Foliage feed with liquid potash. That should get you there.


Or dynamic lifter for a slower release version during the plant growth phase and granular potash when the plant switches over to burr/cone production. But that could just be me being lazy. I throw out handfuls of these things rather than standing there with a watering can. I think the commercial growers (small scale) use a product called Upsurge instead of potash.


----------



## Benn

First year Victoria just started Burring, her 2 sisters are about to pop as well. 
Cascade & Chinook looking good.


----------



## Matplat

Righto... I'm going to bunnings this arvo.


----------



## Rocker1986

I have some interesting looking leaf behaviour on my Cascade plant at the moment. A few days ago I sprayed some weeds in the planter box with MCPA/Dicamba, and was very careful to avoid getting any on the hop leaves although I did manage to hit a leaf or two (literally all that got hit) with a bit of it. I wouldn't have thought this would cause any issues given the size of the plant now, but maybe it has? The new leaves for some reason stay rolled up, but as you can see in the photo the older growth leaves are flattened out like normal. There hasn't been any sign of existing growth wilting or anything like that which happens with weedkillers. Could this tiny amount of weedkiller that hit a couple of leaves be causing this or is it something else?


----------



## drsmurto

Just an FYI, if you are interested in getting your hops analysed this year, the Australian Wine Research Institute now offers the following analyses (prices ex GST);

Alpha and beta acids - $140
Hop oil profile - $220

I realise these prices aren't cheap but they are LC/GC methods and for those with any lab experience you'll understand why this is actually quite a good price.

If you are interested, PM me for contact details etc.

Yet to hear a price on water analysis and other brewing analyses (IBU etc). This one has been fast tracked to allow the craft hop farming industry access to local analysis this season (rapidly approaching). 

Might be a good option to get a better idea of alpha acid even if it does vary season to season. I'll be getting my Chinook and Victoria analysed to see how close my guesstimate is as I use mine for bittering as well as late additions.


----------



## wide eyed and legless

Rocker you are right, it is more likely to be what is known as herbicide drift, I doubt it is a lack of water, I had the same thing on a couple of my tomato plants, usually hot weather, lack of moisture and herbicides causes leaf roll.


----------



## Rocker1986

Definitely not a lack of water, they get watered each morning and the soil under is always moist (but not sopping wet). It hasn't slowed down its growth at all, the bine that photo was taken of and all the laterals that have sprouted are still powering on. The only difference is that the new leaves are rolled like that. Once it grows a bit more should they begin to unroll or do they just stay like that?


----------



## Mardoo

New one on me. Never seen that one before. I'd guess they'll unroll but…100% pure guessanium.


----------



## wide eyed and legless

I had it on two tomato plants in a bed of eight, both on the outer edge one wasn't badly affected so I left it and it has now come good the other I pulled out and replaced it as I had a couple of spares I wouldn't be worrying about two or three leaves on that plant of yours.


----------



## drsmurto

I've had leaves roll up like that before on my cherry trees. It was caused by tiny bugs that seemed to curl the leaves up to nest. But this was always as the growing tips. .


----------



## Rocker1986

All the new growth on all the bines of this plant features these rolled up leaves, although some are worse than others. On one bine, all the leaves up to about 2m high are normal looking, and then the next ones up are rolled up, and so on all the way to the tip. I know they start out folded/rolled when they are just poking out, but these ones just stay like that and don't unfold/unroll as they get bigger. The herbicide itself only touched a couple of leaves way down the bottom of the plant somewhere, so it seems a bit of an over reaction and it also seems odd that it only affected the new growth and not the existing leaves, but anyway. I'll just leave it and keep watering etc. and see what happens. It doesn't appear to have affected the flowering though, only the leaves.


----------



## Benn

I have a question, I had a slow growing (compared to my other 3) but healthy first year Cascade that had a single bine of about 400mm tall. I was gently winding it onto a string when I tripped on something and accidentally stripped all the leaves and damaged the bine. This was around mid November. The bine promptly died and no more have emerged since. 
I have continued to water & fertilise the area. I'm wondering if I've killed the plant or if the root system has just gone into some form of early dormancy and will re-shoot next season?


----------



## wide eyed and legless

Have you scraped the soil away and had a look at the root Benn? If it has died it will have started to rot, if it still looks fresh then you should be OK, plants as with all other living things have a strong survival instinct.


----------



## Benn

It's crossed my mind to have a scratch around W.E.A.L, just wasn't sure whether that would mess with it's biological clock or something. 
I dote on these friggen plants too much which is what ultimately lead me to trip over a string and kill the it in the first place.
...I'll take a look beneath the soil tomorrow or in the middle of the night if it gets the better of me.


----------



## fdsaasdf

After a few weeks of doing basically nothing my Victoria hops kicked into gear again on the weekend with some more vertical growth and burrs forming. 

I've killed several dozen grasshoppers including one who was just under 5in long! Hungry bastards.

A lot of the lower leaves seemed to curl and get black tips a week or so ago so, but looking happier this afternoon. I'm hoping it's not to do with my fortnightly application of seasol and powerfeed. Does this sound like overfeeding or is iit possible that there's some contamination from neighbours spraying weeds?


----------



## Benn

Just had a scratch around and found the rhizome - still alive but no root growth. Maybe stopping the above ground growth at that particular time was enough to stop growth altogether for now. Anyway, there were a couple of nodes that looked ok so maybe I'll see her again next spring.


----------



## Rocker1986

The hop drying rack is pretty much ready for the first part of the harvesting season. The trays are approx 600x415mm, so should be plenty for what's on offer currently from the Cascade plant, which is the only one really doing anything in regard to flowers at this stage. There are 3 more trays to go below those two that I haven't built yet, and another one that I'll make up to sit on top of the whole thing. The plan at this point is to sit this in the spare room and dry them out in there.


----------



## bj2

Rocker, it sounds like phenoxy herbicide damage. If you google it, there should be plenty of descriptions and info on the web.


----------



## Belgrave Brewer

Rocker1986 said:


> All the new growth on all the bines of this plant features these rolled up leaves, although some are worse than others. On one bine, all the leaves up to about 2m high are normal looking, and then the next ones up are rolled up, and so on all the way to the tip. I know they start out folded/rolled when they are just poking out, but these ones just stay like that and don't unfold/unroll as they get bigger. The herbicide itself only touched a couple of leaves way down the bottom of the plant somewhere, so it seems a bit of an over reaction and it also seems odd that it only affected the new growth and not the existing leaves, but anyway. I'll just leave it and keep watering etc. and see what happens. It doesn't appear to have affected the flowering though, only the leaves.


This could also be micro nutrient deficiency, possibly boron. Do you have a decent general fertiliser that covers the micros? Low pH can also lock nutrients out even if they are available to the hops.


----------



## Belgrave Brewer

Benn said:


> Just had a scratch around and found the rhizome - still alive but no root growth. Maybe stopping the above ground growth at that particular time was enough to stop growth altogether for now. Anyway, there were a couple of nodes that looked ok so maybe I'll see her again next spring.


I've had this happen with a rhizome...it grew back the following year.


----------



## Rocker1986

Thanks guys. The Hallertau plant in the other planter box which has the same soil conditions hasn't displayed this leaf rolling, it's only been the Cascade one where some weeds in it were sprayed with herbicide. I'll have a look at the fertiliser more closely but I'm pretty sure it does have the micro nutrients as well.


----------



## nathang28

Here is my small "plantation"... hehe. Three Fuggles plants, trained to shade the deck during summer, which is working a treat!

The flowers are just starting now, should get a decent amount this year.






Cheers.


----------



## Rocker1986

I thought about doing that with the deck at my place but they would have ended up in the way at ground level unfortunately. Good idea though, would have worked well in the afternoons.


----------



## Mardoo

Really, I think hops are among the best shade plants there is.


----------



## MartinOC

Mardoo said:


> Really, I think hops are among the best shade plants there is.


I have a cunning plan along those lines for our patio/al-fresco area once the house is built....so cunning, you could pin a tail on it & call it a "Wolf of the Hedgerows"....


----------



## Nullnvoid

MartinOC said:


> I have a cunning plan along those lines for our patio/al-fresco area once the house is built....so cunning, you could pin a tail on it & call it a "Wolf of the Hedgerows"....


How is the house coming along?


----------



## Nullnvoid

MartinOC said:


> I have a cunning plan along those lines for our patio/al-fresco area once the house is built....so cunning, you could pin a tail on it & call it a "Wolf of the Hedgerows"....


How is the house coming along?


----------



## ein stein

Very nice rocker, i was thinking about one of these:
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/6-Tiers-Hanging-Dry-Rack-Drying-Plant-Detachable-Herb-Grow-Net-Dryer-Hydroponics-/111201767906?hash=item19e42451e2:g:kwQAAOSwm8VUxwBK


----------



## Rocker1986

That would also work well I would think. Anything in that kind of setup would be good for drying them out on in a spare room or whatever. I won't dry them outside though, if a gust of wind or even a gentle breeze came through they'd be everywhere


----------



## Mardoo

OK, I've learned something I thought I would share, as it may be helpful for someone else. You can cut back and re-start a stalled hop plant and it can get to the point of flowering at the same time as your other hops. You'll end up with fewer bines, but its viability can stay solid. I won't say will stay solid, as I'm no botanist, but you can re-start them and it can work.

At the beginning of the season my Willamette took off like crazy. All my other hops, friends' hops and posts I saw on here from Melbourne were much shorter. The Willamette went to 3 meters in three weeks, even before the soil had warmed up. It's an early growing and early producing variety, so I just watched in wonder. Then they stopped. And I mean stopped. Nothing happened for two months. My Victoria and my Mt. Hood volunteer (in my scrap pile from a couple years ago) took their sweet time, and then easily overtook my Willamette. I waited, and waited, and waited...no more growth at all. They didn't appear to be suffering anything else that the others weren't.

The soil was the same, the fertiliser was the same, the location was the same, so it was pretty confusing. Then I got on a ladder and had a close look at the growth tips. They were green, but looked dried out, like dessicated. My guess is that one of the very windy days took them out, but they've always been on steady irrigation. It seems unlikely they dried out from lack of water, but I can't really say. I decided to wait a couple more weeks just in case. During that time the plant started to put up some really solid bines, almost as robust as the early jack bines. At that point I decided the hop plant was trying to recover, and so I would help it.

I chose three out of about 20 bines to keep. (I originally planted three sections of rhizome, two years ago.) I cut the rest of the old bines out. I left three to make sure the rhizomes would have a source of nutrition from photosynthesis. This was pure supposition on my part. I haven't read any research in this regard, but it seemed like common sense. I kept fertilising this hop just like I was the rest of the hops. The new bines took off and went like mad - 4.5 metres in 3 weeks.

When I switched to fertilising all the plants for flowering, I debated switching the Willamette as well. I was a bit afraid to make the switch so soon as I thought it might need a bit more growing time. However, since four of the new bines had reached 4.5 metres I took a punt. Within a week, I've got flowers on the Willamette. I'm very stoked, as this is a kind of special hop for me. I was beginning to wonder if the plant was even viable at all, as most of my first years produce at least some flowers, but last year this one didn't. But finally, with a little love and care - and a significant amount of excision of otherwise healthy bines - the hop seems to have found its feet again and to be on the road to production.

I just based all this on common sense, so I can't say this is the "proper" thing to do in these situations. It worked for me though. I waited a good long time to be sure the hop was stalled. It wasn't like, "Oh my, it hasn't grown in two weeks. Should I cut it back?" It had gone like gangbusters and then completely stalled. For months. And I waited, and waited to be sure. I'm not recommending this for plants that are just slow, but saying it might work for you if you have a healthy plant that has. Just. Stopped. Growing. Because that's not really what hops do. No, not really not at all. And, thankfully, the plant "told" me it wanted to do something else.

FWIW


----------



## Benn

Right on Mardoo, 
I've had a similar experience with some of my plants. Personally, I have learnt a lot this season (learning not over yet one thing being that hops don't like wind. I'm talking relentless SW Bass Straight wind. My sheltered & partially shaded hops are in much better shape than the hops that have full sun but exposure to the wind. My Novice assumption at this point is that; I'm trying to grow hops in a domestic setting so the commercial growing practices I've read about don't always necessarily apply. 
Good thing is my wife loves the bines and wants them to "take over a the house"....
Bahahaha! Be careful what you wish for


----------



## Rocker1986

I chopped my 2nd year Hallertau down to the ground in about September after it sprouted up a very fast growing bine and not much else. I noticed smaller new shoots popping up so I figured I'd cut the initial growth down completely and allow the plant to focus on these new shoots. It worked well, I have 6 lines in the planter box and each one has at least two bines growing up it now, as well as some of the laterals that have appeared.

Meanwhile, the 1st year Cascade plant is looking a bit better in regards to those leaves that were rolled up. Some of these leaves are unrolling, some aren't but the newer growth leaves are starting to turn back to normal again now, which is good. It's also shot up a new bine out of nowhere again, after it shot one up about 1.5-2 weeks ago which is now at the top of the 3m trellis, and already has laterals and burrs on it too. I think this plant must like the climate up here or something. It will get its weekly dose of Maxibloom tomorrow too, which is really improving the flowering.


----------



## Rocker1986

Just finished picking my first harvest for the season off the Cascade plant. I ended up with 278g, which will dry out to about 70g I imagine. That's way more than I expected from a first year plant and it's not done yet either as there are a number of cones not quite ready yet, plus numerous burrs forming all over the plant as well. I might have to brew a pale ale with these flowers once they're dry to see what they taste like.


----------



## bj2

Interesting story Mardoo. What fertiliser do you use for flowering?


----------



## Mardoo

Power feed for fruits and flowers. I also do foliar feeds of potash. There are directions for that on the potash bottle. 

https://www.bunnings.com.au/powerfeed-1-2l-flower-fruit-and-citrus-fertiliser-concentrate_p2962111

https://www.bunnings.com.au/manutec-450ml-liquid-potash-plus_p2961694


----------



## fdsaasdf

Another evening and another half a dozen grasshoppers squished. The little bastards are prolific!


----------



## Benn

..Beautiful


----------



## Rocker1986

I'm hoping for similar up here over the weekend, for the hops and the lawn...


----------



## ScottyDoesntKnow

My 1st year Chinook seem to be going ok considering I haven't given them alot of love, just picked one and gave it a squeeze... springs backs, feels light and dry and sounds like paper. Not much lupulin on the outside but its clearly visible inside and smells amazing! Probably got a dozen that look like this at the moment and heaps of smaller growing and new burrs.


----------



## Rocker1986

Some flowering fertiliser will give them a boost too. I did it with my Hallertau last year after it produced a few small harvests of what turned out to be between 1 and 4/5 grams. The final harvest, after hitting them with the fertiliser was 4 times that at 20ish grams and the flowers were bigger too. I'm using it again this season.


----------



## ScottyDoesntKnow

Does anyone know what the little dark coloured threads on the outside of my hop cones are? They all seem to have it but then end up disappearing.


----------



## Rocker1986

Not sure what they are but they largely disappear on mine too. Having said that, the sheet underneath the rack on the ones I was drying over the last couple of days caught a lot of those things when I picked the flowers up to weigh them.

Speaking of which, I got 78g once they'd dried out. Not quite down to the estimated 70g but close enough for rock N roll. I weighed them earlier in the day at 86g, and they dropped 8g in about 3 hours. I thought they might dry too much if I'd left them until I got home again after my second half so I just bagged them at 78g. Currently residing in the freezer, and thinking of brewing a pale ale with them as late additions to see how they taste compared to the commercial ones I've always used.


----------



## Belgrave Brewer

ScottyDoesntKnow said:


> Does anyone know what the little dark coloured threads on the outside of my hop cones are? They all seem to have it but then end up disappearing.


Completely normal...they'll fall off by the time the flowers are ready to pick. Part of the process of going from burr to cone.


----------



## ScottyDoesntKnow

Would you suggest I use that as an indicator? I was going to pick some this afternoon that I think look ready but I really have no idea, this is my first time growing.


----------



## Rocker1986

They should also feel dry and papery, and make a sort of dry rustling noise when you squeeze them. That's usually the indicator I look for along with the yellow lupulin. The middle stalk of the cone easily snapping is another indicator.


----------



## Belgrave Brewer

ScottyDoesntKnow said:


> Would you suggest I use that as an indicator? I was going to pick some this afternoon that I think look ready but I really have no idea, this is my first time growing.


I would not use that as any indication. Wind can blow them off the cones. I posted a video a few pages back that will give you a good idea of when to pick. As Rocker1986 says, should have a very papery sound when rolled in your fingers. I like to pick them late as they tend to have more flavour and aroma compounds.


----------



## Rocker1986

I noticed some of mine had what looked like little spider web shit in them, is this an issue? Most of those I just threw on the ground and didn't harvest but does it matter?


----------



## Belgrave Brewer

Rocker1986 said:


> I noticed some of mine had what looked like little spider web shit in them, is this an issue? Most of those I just threw on the ground and didn't harvest but does it matter?


Don't use them if you see webs on them. You can't avoid bugs and spiders, they will exist on the plants so try and screen them out. The last thing you want is to dry hop with a dead spider sitting in your fermentor.

If you see a lot of webs, it could be spider mite and that is considered a contaminant in quantity. Spider mites can be a serious threat to your harvest.


----------



## Matplat

Well the results are in... are you ready?

Cascade - 20g
Victoria - 40g
Goldings - 14g

These are wet weights from second year plants  I wasnt expecting stellar yields, but at least enough for one brew? Clearly I'm doing something wrong. I suspect it is to do with the pots, getting hot in the sun, and being too small for the appetite of a hop plant. I also think that the chicken shit pellets that most of the growing season rested on were insufficient. 

I am going to continue feeding them the powerfeed to see if I can get a second harvest out of them this season.... But I will try getting them in the ground for next year, even in a rental.


----------



## Rocker1986

Belgrave Brewer said:


> Don't use them if you see webs on them. You can't avoid bugs and spiders, they will exist on the plants so try and screen them out. The last thing you want is to dry hop with a dead spider sitting in your fermentor.
> 
> If you see a lot of webs, it could be spider mite and that is considered a contaminant in quantity. Spider mites can be a serious threat to your harvest.



I had a feeling that might be the case which is why I didn't keep those particular flowers. They were only on a small percentage of cones, the vast majority were fine. I probably won't use them for dry hopping at this point so they'll all be boiled but yeah don't really want spiders or mites or webbing in my beer haha.


----------



## Rocker1986

It's pretty early in the harvest season so you may well get more if you keep up the flowering fertiliser. I got **** all off my Hallertau last season at this point but by late March I had enough for a single batch. That was a first year in a pot.

I think after the first year they really need to be moved to a bigger home than a pot though. The Cascade I have went straight into a big planter box, first year this season and first harvest was about 275-280g wet and there are more to come. The cones I picked almost filled a 5L handy pail. I'm quite shocked, actually. Didn't expect anything like that from a first year plant.


----------



## Matplat

So I put all those picked i the dehydrator for the afternoon, and I'm bloody glad I did (I was thinking of thowing them in tonights brew wet), open the dehydrator expecting a nice fresh hoppy aroma, but all I get is a vegetal stink, does that mean I picked to early or too late? I was sure to only pick the ones that felt papery, which was quite easy to pick up because I still had some that were fully soft and unripe for comparison.

Either way I'm pretty sure they're headed for the bin?


----------



## Rocker1986

I often find they smell like that. It's only when I crush them up in my fingers that they smell like the pellets do.


----------



## ScottyDoesntKnow

I couldn't find the video BB posted but I watched this one yesterday. https://youtu.be/TlsT-x19III


----------



## Matplat

Wow, really? I was not expecting that answer....


----------



## Belgrave Brewer

Matplat said:


> Well the results are in... are you ready?
> 
> Cascade - 20g
> Victoria - 40g
> Goldings - 14g
> 
> These are wet weights from second year plants  I wasnt expecting stellar yields, but at least enough for one brew? Clearly I'm doing something wrong. I suspect it is to do with the pots, getting hot in the sun, and being too small for the appetite of a hop plant. I also think that the chicken shit pellets that most of the growing season rested on were insufficient.
> 
> I am going to continue feeding them the powerfeed to see if I can get a second harvest out of them this season.... But I will try getting them in the ground for next year, even in a rental.


Hops also need a cold winter (vernalisation) in order for them to flower well the following season. Might be worth putting them in the fridge over winter.


----------



## Belgrave Brewer

Matplat said:


> So I put all those picked i the dehydrator for the afternoon, and I'm bloody glad I did (I was thinking of thowing them in tonights brew wet), open the dehydrator expecting a nice fresh hoppy aroma, but all I get is a vegetal stink, does that mean I picked to early or too late? I was sure to only pick the ones that felt papery, which was quite easy to pick up because I still had some that were fully soft and unripe for comparison.
> 
> Either way I'm pretty sure they're headed for the bin?


If you dried them at a lower temperature (under 38C), you won't smell any hop aroma as you have not blown off any volatiles. It's a good thing if they don't have huge aroma coming out of the dehydrator. You may have also picked a bit early. Give one a bot of a rub and smell it. If the aroma comes out in the rub, it's probably fine.


----------



## Belgrave Brewer

ScottyDoesntKnow said:


> I couldn't find the video BB posted but I watched this one yesterday. https://youtu.be/TlsT-x19III


That's the one!


----------



## Schooner_downunder

Not sure if anyone in melbourne has being hit by what I think are black flying aphids but just did a major spray of soap and water ( 1 tbs of soap to 3 liters of water) seemed to get rid of them initially but am surprised how fast and hard they hit. Will pull off the bottom 30 cm of plants tomorrow morning... View attachment 94740


Appologies for the slightly out of focus images...


----------



## Mardoo

If you're using a poo-based fertiliser they're probably just harmless little flies that breed in it. Do they sit on the leaves fanning their wings slowly for long periods? Poo flies.


----------



## AJ80

Mardoo said:


> If you're using a poo-based fertiliser they're probably just harmless little flies that breed in it. Do they sit on the leaves fanning their wings slowly for long periods? Poo flies.


Hehehe - poo flies.


----------



## Belgrave Brewer

Schooner_downunder said:


> Not sure if anyone in melbourne has being hit by what I think are black flying aphids but just did a major spray of soap and water ( 1 tbs of soap to 3 liters of water) seemed to get rid of them initially but am surprised how fast and hard they hit. Will pull off the bottom 30 cm of plants tomorrow morning...
> 
> 
> 
> 20170122_185952.jpg
> 
> Appologies for the slightly out of focus images...


Wow! That's a SHIT load of poo flies.


----------



## Schooner_downunder

Belgrave Brewer said:


> Wow! That's a SHIT load of poo flies.


Yeah there was a bucket load, I use a compost mix of soil & manure, really happy they're not aphids . Thanks for the info Belgrave Brewer.


----------



## Schooner_downunder

Schooner_downunder said:


> Yeah there was a bucket load, I use a compost mix of soil & manure, really happy they're not aphids . Thanks for the info Belgrave Brewer.


Just put two and two together.... just added powerfeed the other night


----------



## Sainter1775

Good afternoon gents,

I have question about my hops "farm". Back story I live in SE Queensland, gets to -1 in winter and 41 in summer, the hops have good and constant sunlight through out the day and wind protection from the 8ft high fence and house. All are watered/fertilized the same, some are two years in and the other first year crops(looking from left to right on the attached photo. The question is EKG the second from the left is producing "spurs" at the top and then going brown and never developing into cones. Where as the others Hersbrucker I'm at 300 g and counting of dried hops, about half that on my first year Chinook. Any thoughts what maybe the cause or is it simple that i cant grow English varities only US and German. The foliage looks healthy as far as i can see and seems to be no sign of the usual suspects.

Thanks


----------



## Sainter1775

Update looking at the pic Cascade(2nd),EKG(2nd),Hersbrucker(2nd),Chinook(1st),Fuggles(1st). Cascade was a strong performer last year however it is unhappy with me for the move from "Big black pot" to the ground(to many tap roots got lost in process.)


----------



## Rocker1986

I've found similar on my 2nd year Fuggle plant to what you're describing. Not so much that the burrs are going brown, but they develop into the tiniest cones. I've just started fertilising it with the flowering stuff as of today, so I'll see how it goes over the next month or two but if it's like last year where it produced hardly anything then I might just leave it. I'll keep it alive, but just not bother with any harvests from it.

My other two are going pretty well. A first year Cascade is producing nicely, and a 2nd year Hallertau is starting to produce some flowers but I haven't harvested any yet. Its biggest production last year was harvested in late March though, so still some time to go.


----------



## Benn

Thought I'd just re-post this article here, http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/articles/article91.html 
It can easily be found in the (often overlooked) AHB Wiki section.
I'd forgotten about this article and was about to ask a few questions that are answered within. A good read for novice hop growers such as myself.
Cheers.


----------



## Danscraftbeer

All of mine have reached puberty now. The Chinook has flowers to an inch in size and hundreds more to come.
Its gonna be more a mixture big yield in a little space this year. Red Earth and Tettnang are the lowest growth/yielders for me this season.


----------



## bronson

Cascade coming along great


----------



## Benn

Povo Auto Wateter:



With burrs in full swing hopefully this will maintain some additional moisture between deep waterings. Fill it up about twice a day.



Old Fermenter and garden hose.



Bit of calibration tape (drilled too many holes)



Old "Selleys" nozzle to block the end of the hose and the jobs done in 10 minutes.

..just crane your necks to the left for correct photo orientation.


----------



## Danscraftbeer

The oncoming harvests and some cuttings for the sake of it.
Chinook, Cascade, Hallertau, Goldings, Red Earth, and Tettnang.
The poor Tettnang (no photos worthy) that's been the go to diet for possums and I cant seem to defend it, its rediculouse.
I grew Victoria in the same spot last year and it never got touched by the possums.


----------



## Danscraftbeer

,


----------



## rhino86

Hi,

Nice thread about growing hops, I've found it to be a very informative thread of posts from fellas around Australia.
Been a green thumb and new to brews, I wish to grow hops, though sourcing the rhizomes in Brisbane I'm not aware of where to start. If someone in Brisbane or sells interstate quality rhizomes, please let me know and start a discussion to procure.

Happy growing and brewing.

Cheers
Mick


----------



## Brownsworthy

I've noticed that with one of my bines which I'd broken the tip off, by accident whilst trying to train it horizontally after it had reached the top of the trellis, that it produced heaps more laterals which in turn gave more flowers than the others that weren't broken. 
Just an observation though not sure whether to try this next season to see if it helps with yield.
Anyone else notice this with theirs?


----------



## Danscraftbeer

Yep. I have some under my eves that in the wind they grinded off the tips. Broken the odd few off and possums whatever. They do grow more but there may be a little set back in time when the plant seems to have to work out what's happened then decide to grow more in other directions. (trying to think like a plant here)

As for tipping to be more compact garden then yeah. I think its a valid option because if a bine grows further than my grow space I cut off the tip rather it invade my neighbours yard. It will grow lateral out of no choice.


----------



## fungrel

First year Cluster, just wondering if I should harvest the flowers all at once or pick them as they become ready?


----------



## Curly79

Just pick the ones that are ready mate


----------



## Curly79

rhino86 said:


> Hi,
> 
> Nice thread about growing hops, I've found it to be a very informative thread of posts from fellas around Australia.
> Been a green thumb and new to brews, I wish to grow hops, though sourcing the rhizomes in Brisbane I'm not aware of where to start. If someone in Brisbane or sells interstate quality rhizomes, please let me know and start a discussion to procure.
> 
> Happy growing and brewing.
> 
> Cheers
> Mick


You shouldn't have a problem getting some rhizomes in winter rhino. Just decide which variety you want and keep an eye out.


----------



## fungrel

Curly79 said:


> Just pick the ones that are ready mate


Gave me some nice rhizomes Curly, cheers.


----------



## Curly79

Glad they are going well. They must be loving the warmer weather up there.


----------



## doctr-dan

How do you know when there ready?


----------



## Rocker1986

Generally they feel dry and papery rather than soft and moist, they make a scrunching/crinkling like sound when you crush them, lots of yellow lupulin under the bracts, and the centre stem is easily snapped. They possibly look a bit browned on the tips of the bracts as well.

My Cascade is going well, and has plenty more burrs on it now especially after I've been dosing it with Maxibloom twice a week. The first photo is the Cascade (closest) and the Hallertau beside/behind it, and the second sideways one is a group of burrs on the Cascade. There are quite a number of these groups all over it at the moment, so there will be another good harvest soon by the looks.


----------



## Belgrave Brewer

Growth has surged in the past 2 weeks. We'll be picking Cluster in the next week or so. Chinook is just starting to flower, and Victoria and Cascade are well into burr stage.


----------



## Benn

Beautiful,


----------



## rhino86

Belgrave brewer, your plantation looks very nice, lots of hard work no doubt went into the results.


----------



## fdsaasdf

Rocker1986 said:


> Generally they feel dry and papery rather than soft and moist, they make a scrunching/crinkling like sound when you crush them, lots of yellow lupulin under the bracts, and the centre stem is easily snapped. They possibly look a bit browned on the tips of the bracts as well.
> 
> My Cascade is going well, and has plenty more burrs on it now especially after I've been dosing it with Maxibloom twice a week. The first photo is the Cascade (closest) and the Hallertau beside/behind it, and the second sideways one is a group of burrs on the Cascade. There are quite a number of these groups all over it at the moment, so there will be another good harvest soon by the looks.


Looks like you've got a great crop there. Where do you source the Maxibloom? Did you buy it locally in Brisbane?


----------



## Rocker1986

fdsaasdf said:


> Looks like you've got a great crop there. Where do you source the Maxibloom? Did you buy it locally in Brisbane?


Cheers mate, it surprised me actually being a first year plant. I've already picked what ended up at 75-80g once dried, with plenty more to come. I bought the Maxibloom off eBay last growing season, if there is anywhere in Brisbane that stocks it I don't know where. That reminds me, I need to order more :lol:


----------



## Belgrave Brewer

rhino86 said:


> Belgrave brewer, your plantation looks very nice, lots of hard work no doubt went into the results.


Still a long way to go until harvest, then the real hard work begins. It's a lot of work during some stages in the season.


----------



## Benn

Got a question about hop spacing/distance between varieties, I've read that 2-3 metres minimum is required to avoid the roots overlapping and bine confusion resulting. 
Is 2-3 metres enough? Or have any of you had roots travel further than this? Does it depend at all on particular Variety or are they all prone to spread in the same manner?
Cheers,

P.S
Here's a pic of a first year Columbus climbing the natural trellis, (Rhizome courtesy of Yob) it was the last of my hops to emerge this season but once it got going it flew to the top of the string and into the tree. 
She's just started popping burrs


----------



## fdsaasdf

Rocker1986 said:


> Cheers mate, it surprised me actually being a first year plant. I've already picked what ended up at 75-80g once dried, with plenty more to come. I bought the Maxibloom off eBay last growing season, if there is anywhere in Brisbane that stocks it I don't know where. That reminds me, I need to order more :lol:


Thanks. I haven't been able to find it so it looks like I'm off to eBay too.


----------



## Danscraftbeer

Benn said:


> Got a question about hop spacing/distance between varieties, I've read that 2-3 metres minimum is required to avoid the roots overlapping and bine confusion resulting.
> Is 2-3 metres enough? Or have any of you had roots travel further than this? Does it depend at all on particular Variety or are they all prone to spread in the same manner?
> Cheers,
> 
> P.S
> Here's a pic of a first year Columbus climbing the natural trellis, (Rhizome courtesy of Yob) it was the last of my hops to emerge this season but once it got going it flew to the top of the string and into the tree.
> She's just started popping burrs
> 
> 
> 
> IMG_5052.JPG


That's going to be fun harvesting that one Ben.


----------



## Rocker1986

Benn said:


> P.S
> Here's a pic of a first year Columbus climbing the natural trellis, (Rhizome courtesy of Yob) it was the last of my hops to emerge this season but once it got going it flew to the top of the string and into the tree.
> She's just started popping burrs
> 
> 
> 
> IMG_5052.JPG


At least you can just climb the tree to harvest them instead of getting the ladder out or whatever :lol:


----------



## Benn

I'll send the kids up, they're nimble.


----------



## Rocker1986

This morning I picked another smaller harvest from my Cascade of 90g wet flowers, so these should dry out to around 22-23g over the next couple of days, which will give me about 100g dry so far this season, with the first harvest. There is another burst of burrs on the plant at the moment, so in another few weeks or so there will be another harvest, probably a similar size to the first one. Pretty good going for a first year plant.


----------



## N3MIS15

Left: 2nd Year Cascade has got a bunch of cones forming (This is only a small section of the plant).
Right: First year Columbus isn't far behind.


----------



## mofox1

Hops be weird this year. I'm looking at a significantly reduced yield to the previous couple years.

I have basically no laterals (and thus no hops) below 3.5 - 4m. Last year I had plenty down to about 1.5m. As far as I can tell, I'm not really giving them any more attention, or ignoring them any more either. In fact this year they haven't had to deal with falling over a half dozen times and being restrung, they haven't been burnt to a crisp by insanely hot weather. What the heck did I do wrong!


----------



## Danscraftbeer

What location are you mofox?
All the generalization I can make is soil health. My chinook (great performer this year) gets no attention but it is growing next to my compost pile that gets fed with all green/veg and beer waste and is riddled with worms. Feed the soil/worms with lots of compostable's. ?


----------



## Rocker1986

My second year Hallertau has done **** all this year as well, it's grown up all over the trellis wires but hasn't really produced anything decent in the way of flowers, so I haven't even bothered harvesting anything from it yet. Exactly the same soil and conditions as the first year Cascade that's gone nuts with flowering. I dunno.. at least the bloody thing hasn't died :lol:


----------



## Mardoo

mofox1 said:


> What the heck did I do wrong!


Dunno. Are you in control of everything or not? If so, then pull yourself the **** together, eh?


----------



## mofox1

Mardoo said:


> Dunno. Are you in control of everything or not? If so, then pull yourself the **** together, eh?


Oi you, you'll get yours.


----------



## mofox1

Danscraftbeer said:


> What location are you mofox?
> All the generalization I can make is soil health. My chinook (great performer this year) gets no attention but it is growing next to my compost pile that gets fed with all green/veg and beer waste and is riddled with worms. Feed the soil/worms with lots of compostable's. ?


Vic, Melbourne. They got compost & chook poo prior to growing season. Powerfeed, seasol etc as they kicked off, some extra chook poop as they were growing. Same as last year.


----------



## wide eyed and legless

Got to agree with Danscraftbeer, soil has to be fed and that means lots of compost, composted waste or composted animal manure, I would suspect there are too many overfeeding the plants during the growing season especially with liquid feed, compost will replenish the soil of the nutrients which the plants used up the previous year
I have noticed the hop growers in the UK at the end of the growing season put down lime to sweeten the soil so when the time comes to put down the composted animal manure it will balance out the pH.
https://www.growveg.com.au/guides/supercharge-your-soil-this-spring/?redir


----------



## Mardoo

Take care of what's underground. What's above ground will almost always take care of itself.


----------



## ScottyDoesntKnow

Haha I am not much of a green thumb, whats the saying, "you only get out what you put in"? Can't be bothered with fertilizing and soil treatment etc. I've even stopped watering them and just letting mother nature do it's job.... So yesterday I harvested a whopping 18g off my 3 first year Chinooks :lol:
Though I did notice in the last couple of days there are quite a few new laterals sprouting plus ive got a heaps more not ready to pick just yet.
Hopefully I get enough for a 50+ gram dry hop and i'll be happy


----------



## Belgrave Brewer

mofox1 said:


> Hops be weird this year. I'm looking at a significantly reduced yield to the previous couple years.
> 
> I have basically no laterals (and thus no hops) below 3.5 - 4m. Last year I had plenty down to about 1.5m. As far as I can tell, I'm not really giving them any more attention, or ignoring them any more either. In fact this year they haven't had to deal with falling over a half dozen times and being restrung, they haven't been burnt to a crisp by insanely hot weather. What the heck did I do wrong!


It's was a crap year weatherwise to start. Growth came late for me here in VIC, and for a while, thought it would be a bad harvest year. I also have quite a few plants that did not produce lower laterals.

How old are your plants?

Some things that could be causing issues:
- Cutting back to crown and removing rhizomes every 3 years should help reinvigorate the plants.
- It could also be that the soil temperature is not cold enough where you are over winter for vernalisation, so flowering will suffer.
- pH level of the soil? If it's not in the sweet spot, nutrients can be locked out even if they are in the soil and ready for the plants.
- Cones developing on earlier bines before sidearms grow on later bines will lessen yield.
- Extra bines not cut back leads to more vegetative growth and less flowers (after first year root development)


----------



## mofox1

Belgrave Brewer said:


> It's was a crap year weatherwise to start. Growth came late for me here in VIC, and for a while, thought it would be a bad harvest year. I also have quite a few plants that did not produce lower laterals.
> 
> How old are your plants? *3 years now.*
> 
> Some things that could be causing issues:
> - Cutting back to crown and removing rhizomes every 3 years should help reinvigorate the plants. *Did this with the Chinook, looks identical to the Cascade (not moved) growing 3m away.*
> - It could also be that the soil temperature is not cold enough where you are over winter for vernalisation, so flowering will suffer. *Possible... can't remember many frosts (I'm near your neck of the woods).*
> - pH level of the soil? If it's not in the sweet spot, nutrients can be locked out even if they are in the soil and ready for the plants. *No idea, I've got a pH meter and test strips so no excuses here.*
> - Cones developing on earlier bines before sidearms grow on later bines will lessen yield. *Don't think it's this - almost all the bines that "made it" emerged around the same time, grew about the same rate, started producing burrs around the same time.*
> - Extra bines not cut back leads to more vegetative growth and less flowers (after first year root development) *This. I possibly have too many bines in total... up to 3 on some lines I think, although others only have one bine that made it. Would have to check to see what the tally actually is.*


Cheers BB. Last point is probably the kicker. Next year I'll have to be more aggressive with in trimming down to only 1 or 2 bines per line (I have 6 lines per mound). It's just so hard when you are watching your little ones start to grow up!


----------



## Belgrave Brewer

mofox1 said:


> Cheers BB. Last point is probably the kicker. Next year I'll have to be more aggressive with in trimming down to only 1 or 2 bines per line (I have 6 lines per mound). It's just so hard when you are watching your little ones start to grow up!


So you have 6 lines per plant with up to 3 bines per line? Might be asking a lot from the plant, but some let it all grow and have decent yield. I was referring to cutting back all undergrowth if you aren't doing that.

Definitely check soil pH.


----------



## mofox1

Belgrave Brewer said:


> So you have 6 lines per plant with up to 3 bines per line? Might be asking a lot from the plant, but some let it all grow and have decent yield. I was referring to cutting back all undergrowth if you aren't doing that.
> 
> Definitely check soil pH.


Aha. All good, my undergrowth is well trimmed.

Wait....


----------



## Rocker1986

Regarding the soil temp not being cold enough over the winter, this is most probably an issue in Brisbane, and since I don't really have any practical way of refrigerating the crown over this period, do the plants acclimatise to local conditions after a few years or whatever and begin to produce better as the years go on? Or do they always need to be chilled down further than it gets here in order to flower well? This first year Cascade has gone nuts with flowers but I suspect the rhizome would have been kept cold during the winter and it did stay in the fridge here for a few weeks before I planted it too. After this season is over though, it will have to stay in the soil so I'm wondering whether the harvest next season will be lessened as a result. It seems to have worked out that way for the Hallertau so far :unsure:


----------



## Benn

Cascades creating a nice little Beer Garden. I'm out here most nights with a HB just admiring the bines. The burrs look like hundreds of tiny sea anemones. 
...it's Friday, Cheers


----------



## Curly79

They are great for shade and as an ornamental plant aren't they. I was ready to give mine away after last year but I'll be definitely keeping this POR on the back porch.


----------



## Belgrave Brewer

Rocker1986 said:


> Regarding the soil temp not being cold enough over the winter, this is most probably an issue in Brisbane, and since I don't really have any practical way of refrigerating the crown over this period, do the plants acclimatise to local conditions after a few years or whatever and begin to produce better as the years go on? Or do they always need to be chilled down further than it gets here in order to flower well? This first year Cascade has gone nuts with flowers but I suspect the rhizome would have been kept cold during the winter and it did stay in the fridge here for a few weeks before I planted it too. After this season is over though, it will have to stay in the soil so I'm wondering whether the harvest next season will be lessened as a result. It seems to have worked out that way for the Hallertau so far :unsure:


I don't have any experience with this, but know it is an issue with some of the US growers. Hops need about 6 weeks at 3C over winter, and not having it will affect flowering. I get about 20 nights below 0C where I am and I doubt this is ideal.

Look into vernalization. It may be the case that you are better off starting from rhizome again every year or every few years if you can't get the crowns in a fridge over winter. Someone will have the answer.


----------



## earle

Might be getting close to harvest time. Cluster in the foreground, 4th year I think. First year EKG behind it, less vigorous growth as so young but loaded with cones anyway. See how it comes up weight wise. With dense foliage like the cluster it can be difficult to judge how much cones are there. Also the silly first year doesn't know the rules yet about not growing past the top of the ropes.


----------



## abyss

I like your set up there earle. I am thinking of doing similar next season with raised colour bond beds and about 8m ropes.
Your plants look healthy as well.


----------



## wide eyed and legless

Rocker1986 said:


> Regarding the soil temp not being cold enough over the winter, this is most probably an issue in Brisbane, and since I don't really have any practical way of refrigerating the crown over this period, do the plants acclimatise to local conditions after a few years or whatever and begin to produce better as the years go on? Or do they always need to be chilled down further than it gets here in order to flower well? This first year Cascade has gone nuts with flowers but I suspect the rhizome would have been kept cold during the winter and it did stay in the fridge here for a few weeks before I planted it too. After this season is over though, it will have to stay in the soil so I'm wondering whether the harvest next season will be lessened as a result. It seems to have worked out that way for the Hallertau so far :unsure:


This is a really interesting question, I grow strawberries from seed, and I have grown rhubarb from seed, for successful germination it is best to put the seeds in a freezer for a couple of weeks, but once the seeds have germinated there is no need to replicate a freeze and thaw environment, why, I don't know, but they all produce satisfactorily. Maybe it isn't an ideal environment for hops but can they adapt, probably, I would be more inclined to leave them be and not disturb the root system, I have seen the photos of Liam's rhizomes and they look healthy enough in Qld.


----------



## earle

Pretty happy with the harvest off my 1st year EKG bine. Will weigh in a little while. Some cones are thumb size.


----------



## earle

abyss said:


> I like your set up there earle. I am thinking of doing similar next season with raised colour bond beds and about 8m ropes.
> Your plants look healthy as well.


Thanks. Mine are about 5m tall and go quite well. As you can see in the photo the EKG had grown through the eye bolt at the top of the pole, so they wouldn't lower down or harvest this afternoon. Was able to get up there with a ladder and sort it out. Not sure if that would be possible with 8m poles though.


----------



## drsmurto

Chinook has gone berserk, Victoria suffered due to storm damage and blocked drippers.


----------



## earle

earle said:


> Pretty happy with the harvest off my 1st year EKG bine. Will weigh in a little while. Some cones are thumb size.


EKG Hop Harvest Ale going into the fermenter today.


----------



## Benn

Check it out Growers,


Faarken beautiful


----------



## Rocker1986

Benn said:


> Check it out Growers,
> 
> 
> 
> IMG_5068.PNG
> Faarken beautiful


Pricks! :lol: :lol: No rain in sight up here :angry:

Thanks for the replies about the soil temp over winter too. I had a thought of dumping a heap of ice on top of the soil each week or whatever for a month or so but that would get a bit expensive. I guess my only options are to either piss off the root system every year and take a couple of rhizomes and refrigerate them, or just leave them be in the soil and see what happens.


----------



## Danscraftbeer

Do both Rocker. I have to reduce some of my subterranean growth too. I do believe plants will adapt to their locality over years. 
So some left in the ground to adapt over years compared to the cuts gone through the fridge/hibernation thing. If only I had more space to try this.


----------



## Rocker1986

Mine are in big planter boxes rather than the ground, but yeah haven't decided yet. Knowing me and my laziness with things like that I'll probably just leave them in the soil. As long as I get enough off them each year for one batch from each variety I'll be happy, and if they start to increase in yield when they adapt to the conditions better then that'll be a bonus.

I read somewhere, maybe this thread even, that the more established plants tend to prefer less frequent long and deep waterings, as opposed to first year plants that prefer more frequent shallow waterings. Perhaps this is the reason the Hallertau isn't growing as well this season as it did last year, and not growing as well as the Cascade beside it. The Cascade could well be used as a shade screen now, but the Hallertau has a lot less coverage across the trellis. I've started doing deep watering twice a week now rather than shallow watering every day. Hopefully this helps it.


----------



## Mat B

Three of my very tall and flower laden cascade bines fell down in the storm last night!! :unsure: Hopefully there's not significant damage and I can re-hoist them after work. Shattered!!


----------



## Dave70

On hop resilience:
I bought these, Cascade and Chinook off Dr Smurto probably five years ago. Got a half decent harvest year two and since then they were sitting in big black pots pretty much neglected after a savage storm blew everything to pieces the following year and I couldn''t be arsed re erecting the trellis.
I was surprised to notice a little activity late last year so decided to dig a couple of holes at our new (second hand) house and transplant the comically root-bound suckers into them, apply water and see what happens. That was about December 16, now look at em go! Cant wait to see how they spring back next season after some decent feed and watering. 
Take home message, get them into the ground, if space permits, and don't fret over them to much. There as tough as old boots!


----------



## Belgrave Brewer

Mat B said:


> Three of my very tall and flower laden cascade bines fell down in the storm last night!! :unsure: Hopefully there's not significant damage and I can re-hoist them after work. Shattered!!


I had about 10 drop late last year, moved up to a thicker coir this year and hope that solves the problem. It's a bitch getting them back up. You may lose a lateral or two, but damage should be minimal.


----------



## Mat B

Belgrave Brewer said:


> I had about 10 drop late last year, moved up to a thicker coir this year and hope that solves the problem. It's a bitch getting them back up. You may lose a lateral or two, but damage should be minimal.


I managed to hoist them back up. you're right - it was a massive bitch. On inspection yesterday, looks like one bine has started to die due to the damage. It wasn't a major one, but still a bit bummed about the loss. Still on track for a good first harvest though!


----------



## Matplat

Dave70 said:


> On hop resilience:
> I bought these, Cascade and Chinook off Dr Smurto probably five years ago. Got a half decent harvest year two and since then they were sitting in big black pots pretty much neglected after a savage storm blew everything to pieces the following year and I couldn''t be arsed re erecting the trellis.
> I was surprised to notice a little activity late last year so decided to dig a couple of holes at our new (second hand) house and transplant the comically root-bound suckers into them, apply water and see what happens. That was about December 16, now look at em go! Cant wait to see how they spring back next season after some decent feed and watering.
> Take home message, get them into the ground, if space permits, and don't fret over them to much. There as tough as old boots!



Looks like you could have an entire wall of hops next year!


----------



## Rocker1986

Just finished the first harvest of the season from my 2nd year Hallertau plant. A bit disappointing considering the higher trellis, bigger area to spread roots etc. but anyway, there are more flowers forming and I am using Maxibloom on it twice a week so maybe it will be a repeat of last season when it saved its biggest harvest til last (mid-late March).

For this harvest I've managed to pick 52-53g off the plant, so that should dry out to somewhere around 13-14g. A far cry from the Cascade plant whose first two harvests have netted just over 100g dry with plenty more to come from the looks of it. However, if I only get another 20/30/40g off the Hallertau, I'll still have enough for another batch of Home Grown Lager.

I haven't mentioned anything about my Fuggle plant because it's really done nothing this year. There are a literal handful of burrs on it. I suspect it's suffering somewhat being stuck in a pot, but unfortunately there isn't room to have it anywhere else, so that one is one I'm simply keeping alive until such time as I can give it a bigger home.


----------



## Matplat

Yeah, that seems to reflect my growing conditions also, I think that given the QLD disadvantage, they have to go in the ground to have any chance of doing well.

My enthusiasm for hop growing is seriously wearing thin... the upkeep required compared to the return doesn't seem quite worth it at the moment.


----------



## Mardoo

Yep, it's not an economic proposition.


----------



## mofox1

What causes yellowing around the edge of the leaves? It's persisted for a couple of weeks, extra seasol/powerfeed/chook poo hasn't seemed to do anything. Can't see any sign of pests.

Is it just a case of not enough nutrients during the growth phase?



Edit: Wait - it looks like Mg deficiency. I've plenty of epsom salts... any guidelines, hints etc?


----------



## Rocker1986

Matplat said:


> Yeah, that seems to reflect my growing conditions also, I think that given the QLD disadvantage, they have to go in the ground to have any chance of doing well.
> 
> My enthusiasm for hop growing is seriously wearing thin... the upkeep required compared to the return doesn't seem quite worth it at the moment.


My Hallertau and Cascade are in big planter boxes about 1.5x2m and around 800mm deep or so, which should be a reasonable sized home. I think the difference with mine might be that the Cascade is a first year plant from a rhizome which was likely kept cold during the winter. The Hallertau just stayed in its pot until it was moved to the large planter box. Perhaps they just need a few years to acclimatise properly to the conditions, I don't know. At least it's still producing something usable though. I'm happy to persist, I've got the watering set up so it's pretty much automatic other than turning the timer on twice a week for an hour or so and at this point of the season I'm fertilising with Maxibloom twice a week (the day before the deep waterings), which just involves dissolving it in some water in a watering can and tipping it over the soil. Not too much work... the biggest pain in the arse is picking them; over the off season I'm gonna move the trellises to the edge of the boxes rather than the middle to make them easier to reach come harvesting time.


----------



## Danscraftbeer

Matplat said:


> Yeah, that seems to reflect my growing conditions also, I think that given the QLD disadvantage, they have to go in the ground to have any chance of doing well.
> 
> My enthusiasm for hop growing is seriously wearing thin... the upkeep required compared to the return doesn't seem quite worth it at the moment.





mofox1 said:


> What causes yellowing around the edge of the leaves? It's persisted for a couple of weeks, extra seasol/powerfeed/chook poo hasn't seemed to do anything. Can't see any sign of pests.
> 
> Is it just a case of not enough nutrients during the growth phase?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 1486547302233.jpg
> 
> Edit: Wait - it looks like Mg deficiency. I've plenty of epsom salts... any guidelines, hints etc?


mofox don't worry about it. Pick off shitty leaves if they look ugly or bother you but I just leave them until they nearly fall off, or fall off themselves its then the natural surface mulch then it composts etc.

Reading these kind of posts I sometimes think, that people over think everything especially with people fairly new to something. 
Just like new brewers can try to throw everything and the kitchen sink into some kind of new world record incredible brew which is what stuffs it up.
Hops are like a weed. Planted in the ground in some conditions they could be a pest with total neglect. In pots need extra attention. I've seen some youtube in US that planted one across the road and left it with total neglect but reaped a shitload of hops off it. 
The real trick is developing a green thumb all round. Understanding plants and reading them its just plants its not rocket science. I'm a self teaching apprentice. Will be Willingly for the rest of my life. No qualifications necessary. Some great satisfactions in anything I wish to grow. For me its organic food, and hops because they are so cool and shady and look great and useful for craft brewing.
Failings are learnings.


----------



## rude

earle said:


> EKG Hop Harvest Ale going into the fermenter today.


Bloody good looking beer there Earl what style

Its making me thirsty just looking at it

Love youre pole pulley system might have to give it a crack as cramped for room against the fence


----------



## rude

Whoops meant the one in the glass my bad comp skills


----------



## rude

earle said:


> Pretty happy with the harvest off my 1st year EKG bine. Will weigh in a little while. Some cones are thumb size.


----------



## Rocker1986

I just let the leaves drop off too, it mostly seems to be the growth near the bottom that does this on my plants so I'm not too worried about it. As long as it's producing flowers I'm happy. My potted Fuggles has a nice mulch covering of gum leaves that have fallen into it over the recent months, pity it's hardly producing any flowers. Maybe it will improve when I can move it out of the pot though.


----------



## LiquidGold

I've found gum leaves as mulch seem to stunt plant growth somewhat and remember reading something about a chemical or oil in the leaves which causes this.


----------



## wide eyed and legless

You can use gum leaves as mulch but they have to be broken down, like most leaves, but the chemicals and oil in gum leaves (which inhibit bacterial growth) does eventually go as the leaves break down,only trouble with leaves is they take an awful long time to break down.


----------



## earle

rude said:


> Bloody good looking beer there Earl what style
> 
> Its making me thirsty just looking at it
> 
> Love youre pole pulley system might have to give it a crack as cramped for room against the fence


Thanks mate. I replied to your comment on the photo but you may not have seen it. 

The beer next to the hops is my Berliner Weiss. I've been keen to do a kettle sour for ages and glad i did. Midstrength alcohol and lactic sourness makes for a great summer beer.

The poles for the hops work pretty well. They're actually removable which makes life easier for adding the ropes. Its just an eyebolt at the top. Works fine except for when the bines grow through the eyebolt like the EKG this year.


----------



## Rocker1986

Yeah, I didn't put the leaves in there deliberately, just left the pot sitting there and they've fallen in over time. I have to cover all my hops with mesh to stop turkeys and other critters from digging them up, so I tend to be a bit lazy when it comes to weeding and removing shit because it's just too much of a pain in the arse lifting up the mesh and reaching under it. The pot is fine but I still can't be arsed. The bigger planter boxes I'm just gonna leave until the season is over and then weed them, and also top up the soil which has compacted a fair bit. This is another reason I can't be arsed with the weeding, it's too far down to reach while trying to hold up mesh.


----------



## twinathon

About 1.2 kg of Cascade off of 3 first year Cascade plants. Haven't even picked half of the Cascade crop yet, absolutely chuffed with the amount of cones that have grown.


----------



## AJ80

Mt Hood, Cascade and Chinook are all loaded with flowers. The goldings must have heard my mutterings about digging it out this winter for not producing anything as it has finally started throwing a few burrs. Excitingly, my first year wild otways goldings has reached the top of its line and has started throwing small laterals. First year Victoria is putting on a late spurt of growth, but I'm doubtful of a crop from it this year.


----------



## Danscraftbeer

twinathon said:


> About 1.2 kg of Cascade off of 3 first year Cascade plants. Haven't even picked half of the Cascade crop yet, absolutely chuffed with the amount of cones that have grown.
> 
> 
> 
> image.jpg


Wow. mine are only in burs now in frankinstyne.
Another month to go for harvesting.


----------



## twinathon

All up picked about 4kg of cascade today and still have a couple of lines to cascade. Hallertau looks to be a few days away. Don't think I'll get much from my Goldings, it has really struggled and not sure why.


----------



## Mat B

My cascade has plenty of cones ready to pick, which will happen today. Those cones are all pretty big. It also has a lot of smaller cones that appear to be close to ready, but they're about half the size of the others. Does anyone know if this is normal? Will the plant produce a range of flower sizes, and can smaller ones mature at that size?


----------



## Mat B

I picked about 5% of the cones. So many! My wife reckons they're not ready. It's my first harvest so I keep doubting myself. Any thoughts on the below pics? Did I froth too soon, or do they look ready?


----------



## Mat B




----------



## Mardoo

Mat B said:


> I picked about 5% of the cones. So many! My wife reckons they're not ready. It's my first harvest so I keep doubting myself. Any thoughts on the below pics? Did I froth too soon, or do they look ready?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> IMAG0807.jpg
> 
> 
> 
> 
> IMAG0812.jpg


I myself wouldn't pick those. They're not ready in my book. The aroma and flavour oils develop later in the growth cycle. That's why we want to leave them longer.


----------



## Belgrave Brewer

Mat B said:


> I picked about 5% of the cones. So many! My wife reckons they're not ready. It's my first harvest so I keep doubting myself. Any thoughts on the below pics? Did I froth too soon, or do they look ready?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> IMAG0807.jpg
> 
> 
> 
> 
> IMAG0812.jpg


They don't look ready to me.


----------



## Mat B

Dang


----------



## MartinOC

Lucky you only picked 5% of the potential hervest, eh?


----------



## Benn

Mat B said:


> My cascade has plenty of cones ready to pick, which will happen today. Those cones are all pretty big. It also has a lot of smaller cones that appear to be close to ready, but they're about half the size of the others. Does anyone know if this is normal? Will the plant produce a range of flower sizes, and can smaller ones mature at that size?


I'm interested in an answer to this question if someone could comment?


----------



## Danscraftbeer

Yes. Smaller cones mature just the same. Maybe a tad of Sulphate of Potash to regular watering from when they just starting to bur can get fatter flowering/fruiting. Or the small ones just haven't grown out fully yet?


----------



## Mardoo

Happens all the time to me. Yes, hop plants can produce many sized flowers. My Chinook a few years ago had ones in the 12-15cm range, and ones 3-4cm long too. The all ripened, not necessarily at the same time as the ones of the same size. So yes, they can also mature at the small size.


----------



## Mat B

Yeah the smaller ones look like they're maturing at the same rate as the bigger ones. Regarding my 5% harvest that's too young....can I use this for bittering? I've got them in the dehydrator. Wondering if I can still use them.


----------



## Mardoo

See how they smell when they're done drying. You can always pop them in a glass of beer just for a bump of flavour, see how that goes. Bittering is an unknown quantity with homegrown hops. Have a look inside and see how much of the bright yellow lupulin has developed. My guess is not much since the hairs of the burr were still on them in your original photo. If there is a decent amount of lupulin, low-ball toward the bottom end of the particular hop species AA% and use them for bittering based on that amount. At least that's how I do it, and so far it's worked pretty well.


----------



## Mat B

Mardoo said:


> See how they smell when they're done drying. You can always pop them in a glass of beer just for a bump of flavour, see how that goes. Bittering is an unknown quantity with homegrown hops. Have a look inside and see how much of the bright yellow lupulin has developed. My guess is not much since the hairs of the burr were still on them in your original photo. If there is a decent amount of lupulin, low-ball toward the bottom end of the particular hop species AA% and use them for bittering based on that amount. At least that's how I do it, and so far it's worked pretty well.


Thanks Mardoo. Looks like plenty of lupulin in there, so I'll give it a crack.


----------



## Belgrave Brewer

The weather has been all over the place this Spring and Summer. The hops don't seem to mind too much after a late start. The killer has been wind and it's definitely affected yield. Still, I'm happy with what's up there. Hopefully the windbreak I am growing will be at a respectable height for next season.


----------



## Mardoo

Based on your photos I'd hate to see a heavy yield. You will though. You will...


----------



## Rocker1986

I wish mine were producing like that! Ah well, I still have plenty from my Cascade for at least 3 batches of APA so far. Some of the cones on it look rather odd though, like the bracts(?) are sort of curled upwards a bit rather than straight down or slightly curled downwards into the cone like the first two harvests. I'll grab a photo tomorrow but I'm wondering whether these have been affected by the herbicide in the same way that some of the leaves were earlier on. They also don't seem to dry out on the bine the same as the 'normal' ones do so it's hard to know when to pick them. I pulled one off today and it had plenty of lupulin in it and smelt pretty normal so I dunno. :unsure:


----------



## AJ80

Rocker1986 said:


> I wish mine were producing like that! Ah well, I still have plenty from my Cascade for at least 3 batches of APA so far. Some of the cones on it look rather odd though, like the bracts(?) are sort of curled upwards a bit rather than straight down or slightly curled downwards into the cone like the first two harvests. I'll grab a photo tomorrow but I'm wondering whether these have been affected by the herbicide in the same way that some of the leaves were earlier on. They also don't seem to dry out on the bine the same as the 'normal' ones do so it's hard to know when to pick them. I pulled one off today and it had plenty of lupulin in it and smelt pretty normal so I dunno. :unsure:


I've got a few flowers doing this as well (but on my mt hood). Lupulin is still forming, but I'm a ways off harvesting so yet to see if they dry out differently.


----------



## Danscraftbeer

Belgrave Brewer said:


> The weather has been all over the place this Spring and Summer. The hops don't seem to mind too much after a late start. The killer has been wind and it's definitely affected yield. Still, I'm happy with what's up there. Hopefully the windbreak I am growing will be at a respectable height for next season.


That is a flower fat crop there. Well done. Gotta love it when its like bunches of grapes. :icon_drool2:


----------



## mondestrunken

Apologies for the sh*tty colour exposure here.

Are these brown patches from the heat last weekend or nutrient deficiency?

I've been using blood & bone every month or so since September.

I really want to get some hops this year!!!


----------



## drsmurto

I've posted a partial 360 view image on the South Australian Brewing Club's Facebook page of my hop plantation. I can't seem to upload that type of image to this forum but the Facebook page is public so you can all see it. It gives a great perspective on just how much the hops have taken over that area of the yard.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/sabrew/789412717875629/?notif_t=like&notif_id=1487120820074186


----------



## Rocker1986

This is a picture of what I was describing in my last post. The two cones here are clearly different, with the left one clearly deformed compared to a normal one on the right. Its bracts seem to have curled upwards but also inwards, i.e. not flattened out properly - similar to how the leaves were behaving earlier when they were rolled up rather than flat like normal. The feel of it is different as well, it doesn't feel papery like the normal ones, but it doesn't feel moist like they do when they're not ready either. It's kind of soft but stiff at the same time, hard to describe. These deformed cones still have plenty of lupulin and smell pretty much the same as normal ones too.

There are quite a number of cones on the plant that look like this, although most aren't as badly deformed as that one. They appear to be going back more to what they'd normally look like but still retain some of this deformity.

I'm hoping this is just a phase it's going through, like it did with the leaves. New leaves began appearing rolled up not long after I killed off some weeds with broadleaf weed killer and managed to hit literally a couple of really low hop leaves with it, but then after a short while this stopped happening and all the new leaves since have been normal. These cones are obviously coming from the same bines that exhibited the rolled up leaves. I guess time will tell, and especially next season when it regenerates after winter, that first growth will give me an idea if this stupid poison is still causing issues.


----------



## Belgrave Brewer

Rocker1986 said:


> This is a picture of what I was describing in my last post. The two cones here are clearly different, with the left one clearly deformed compared to a normal one on the right. Its bracts seem to have curled upwards but also inwards, i.e. not flattened out properly - similar to how the leaves were behaving earlier when they were rolled up rather than flat like normal. The feel of it is different as well, it doesn't feel papery like the normal ones, but it doesn't feel moist like they do when they're not ready either. It's kind of soft but stiff at the same time, hard to describe. These deformed cones still have plenty of lupulin and smell pretty much the same as normal ones too.
> 
> There are quite a number of cones on the plant that look like this, although most aren't as badly deformed as that one. They appear to be going back more to what they'd normally look like but still retain some of this deformity.
> 
> I'm hoping this is just a phase it's going through, like it did with the leaves. New leaves began appearing rolled up not long after I killed off some weeds with broadleaf weed killer and managed to hit literally a couple of really low hop leaves with it, but then after a short while this stopped happening and all the new leaves since have been normal. These cones are obviously coming from the same bines that exhibited the rolled up leaves. I guess time will tell, and especially next season when it regenerates after winter, that first growth will give me an idea if this stupid poison is still causing issues.


I personally would not use them, even though a lot of the hops coming out of the US have tested positive for traces of glyphosate.


----------



## Rocker1986

So far I haven't used any of these deformed cones, or rather dried and packaged them. I have picked some to get rid of them though and make it easier to find the normal ones. I'll wait and see what this next lot of burrs ends up looking like; ones as badly deformed as the one in the picture I'll most likely throw away but if they're only a tiny bit odd and feel like they should then I'll probably give them a go. I've still got 100g of dried normal ones in the freezer, so plenty for a couple of batches at least. Better than a kick up the arse :lol:


----------



## N3MIS15

First year grower here, any input appreciated. 
Do you guys think these look ready? I spotted a couple cones (and only a couple) browning.
h


----------



## drsmurto

It's difficult to tell if a hop cone is ready to pick by looking at it although. You need to give them a squeeze. If they sound like scrunching paper then they are ready. Also, pick one and rip it in half, there should be plenty of golden yellow lupilin inside it. 




N3MI said:


> First year grower here, any input appreciated.
> Do you guys think these look ready? I spotted a couple cones (and only a couple) browning.
> h


----------



## Mat B

Scroll back a few pages and you'll see I picked a big bowl of hops that were at about the same stage as that. Felt papery to me (but I'm a first time grower, so got nothing to compare it too) and they had lots of yellow lupulin. I thought they smelled hoppy when I was picking, but then decided they smelled grassy. I dried them - smelled like lawn clippings. Everyone seemed to agree they weren't ready. 



N3MI said:


> First year grower here, any input appreciated.
> Do you guys think these look ready? I spotted a couple cones (and only a couple) browning.
> h


----------



## N3MIS15

I picked 1 about a week ago and ripped it apart and had a whiff. Smelt grassy to me then. Picked 1 now and smelling better, feels kinda like tissue paper although still a bit of a grassy smell.
Think i will let em ride a bit longer.


----------



## Danscraftbeer

mondestrunken said:


> Apologies for the sh*tty colour exposure here.
> 
> Are these brown patches from the heat last weekend or nutrient deficiency?
> 
> I've been using blood & bone every month or so since September.
> 
> I really want to get some hops this year!!!


You may be burning them with too much fertilizer. Blood and bone is best added after you harvest the hops and cut them down.
Apply blood and bone in late Autumn as I believe. A big dose. It takes some months to break down into what plants can use properly when the next season comes around. I would just water if you've added that much already.


----------



## AJ80

Rocker1986 said:


> This is a picture of what I was describing in my last post. The two cones here are clearly different, with the left one clearly deformed compared to a normal one on the right. Its bracts seem to have curled upwards but also inwards, i.e. not flattened out properly - similar to how the leaves were behaving earlier when they were rolled up rather than flat like normal. The feel of it is different as well, it doesn't feel papery like the normal ones, but it doesn't feel moist like they do when they're not ready either. It's kind of soft but stiff at the same time, hard to describe. These deformed cones still have plenty of lupulin and smell pretty much the same as normal ones too.
> 
> There are quite a number of cones on the plant that look like this, although most aren't as badly deformed as that one. They appear to be going back more to what they'd normally look like but still retain some of this deformity.
> 
> I'm hoping this is just a phase it's going through, like it did with the leaves. New leaves began appearing rolled up not long after I killed off some weeds with broadleaf weed killer and managed to hit literally a couple of really low hop leaves with it, but then after a short while this stopped happening and all the new leaves since have been normal. These cones are obviously coming from the same bines that exhibited the rolled up leaves. I guess time will tell, and especially next season when it regenerates after winter, that first growth will give me an idea if this stupid poison is still causing issues.


Mine looks nothing like that. I imagine that's what a Chernobyl-grown hop looks like...hope you don't have too many like that!


----------



## fungrel

Few questions came up about diseases etc, just found this Google Drive online with tons of info and it's fantastic!

Thought i should share. 

https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/0B7aNkuU_q8iEREdBMkxWcFI2THM


----------



## Rocker1986

AJ80 said:


> Mine looks nothing like that. I imagine that's what a Chernobyl-grown hop looks like...hope you don't have too many like that!


Hahah! Nah not too many. Looking at the newer ones that are appearing, they are looking more like the ones with slightly upcurled bracts in N3MI's pictures than that bloody weird looking thing I picked off mine. They might not be perfectly normal like the first couple of harvests but they should be fine to pick when ready. I will keep an eye on them though to make sure they don't go all weird. I'm about to go and throw some Maxibloom on them now, and I'll get up on the planter box and pick what I can reach of the shitty deformed ones and discard them. They're not much use if I can't even tell properly when they're ready to pick anyway.


----------



## twinathon

Packaged 600g of dried cascade last night, the kitchen still smells dank. May have an odd conversation with some guests coming about the smell and green flakes everywhere.


Also have a massive dose of 400g of fresh flowers dry hopping a harvest ale. A couple of tastes from gravity samples have been incredible, so much hop character.


----------



## fungrel

Two first year Cluster rhizomes,Only planted them two weeks into October so they definitely like the soil profile.


----------



## Rocker1986

Are they gravity defying hops... -358g?  Looks like a nice haul!


----------



## Mat B

I’m looking at some of the pics of the hops people have harvested, and I can’t see how they differ to the ones I recently harvested. Mine were deemed to be too young (and smelled that way). I’m looking at them frequently and trying to see if it gets more papery etc.

Can someone please post a pic of what my hops should look like when it’s ready? FWIW I’m growing cascade. I’m also colourblind, so maybe there’s an obvious difference I can’t see. I usually get the wife to check the colour part.

I have plenty left on the bine, and want to make sure I pick them at the right time.


----------



## drsmurto

Lupilin should be a golden yellow, almost orange, not yellow. The outside should be papery and starting to just brown up at the tips. 

Picking early and you'll get much less of the aromatic oils and more grassy/vegetal characters.


----------



## Belgrave Brewer

Mat B said:


> I’m looking at some of the pics of the hops people have harvested, and I can’t see how they differ to the ones I recently harvested. Mine were deemed to be too young (and smelled that way). I’m looking at them frequently and trying to see if it gets more papery etc.
> 
> Can someone please post a pic of what my hops should look like when it’s ready? FWIW I’m growing cascade. I’m also colourblind, so maybe there’s an obvious difference I can’t see. I usually get the wife to check the colour part.
> 
> I have plenty left on the bine, and want to make sure I pick them at the right time.


Check out this video Matt B...might help you decide when they are ready.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlsT-x19III


----------



## Mat B

Belgrave Brewer said:


> Check out this video Matt B...might help you decide when they are ready.
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlsT-x19III


Thanks mate


----------



## Rocker1986

That video was a great help to me last season as a first time grower. I have to figure I picked most of them at the right time (the first harvest was probably a bit early) because the resultant beer they were used in was anything but grassy or vegetal, in fact it was delicious. It's probably easier to tell when they're ready by feel rather than what they look like though - I do look for lupulin but I generally wait until they feel dry and papery and make that scrunching paper sound when I squeeze or roll them in my fingers.

Sometimes I'll pick one and crush it up in my hand and smell it, if it smells like the pellets do then I figure it's ready, so I look for other cones that are in the same condition to harvest. It takes me a while to pick them because I inspect and feel each one before I pick it to make sure it's ready.


----------



## Mat B

Thanks Rocker1986. That's very helpful! My main issue is I think they already feel papery. It's such a subjective thing.


----------



## Rocker1986

Yeah it can be hard to work out what's papery and what's papery if you get what I mean. Some of the ones on my plant feel papery but I know they're not ready just yet, but probably will be in a week or two. Perhaps take a small section of flowers on the plant and never pick them, but observe them and feel them as they change, that might give you a better idea of when they get to that real dry papery stage.


----------



## Schooner_downunder

Can anyone provide advice on how long to dry hops before storing/using. My first harvest of the season was 100 g wet, I dried for 4 days (No Heat) on a screen with a final weight of 20 g. Does this dry weight seem right to other growers.

Attached is a pic of the final dried hops.




PS - Apologies, can't figure out how to rotate an uploaded pic


----------



## Rocker1986

I can't figure out sideways pics either but more importantly, as far as I know you want to dry them to about 25% of their wet weight, so 20g isn't too far from 100g wet. 

I'm on a phone so can't see where you're located but in Brisbane I find about 48 hours give or take a few seems to be the sweet spot for drying them to a quarter. That's drying on a screen, no artificial heat or airflow provided.


----------



## Mardoo

Sideways pics - after you take it, open your editing app/window/etc. Rotate to correct position - even if it's already in the correct position, which it usually is - and re-save. Always comes out right for me then.


----------



## earle

Also remember if you're going to use them straight away you don't even need to dry them


----------



## Schooner_downunder

Rocker1986 said:


> I can't figure out sideways pics either but more importantly, as far as I know you want to dry them to about 25% of their wet weight, so 20g isn't too far from 100g wet.
> 
> I'm on a phone so can't see where you're located but in Brisbane I find about 48 hours give or take a few seems to be the sweet spot for drying them to a quarter. That's drying on a screen, no artificial heat or airflow provided.


Awesome, i am down in melbourne, i will give the next batch a go using 48 hours, worse case i weigh them wet then re-measure after two days. If they are still not at around 25 %, I will put them back on the screen for another day or so.

Cheers,
Schooner


----------



## abyss

Mine are budding up nicely.
Saaz, Cascade, Dr Rudi and Cascade again. All first year in small pots.
I reckon the higher the trellis the better but my system at the moment is too hard to harvest.


----------



## Rocker1986

Schooner_downunder said:


> Awesome, i am down in melbourne, i will give the next batch a go using 48 hours, worse case i weigh them wet then re-measure after two days. If they are still not at around 25 %, I will put them back on the screen for another day or so.
> 
> Cheers,
> Schooner


That's pretty much all I do. Usually after two days they're done, but sometimes they need a little longer.


----------



## N3MIS15

Picked 2nd year cascade plant yesterday. 2.55kg wet. Pretty happy for the first ever harvest of this plant.


----------



## Danscraftbeer

N3MI. I got one of those dryers too its pretty good. I though It was the size of the package until it sprung out to much bigger than I thought ha..


----------



## N3MIS15

Yea, same. I was ready to pull the fly screens off the window after looking at the bucket full of hops. I hadn't opened the bag holding the screens until I needed it. I can definatly say I was pleasantly surprised when they unfolded lol.


----------



## mofox1

N3MI said:


> Yea, same. I was ready to pull the fly screens off the window after looking at the bucket full of hops. I hadn't opened the bag holding the screens until I needed it. I can definatly say I was pleasantly surprised when they unfolded lol.


Where did you get it from?


----------



## N3MIS15

eBay, it was linked earlier in this thread.


----------



## mofox1

N3MI said:


> eBay, it was linked earlier in this thread.


ta, mobile lazy atm. Will check later.


----------



## twinathon

My Cascade wet hop ale is a bit of a disaster. Over hopped it and it's ridiculously floral. Like sipping on a flavoured candle. 


I've had much better success using my dried Cascade. It's imparting an unbelievable flavour on an APA. Much fruitier than store bought cascade, almost citra like.


----------



## N3MIS15

Harvested my first year Columbus plant today. 888g wet.


----------



## Rocker1986

Shame about the wet hop ale but I'm looking forward even more now to using my dried Cascade in a couple of batches. I have about 100g of it with more to come soon; there are a number of cones that should be ready to pick in the next 2-3 weeks, plus more burrs on it yet again.

The Hallertau is a completely different story though. I did pick 15g dry from it, but after that a lot of the leaves on the bines died and fell off and it hasn't really produced anything more since then. Now it has a couple of new shoots popping up out of the soil. :blink: :lol:


----------



## Danscraftbeer

twinathon said:


> My Cascade wet hop ale is a bit of a disaster. Over hopped it and it's ridiculously floral. Like sipping on a flavoured candle.
> 
> 
> I've had much better success using my dried Cascade. It's imparting an unbelievable flavour on an APA. Much fruitier than store bought cascade, almost citra like.


In hindsight of my last years harvest brews you get an overload of hop flavour at lower IBU's. That an easy fault, my fault but the beer was still good especially if lagered for long time.
I Bottled from the keg with mine and 2 months onwards it was awesome, but not bitter enough.
Its better to bitter with a neutral hop (like a small amount of Magnum) for 60 minute. Make it around half your IBU target.
Then throw in handfuls here and there of your fresh hops for the last 30 minutes.
Wet hopping in a keg on harvest day is also a bonus..

200g wet hops in the large course hop sock, weighted, in the keg before beer transfer, on tap. :chug:


----------



## husky

Anyone in Melb still got hops on the bine? I have cascade, vic and Chinook still going. Looks like most other people have harvested, just curious if anyone else's still going?


----------



## Danscraftbeer

My harvest happen through March, as late as early April. None harvested yet. Chinook will be the first this year. Goldings but not much. Hallertau, Red Earth, Cascade, then the Possum ravaged Tettnang is yet to show a bur.


----------



## Curly79

husky said:


> Anyone in Melb still got hops on the bine? I have cascade, vic and Chinook still going. Looks like most other people have harvested, just curious if anyone else's still going?


I've got Cascade Chinook and POR still not harvested husky. Probably still a month or so off


----------



## Benn

husky said:


> Anyone in Melb still got hops on the bine? I have cascade, vic and Chinook still going. Looks like most other people have harvested, just curious if anyone else's still going?


Yep, mine are still ripening.
Victoria getting close now. Cascade not far behind, noticed some more burrs emerging amongst the lower bines on some plants.


----------



## Mardoo

Mine too Husky. Not uncommon to harvest in mid to late March here, even early April one year.


----------



## Nullnvoid

I don't think I'll get a harvest this year at this rate. My plants are still growing! No sign of anything else.


----------



## twinathon

Danscraftbeer said:


> In hindsight of my last years harvest brews you get an overload of hop flavour at lower IBU's. That an easy fault, my fault but the beer was still good especially if lagered for long time.
> I Bottled from the keg with mine and 2 months onwards it was awesome, but not bitter enough.
> Its better to bitter with a neutral hop (like a small amount of Magnum) for 60 minute. Make it around half your IBU target.
> Then throw in handfuls here and there of your fresh hops for the last 30 minutes.
> Wet hopping in a keg on harvest day is also a bonus..
> 
> 200g wet hops in the large course hop sock, weighted, in the keg before beer transfer, on tap. :chug:


I was going with the guideline of 6-8 times regular dosage and even then I went a little over that. I ended up throwing about a Kg of wet cascade into a 20L batch of SNPA clone. I'll give it a couple months and see how it is. Oh well like everything in the hobby, always learn from your mistakes.


----------



## Mat B

husky said:


> Anyone in Melb still got hops on the bine? I have cascade, vic and Chinook still going. Looks like most other people have harvested, just curious if anyone else's still going?


Yeah I've still got cascade on the bine. I think it's very close. Could be this weekend. Could be 2 weeks.


----------



## Belgrave Brewer

husky said:


> Anyone in Melb still got hops on the bine? I have cascade, vic and Chinook still going. Looks like most other people have harvested, just curious if anyone else's still going?


Looks like I'll be picking Chinook next weekend, then Cascade and Victoria the week after. All still too young, but getting close.


----------



## husky

Thought I better take a proper look at mine this morning. Chinook had some small flowers starting to die off so climbed up to the top and had a good look and turns out they are ready. Harvested 980g wet but left 30% on the bine that looked a bit past it.
I planted 3 first years and the Chinook was the lowest flowering. Based on the density of the others I should easily get 2kg vic and 1kg cascade. The cascade cones are massive compared to the others as well.
Ordered a drying net last night so these guys will have to wait.


----------



## Mardoo

Nice. I have a hypothesis that part of the difference in flavour between commercial and homegrown hops is that commercial hops are left in heaps until they have enough for a drying run. This would allow for greater decarboxylation and less of the grassy and vegetal flavours. 

Just a theory. I'm hoping to get enough this year to test this, but Im not sure I will.


----------



## Rocker1986

In this photo is the Cascade in the foreground with the Hallertau behind it. There are more cones on the Cascade than it looks, they are just hiding under the leaves and also on the other side of it. The dead parts interspersed amongst it are a bine that somehow got chopped off at the ground about a month ago, but otherwise it's going really well. The newer cones on it have reverted back to a more normal shape and form now after that period where they all went weird, so I'll definitely be getting another harvest this year, probably another two harvests with the new burrs that are on it too.

As you can see, the Hallertau is not looking all that great. For some reason when I picked the flowers that were on it, most of the leaves on the bines died and fell off. It didn't really produce many laterals this year either. A month ago or so it was looking as healthy as the Cascade plant so I don't really know what happened to it. There are a couple of little new shoots popping up out of the soil so at least it's not dead. Will just have to see how it goes next season.


----------



## gunbrew

Chinook in Sydney, been in the ground 7 years.
Hours and hours of picking every year.


----------



## Curly79

Nullnvoid said:


> I don't think I'll get a harvest this year at this rate. My plants are still growing! No sign of anything else.


What's going on there mate!? How high are they?


----------



## Lozbrewer

My EKG's planted in a half wine barrel make a nice outdoor shower screen.

Cow manure and compost, some dynamic lifter worm wee and regular watering.


----------



## Nullnvoid

Curly79 said:


> What's going on there mate!? How high are they?


Probably 3 metres?, chopped them off when they got to the gutter of the roof.

They have only just started in the last week or two putting out laterals? Took forever for them to grow upwards. Been watering and also powerfeeding.

I'll take a picture tonight. They are not very thick


----------



## Nullnvoid

Here is my three plants. Still fairly small compared to everyone else's. I don't know if I'm doing something wrong or its just because they are first year.


----------



## Curly79

Nullnvoid said:


> Here is my three plants. Still fairly small compared to everyone else's. I don't know if I'm doing something wrong or its just because they are first year.
> 
> 
> 
> ImageUploadedByAussie Home Brewer1488443856.421021.jpg


Oh. 1st years! Don't stress then mate. Get them in the ground next season and they will flourish. Maybe the spud who gave you the rhizomes set you up[emoji6].


----------



## Nullnvoid

Curly79 said:


> Oh. 1st years! Don't stress then mate. Get them in the ground next season and they will flourish. Maybe the spud who gave you the rhizomes set you up[emoji6].


Yeah not overly stressed. And yeah that silly git that gave me one of them, wow, did I get taken for a ride! Funny though, that one is still in the pot you gave it too me in and until recently was doing the best out of the three!


----------



## Yob

Nullnvoid said:


> Here is my three plants. Still fairly small compared to everyone else's. I don't know if I'm doing something wrong or its just because they are first year.
> 
> 
> 
> ImageUploadedByAussie Home Brewer1488443856.421021.jpg


get em in a raised box, can tailor the soil and great drainage.

Those pots are not doing them any good


----------



## Nullnvoid

Yob said:


> get em in a raised box, can tailor the soil and great drainage.
> 
> Those pots are not doing them any good


Half wine barrel no good?


----------



## Rocker1986

+1 for raised boxes if not going in the ground. That Cascade in my earlier post is a first year as well. Dunno what the bloody hell happened to the 2nd year Hallertau but anyway.


----------



## Yob

Nullnvoid said:


> Half wine barrel no good?


Ok for 1 maybe... Certainly not for 2, they'll be competing for water for sure and likely always dry


----------



## Nullnvoid

Yob said:


> Ok for 1 maybe... Certainly not for 2, they'll be competing for water for sure and likely always dry


Ok, looks like I will have to reassess every thing for next season!


----------



## Yob

Nullnvoid said:


> Ok, looks like I will have to reassess every thing for next season!


That other pot is a disgrace my friend... lol


----------



## Nullnvoid

Yob said:


> That other pot is a disgrace my friend... lol



Yeah I know, I got it at the last minute of Curly79 and then didn't get around to get another barrel for it so left it in the pot he gave it too me. I never expected it to actually grow well. Shame on me for not realising the potential of the hop!

I'll do better next year, hopefully in another house where I can put them in the ground. That's why they are in a barrel


----------



## ScottyDoesntKnow

Came back from a 2 week swing at work and one of my chinooks has completely died. Everything is black! It was the first plant to flower and I managed to pick a few cones before I left but there were a heap more I was hoping to harvest once I got back. Hoping the rhizome hasn't been destroyed as well. The two other plants next to it seem to be ok and still producing which is odd.


----------



## earle

Shame, did you have an automatic watering system in place?


----------



## abyss

This is my first harvest ever.
Cascade, Dr Rudi and Saaz. I'm stoked as they were only in pots which were too small.
I used heaps of mushroom compost with both natural top soil and horse + cow shit.
I also use 1/2 strength liquid fertiliser every two weeks in the afternoon of the full and new moon.


----------



## earle

EKG Harvest Ale with a few fresh flowers from a small second harvest


----------



## A.B.

One of my first year Chinooks (from DrSmurto) is just about ready to harvest - didn't expect any flowers in first year, looks like I might have a bucket full. Checking them every day for the right time to pick the flowers.


----------



## ScottyDoesntKnow

earle said:


> Shame, did you have an automatic watering system in place?


Hah. Yep, it's called rain! I think I'm done with FIFO work, hopefully next season I will be able to monitor them a bit closer.


----------



## Danscraftbeer

Panic harvested today its come early from a week of dry sunny weather for my
Goldings: 270g grand total wet.1st year in a pot, lesson learned I let too many bines go in early growth for a pot. Poor yield. 
They also went dry,post ripe really quick but they smell great.

Chinook: Just under 3 kilo wet. 2nd year in the ground. got around >1% over ripe dried out browned hops but they also smell great with the palm rub smell test. They all go in. I see no reason to throw the browned flowers?


----------



## Midnight Brew

It seems like hop karma is finally on my side!

Harvested my Chinook last night and then again this morning totaling 6 buckets.


Wet weight 6.12kg.







This plant is several years old and this year I decided to grow up the fence then up to the roof to give a bit of privacy for the bedroom. Yep it adds some charm. Next year I will run even more strings up to the roof and completely shade off that bedroom from the southwest sun.

My garage smells divine right now.


----------



## husky

Harvested 1st year Vic tonight. 1.5 hrs to collect 2.1kg until it got dark, approx. the same again I'll have to get off in a few days if they're still ok as some are getting past due and I'm time poor currently.
Cascade still going and likely harvest in the next few weeks.
The bottom tiers are the dried out Chinook from last week that need to be vac sealed.


----------



## mofox1

Nice haul Husky.

I judged mine almost ready to pick last weekend... Hopefully not past it by this weekend!


----------



## Rocker1986

These hauls make my 100g (so far) look like shit by comparison :lol: If only Brisbane was better suited to hops growing in regard to yield of flowers. Oh well, it's still fun at least, and I'll get about 2-3 batches of beer from them.


----------



## Matplat

Rocker1986 said:


> These hauls make my 100g (so far) look like shit by comparison :lol: If only Brisbane was better suited to hops growing in regard to yield of flowers. Oh well, it's still fun at least, and I'll get about 2-3 batches of beer from them.


Thats why I've decided to give it up! I realised that, living in brisbane, it's much easier, cheaper and more satisfying to get a good deal on commercially grown hops! Ha ha ha! If I ever move to victoria I'll reconsider!


----------



## Mat B

What is everyone doing with these huge harvests? This is my first year, and I reckon I've got 6kgs of cascade wet. It's insane. There's NO WAY I'll use anywhere near that before next harvest. I've also spent hours picking and drying flowers. My wife is not pleased.


----------



## Belgrave Brewer

Mat B said:


> What is everyone doing with these huge harvests? This is my first year, and I reckon I've got 6kgs of cascade wet. It's insane. There's NO WAY I'll use anywhere near that before next harvest. I've also spent hours picking and drying flowers. My wife is not pleased.


That'll dry down to 1.5kg or less. You'll just have to make hoppier beer then.


----------



## Belgrave Brewer

Dropped my first Chinook last night. One of the smallish ones...4kg wet. :O


----------



## Yob

Belgrave Brewer said:


> That'll dry down to 1.5kg or less. You'll just have to make hoppier beer then.


Build a randalizer, you'll get through them


----------



## Rocker1986

Matplat said:


> Thats why I've decided to give it up! I realised that, living in brisbane, it's much easier, cheaper and more satisfying to get a good deal on commercially grown hops! Ha ha ha! If I ever move to victoria I'll reconsider!


Yeah I mainly use bought hops but I still find satisfaction in growing them. Even if they don't produce much they are effective shade screens over the summer too. I'll keep persisting, maybe after a few years they'll acclimatise better and start producing more but even if I only get enough for 3 or 4 batches per season I'll be happy.


----------



## pat_00

I gave my partner's dad a rhizome of Mt Hood and this is what he did with it. 1st year of growth too. It made it to the top of the 6 metre pole until the rope broke.


----------



## earle

Rocker1986 said:


> Yeah I mainly use bought hops but I still find satisfaction in growing them. Even if they don't produce much they are effective shade screens over the summer too. I'll keep persisting, maybe after a few years they'll acclimatise better and start producing more but even if I only get enough for 3 or 4 batches per season I'll be happy.


Same. I've been growing hops up here for about 4 years but the recent posts have really highlighted for me how paltry the yields are up here. Anyway, its another aspect of an enjoyable hobby and I get at least one harvest ale each year. Water with tank water so that reduces any cost that you would attribute to growing the hops.


----------



## Rocker1986

I might try dumping a heap of ice over the soil during the winter months for a few weeks. It will be expensive but I want to see if it does anything to chill the soil down more than would normally occur. I'll only do this on one of them though. Another option would be to take the whole root system out of the soil, chop off a few rhizomes and stick these in the fridge for a few weeks while disposing of the rest of the roots, then replanting the rhizomes. Apparently they produce better yields if they get chilled over the winter months more than happens here.


----------



## earle

We get a bit colder up here in Toowoomba than you low-landers. Ice sounds like work and expense. The other option - I wonder whether you would lose more by reducing the size of the rhizome than you would gain by the refrigeration process?


----------



## Devhay

Some great looking hauls coming through now!

Definitely have to get my hands on a rhizome this year


----------



## husky

Mat B said:


> What is everyone doing with these huge harvests? This is my first year, and I reckon I've got 6kgs of cascade wet. It's insane. There's NO WAY I'll use anywhere near that before next harvest. I've also spent hours picking and drying flowers. My wife is not pleased.


Vac sealed and into the freezer. 1.5kg dry will be easy to use up. For me that would be maybe 4-5 brews using as WP additions 3-400g at a time = yummy.


----------



## Rocker1986

earle said:


> We get a bit colder up here in Toowoomba than you low-landers. Ice sounds like work and expense. The other option - I wonder whether you would lose more by reducing the size of the rhizome than you would gain by the refrigeration process?


It will be an expense however I'll probably only do it this year just to see what happens. I guess with the other option it would be like planting a first year every year in a way. So far I've had better hauls from the plants in their first year than their second, although no plants are older than that yet.

I got 15g dry off my 2nd year Hallertau, and if I was to pick what's on it now it would probably only be another 1-2g. Last year it gave me 40g dry and it had less area to grow in. The first year Cascade has given me 100g so far with more to be harvested over the next few weeks. Maybe the Cascade is better suited to here I dunno, but it has exceeded my expectations. The only difference between it and the Hallertau was that it went straight into a large planter box as a rhizome, whereas the Hallertau was in a pot for the first year and transferred over the winter into its large planter box.


----------



## MitchD

Can any Chinook growers comment on the smell of drying flowers? I harvested 3.2kg Tuesday night which smelt great, tonight I gave some a rub and they are smelling a bit catty/garlic. Can't remember from last year if this is normal, they aren't quite dry enough yet to package up.


----------



## Midnight Brew

MitchD said:


> Can any Chinook growers comment on the smell of drying flowers? I harvested 3.2kg Tuesday night which smelt great, tonight I gave some a rub and they are smelling a bit catty/garlic. Can't remember from last year if this is normal, they aren't quite dry enough yet to package up.


I did a little reading into this as I found that mine were resin with a hint of garlic/onion. This means they're ready and I believe is a sign that the moisture content has big significantly reduced.


----------



## MitchD

Thanks, I dried some out in the oven and they smelt right after that, better than in their 3/4 dry state any way. Just made a hop tea, tasted like shit but in a good way.


----------



## AJ80

Will be picking this weekend - Mt hood definitely the most loaded followed by cascade and Chinook. The few flowers my goldings threw have since shrivelled up and died. I'll be pulling it in winter and trying a new variety. Excitingly, I've got about 10-12 flowers on my wild Canterbury goldings plant. Not much I know, but will be enough for a sensory evaluation in a glass of kolsch. Nil from the first year Victoria, but it's not in the best spot and it should do better next year.


----------



## Danscraftbeer

MitchD said:


> Can any Chinook growers comment on the smell of drying flowers? I harvested 3.2kg Tuesday night which smelt great, tonight I gave some a rub and they are smelling a bit catty/garlic. Can't remember from last year if this is normal, they aren't quite dry enough yet to package up.


Yeah, its hard to describe. When fresh and packaged they smell like fresh hops! with kinda fruity resiny with a tint of, somethink danky. 
I'm undecided how I like them the best. Home grown I usually play it safe as very late hops because I don't know what their AA level is.
I'm trying to decide on a recipe atm. Should I use them only early? only late? or all the way through?
I was considering using them only at 60min. But I know I will add a big flame out addition and maybe a hop stand as well.


----------



## husky

Harvested, dried and vac sealed Chinook and Vic.
Harvested a few hundred g of cascade but decided to leave the rest until Monday when I am going to try find some time for a wet hop IPA, hopefully they hang on!
Awesome smells out of the vac sealer!
Pretty consistently drying out to 28%
These were all 1st year and treated the same. Amazing difference between yields. Not surprisingly I have always had much better yield off local varieties(POR & VIC). Should get 1kg wet cascade Monday.


----------



## husky

If you haven't ever put wet hops in a keg..... do it!
100g wet chinook in an IPA 4L mini keg, yummo.


----------



## Danscraftbeer

husky said:


> If you haven't ever put wet hops in a keg..... do it!
> 100g wet chinook in an IPA 4L mini keg, yummo.


200g is what I have been able to stuff in a long course weighted hop sock into an 18lt keg then fill it.
Yes! It is a once a year thing. :beerbang:


----------



## husky

Didnt even bother with a sock and no blockage. I think flowers do a good job of filtering.


----------



## AJ80

Picked my hops yesterday evening - 1.2kg wet spread reasonably evenly across the 3 plants. Big increase on last year which saw ~400g wet. Happy with the results.


----------



## mofox1

Picking time! Yield doesn't look as high as previous years, but looks to be a couple kilo wet from each.

Hopefully I've hit near enough the sweet spot for picking, as the whole frame needed to be taken down. I had to wait while some browned off so that the majority are good.

Chinook:



And Cascade:


----------



## ein stein

Got literally couple of handfuls from my first year cascade and less from my chinook. I used a few fresh hops I had to scatter around a beer for a photography comp on instagram and won a case of beer! so not a total loss. till next season.


----------



## Curly79

Just picked my Cascade flowers. Not much to brag about this year. They got no lovin at all. But I was wondering what these little buggers are. 

Bit hard to see but there was a heap of them in the bottom of the bucket. They are shiny black and can fly. Almost like baby lady bugs? Wet keg hopped a black IPA before I noticed them so I'll report back how they taste. [emoji12]


----------



## husky

Harvested a total 714g wet 1st year cascade today. By far the biggest cones of them all and an intense passionfruit/pineapple aroma. Anyone else getting this from fresh cascade? Smelling more like galaxy than what I'm used to from cascade.


----------



## Benn

Harvested 6.89kg (wet) of Victoria cones today with some help from the kids.
There's fly screens set up all over the house and it's STINKING


----------



## mofox1

Benn said:


> IMG_5179.JPG
> Harvested 6.89kg (wet) of Victoria cones today with some help from the kids.
> There's fly screens set up all over the house and it's STINKING


Nice haul, not sure how you managed to convince the trouble and strife about the flyscreens, but hey... win!

My haul ended up just under 6kg.. around 3kg each from the Chinook and Cascade. Cascade actually took up more volume, which plays into my thinking that I should have harvested it last week.




They're now up in their gauze curtain cucoons strung up in the shed.


----------



## Curly79

Have you dried them like that before Mofox? How thick are the cucoons?


----------



## Mardoo

I'm not sure what this gorgeous beetle is, but it's eating my hops. No biggie, it's almost end of the season. However, I did relocate a preying mantis to that hop. (Not shown on my hops, of course.)


----------



## ScottyDoesntKnow

Looks like some sort of aphid or stinkbug, they are all over my lemon tree a few meters away from my hops but they don't go anywhere near them.


----------



## mofox1

Curly79 said:


> Have you dried them like that before Mofox? How thick are the cucoons?


Thicker than last year :/

I give them a bop every time I go past. Since they're fairly full I'll probably have to rotate them around at least once.


----------



## Belgrave Brewer

Curly79 said:


> Just picked my Cascade flowers. Not much to brag about this year. They got no lovin at all. But I was wondering what these little buggers are.
> 
> 
> 
> ImageUploadedByAussie Home Brewer1489293534.954084.jpg
> Bit hard to see but there was a heap of them in the bottom of the bucket. They are shiny black and can fly. Almost like baby lady bugs? Wet keg hopped a black IPA before I noticed them so I'll report back how they taste. [emoji12]


They are Stethorus Punctum AKA The Spider Mite Killer. A beneficial bug in any hop field.


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## Belgrave Brewer

mofox1 said:


> Nice haul, not sure how you managed to convince the trouble and strife about the flyscreens, but hey... win!
> 
> My haul ended up just under 6kg.. around 3kg each from the Chinook and Cascade. Cascade actually took up more volume, which plays into my thinking that I should have harvested it last week.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 1489319073669.jpg
> 
> They're now up in their gauze curtain cucoons strung up in the shed.


Where did you get those gauze curtain cocoons?


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## Belgrave Brewer

Just about to head into day 3 harvesting Chinook. I have not done final numbers, but looks like around 4kgs per plant...roughly 65kgs on 18 plants so far. Hoping to finish and get stuck into a few Victoria or Cascade that are ready.


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## mofox1

Belgrave Brewer said:


> Where did you get those gauze curtain cocoons?


Just @ spotlight, chief. Normal gauze / swiss voile type stuff. 1.5 / 2m wide. Sew down the side and preferably one end as well.

Don't pack them too tight and you can easily re-distribute by giving it a whack each time you go past. ;-)

*May need quite a few for 65kg!


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## Mat B

Mardoo said:


> I'm not sure what this gorgeous beetle is, but it's eating my hops. No biggie, it's almost end of the season. However, I did relocate a preying mantis to that hop. (Not shown on my hops, of course.)


That is a Soldier Beetle. A common sight in my childhood. Often seen walking in pairs with their bums stuck together. I haven't seen one in yonks.


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## husky

Belgrave Brewer said:


> Just about to head into day 3 harvesting Chinook. I have not done final numbers, but looks like around 4kgs per plant...roughly 65kgs on 18 plants so far. Hoping to finish and get stuck into a few Victoria or Cascade that are ready.


Harvesting all by hand? and air drying?


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## Camo6

Mardoo said:


> I'm not sure what this gorgeous beetle is, but it's eating my hops. No biggie, it's almost end of the season. However, I did relocate a preying mantis to that hop. (Not shown on my hops, of course.)
> 
> 
> 
> 
> FullSizeRender.jpg





Mat B said:


> That is a Soldier Beetle. A common sight in my childhood. Often seen walking in pairs with their bums stuck together. I haven't seen one in yonks.



It's a harlequin bug aka stink bug. Similar to a soldier beetle but a bit squishier.


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## Mat B

Once these harvests are all complete, do people on this forum ever engage in trading hops? Having collected about 6kgs of cascade, I'd certainly be happy to trade a few vac sealed bags to get some variety.


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## pat_00

I'd be keen, I have a lot of Mt Hood but my other plants didn't do too well.


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## Benn

VICTORIA
Gonna be a long night, got 2 more fully loaded fly screen doors to get through. 
Keg hopped Black IPA, David Bowie & The Beatles helping me get through it


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## Belgrave Brewer

mofox1 said:


> Just @ spotlight, chief. Normal gauze / swiss voile type stuff. 1.5 / 2m wide. Sew down the side and preferably one end as well.
> 
> Don't pack them too tight and you can easily re-distribute by giving it a whack each time you go past. ;-)
> 
> *May need quite a few for 65kg!


I was thinking of using them as transport bags for wet hops.


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## Belgrave Brewer

husky said:


> Harvesting all by hand? and air drying?


Harvesting by hand, I have a drying room that can hold about 100kgs of wet hops at a time.


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## Benn

I quickly learnt that harvesting by hand is a Bastard, especially when your helpers "down tools" half way through and go to the beach.


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## Belgrave Brewer

Benn said:


> I quickly learnt that harvesting by hand is a Bastard, especially when your helpers "down tools" half way through and go to the beach.


Yeah, hard to get help and you can see the ones who like it and the ones that want to pack it in pretty quickly, lol. Luckily I have a few guns on board. We picked 100kgs in 3 days and still so much more to pick.

If anyone wants to give us a hand, we'll be picking Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. We're in the Yarra Valley, VIC.


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## husky

Vac sealed the last of the Cascade today. Need to get a brew on!


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## Digga

I picked most of my first year (in my dirt lol) POR strange that one side flowered and the other didn't. As in I put a few zomes in either side of the veg patch and strung a trellis.
Got 75g wet but I think I may have left them a little long due to the wet week we have had.
My cones don't seem as big and compact as others on here? Hoping that it's just because of the first year and maybe because I didn't give them much in the way of fertilizer? I'll give them more love next season.


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## Curly79

Still picking the POR My attention span last about 300g at a time. Reckon ill get 2 or 3 kg hopefully. 
Drying them out on the trampoline wrapped in an old tirraline curtain. Working a treat in this hot weather 
.


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## MartinOC

Wanna hand with that? I'll work for beer...)


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## Danscraftbeer

Picked the Red Earth today while boiling a brew. No I didn't throw them in its a strictly brewed German Ale that's boiling.

Red Earth 600g Wet. Not even photo worthy because I didn't get any red cones. They were only red in early stage.
Its a first year in a pot but still good for sampling this breed.
The aroma is interesting. There's a pungency new to me. Its difficult to describe it seems a kinda exotic culinary mix with a hint of Garlic in the background? with that usual floral, spicy Dankness of any fresh hop etc. They smell great as any fresh hops do but with a flavour I cant rely describe and when I read descriptions of hop character I often frown with confusion ha...

Hallertauer and Cascade remains to be harvested.

edit: I now want to have a (dust catch) under a layer of drying hops after seeing yellow dust on the concrete gone to waste.
Its surprizing how much yellow Lupulin falls out!!!


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## gezzanet

Digga said:


> I picked most of my first year (in my dirt lol) POR strange that one side flowered and the other didn't. As in I put a few zomes in either side of the veg patch and strung a trellis.
> Got 75g wet but I think I may have left them a little long due to the wet week we have had.
> My cones don't seem as big and compact as others on here? Hoping that it's just because of the first year and maybe because I didn't give them much in the way of fertilizer? I'll give them more love next season.


at least your pors still alive. Mine suffered due to no water for a month then drowned so it rotted in the ground a sad way to go.


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## Digga

gezzanet said:


> at least your pors still alive. Mine suffered due to no water for a month then drowned so it rotted in the ground a sad way to go.


Plenty here for you to take a chunk of the root in winter.

Haven't planted your cascade yet. Tomorrow arvo's job hahahaha.


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## kaiserben

A big pot that I'm growing hops in has just sprouted loads of golden mushrooms. 

I hadn't watered the pot for days, but it has been raining a lot, so the tray under the pot has water in it. 

I assume I want to get rid of the mushrooms (and no, my experimental days are well & truly behind me) and then let the soil dry out asap by lifting it out of the tray - to stop the hop root system from developing any fungal disease? 

EDIT PHOTO: 





The bines themselves are around 12 foot long (not shown in photo).


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## wide eyed and legless

NO, a lot of fungi are good for the soil and can be beneficial, there is fungi that do attack roots of plants but that isn't them.


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## ScottyDoesntKnow

Just wanted to share a pic of my brew day yesterday, first lot of home grown chinook flowers going into the kettle. Thanks to all for the tips and support, looking forward to adding a few more varieties for next season.


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## Mardoo

In fact, there are many fungi without which trees cannot survive, as the mycelium covers the rootlets of the tree and acts as the intermediary to get minerals into a tree's system.

I had a lovely infestation of bird's nest fungi in my hops last year!


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## kaiserben

So consensus would be to just leave that fungi be?


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## wide eyed and legless

In the future we are going to have to rely on mycorrhizal fungi, global reserves of phosphate are running low and scientists at Monash Uni have been testing the effects of low phosphate levels on plants, thousands of species have been found to become dwarfed (maybe you would like some dwarf hops) but the major problem is the plants go into survival mode and pack themselves full of cyanide, the sorghum was found to reach a cyanide level enough to kill a cow.
The mycorrhizal fungi is a fungi that assists plants in extraction of phosphate.
Bloody amazing what you learn sitting in hospital waiting rooms perusing New Scientist and Cosmos magazines.


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## Rocker1986

Just did another harvest of my Cascade, this time got about 150g wet, although that number might be a little overstated since some of them had water drops on them from rain overnight. In any case it should dry out to I guess somewhere between 30 and 40g to go with the 100g already dried and in the freezer. There will be another harvest in another 3-4 weeks when the last lot of flowers is ready to be picked. From the looks of it, that one will be a small harvest maybe around 50-60g wet.


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## Benn

Harvested 3.96kg _(wet)_ Cascade cones today; with the Victoria harvest from 2 weeks ago, that's pretty much it for this season.
Looks like I'll be donating a good amount to the local brew pub that opened up last year. I've got more than enough to last me till next season.
Next year I'll have to set up some sort of drying area in one of the sheds at M&D's farm. At the moment I've taken over my youngest Daughters room (she doesn't really use it) as a drying room equipped with screen door drying racks and a circulation fan.
Can't wait for the 2018 Harvest,


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## Curly79

P.O.R about 600g Dried and vac sealed. Coopers clone coming soon


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## Danscraftbeer

Its official, for me. Hops harvest around the end of Daylight Savings. 1st of April. Fools day. The date I joined this forum but I don't believe in that shit its all just coincidence haha.
Dried all my hops this year. No wet hopping. I'm kinda over that fresh veg hop flavour so all dried for 4 days then kept in 20lt pales, sealed, then open them each day over a few days to let out gasses. It has something to do with metabolic activity that improves the end result. Then vacuum sealed and frozen.

The small bunch in hand is Hallertauer.
Total dry yield was 320 grams. They were small cones but they were first year in pots so I'm pretty happy with the yield but they are so very delicate in hop aroma power etc. I load them in late for Altbeir, Pilsners, Dortmunder etc.

The rest is Cascade. Now this is hop aroma big time. Sticky resin hands. Slight euphoria when picking etc. I like to get my hops to fully ripe.

I still have Aquaponic Cascade to harvest next weekend. That's different again. Much greener.

Total yields yet to be counted but maxing out in freezer space so all coming brews are to be made with these fresh hops.

Aquaponics still to come..


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## Danscraftbeer

Last harvest. Aquaponic Cascade. Almost 6kg wet. It was still sprouting some new buds I only realised when I cut the hole thing down. That's the limit that the drying rack can handle before it starts buckling.
A pic of the crown that I call the Kracken! 50c coin at the base.
3 of the Silver Perch at 600g. Yummy too.

Tally:
Goldings 265g dry
Chinook 780g dry
Red Earth 175g dry
Hallertauer 390g dry
Cascade (dirt grown) 1650g dry
Cascade Aquaponic ~6kg wet should be 1500g dry

4.7kg dry Home Grown Hops Holy Shit! :kooi: Bloody hours of picking..


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## LiquidGold

Nice looking perch there Dan, and that cascade crown is huge!


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## ein stein

what are you doing with the lupulin dust Dans? are you going to just sprinkle it over a beer as dry hop for extra aroma? i had a friend who used to make hash by pressing his kif in cigarette wrapper cellophane under the leg of a bed or table, it might work with lupulin..


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## Danscraftbeer

Yeah I have sprinkled Lupulin it into a beer. I actually woke up looking and feeling strangely groggy in the morning, puffy eyes ha.
Maybe it shouldn't be consumed in that way. Or I just over did it. 
I just toss the Lupulin powder in with the hops when I bag them.


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## Brownsworthy

That's it I'm looking for a decent IBC and am going to give aquaponics a go that yield plus the added bonus of tasty fish has convinced me thanks Dan.


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## AJ80

Brewed this week with a stack of 2017 home grown flowers. For those of you who have the space, but aren't yet growing hops, get on it. There's a freshness with your own flowers that you just won't get with pellets.


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## good4whatAlesU

Picked up a couple of plants about a month ago and they are growing well, I have my fingers crossed for next year.

Any tips for wintering the plants /rhizomes in northern climates? I'm in Ballina.


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## Hop Star

Man, there's some VERY nice hop gardens in this thread. Good on all of you guys.

I've finished my first hop harvest where I got 600 g (wet) flowers from a single first year Chinook rhizome. Put straight into a single-hop session IPA which should be ready in another couple of weeks. The smell on bottling day was absolutely superb! Should be a cracker.

I do have a question which hopefully some of you guys can answer...

I purchased two Chinook rhizomes and two Victoria rhizomes during last winter. The two Chinook zomes got planted in one raised bed (approx. 1000 mm x 600 mm), the two Victoria zomes in another identical sized bed. All four zomes sprouted around September/October last year however at the time I wasn't ready to set up stringing yet. I got some (probably poor) advice from somebody that I might as well cut the plants back to the ground to make the root systems toughen up and then the plants would come back in another month or twos time when I could string them up. I cut both Victoria's and one of the Chinooks back as suggested. They never came back so I ended up having just the single Chinook plant which luckily was very healthy with a good yield. I decided to dig up the Victoria zomes yesterday to see how dead they might be but they have disappeared. Haven't checked on the Chinook zome that didn't come back up yet.

I'm assuming at this point that the three zomes are dead and gone so I'll be looking out for some new ones in the next few months. Would I be correct in thinking this?

Cheers in advance


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## Mardoo

Yep. They would have rotted. Keep an eye out on the forum. Around June you'll start to see lots of rhizomes for sale.


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## MitchD

I have some Tettnang and Chinook already dug up and ready to go.


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## Rocker1986

Mine are slowly dying back now, and I'll cut them down probably next weekend. Last year I cut them down too early and it was still warm so the bloody things sprouted new shoots in April, although these did stop growing once the weather cooled further. This year I'm waiting longer until the weather cools a bit more before chopping the bines off. Once they've gone I will move the trellis frames closer to the edge of the planter boxes for easier access next harvest, get rid of all the ******* weeds that are in there, top up the soil and also try to better anchor the lines themselves that the bines grow up. And then hope that the Cascade plant doesn't follow the path of the Hallertau and produce a shit second year harvest. :lol:


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## good4whatAlesU

Hi Rocker I note your in Brisbane, will you chill the rhizomes at all over winter? I've heard some people say to put them in the fridge for 6 weeks?


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## Rocker1986

I have thought about doing that, but haven't decided whether or not I will yet. I'm not that worried about harvesting kgs of them though, enough for one or two batches a year is fine with me. Unfortunately the Hallertau didn't even give me that much this year, but I'm hoping the Cascade will provide a better second year effort than the Hallertau did. I picked about 140g dry from the Cascade this year which will give me two batches with home grown hops. Even if I only get half of that next year that'll still give me one batch of pale ale with them.


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## Hop Star

Mardoo said:


> Yep. They would have rotted. Keep an eye out on the forum. Around June you'll start to see lots of rhizomes for sale.


Cheers Mardoo, will do!


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## kaiserben

I'm seeking some advice: 

I successfully grew some hop plants from plant cuttings. 

Initially placed in a seedling tray, 5 cuttings (out of about 15 attempts) were successful. 

I put those 5 plants into little pots to continue their development. 

They grew along nicely. Each plant/pot grew several shoots (bines, I guess) that reached about 15cm long. They're now shedding most of their green leaves and apparently dying back into the off-season (likewise the main plant I'd taken cuttings from is also dying back). 

*How should I treat these little hop plants? I'm looking at planting them in proper ground in time for next growing season, but what should I do with them until then? Can I leave them alone in little pots and water sparingly? Or re-plant them now? Or treat them like rhizomes, dig them up and get them in a fridge? *

*And a related question, for my bigger 1 season-old plants (from rhizomes planted at start of current growing season), do/can I leave them in ground? (located Mt Kuringai north of Sydney). Or do I need to rip them up, store in fridge, put in fresh soil and fertiliser and then go again? *


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## Danscraftbeer

For your cuttings in pots just keep them moist. You could even keep them under the house or out of the way in some dark corner. Just don't let them dry out. If the pots are small enough you could fridge them for a while like the last month of winter then plant in the ground 1st day of Spring.

The Rhizomes in the ground just leave them there. Although I'm in south East Victoria and that works here. Each season gets better.


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## Benn

As a follow on from Kaiserben's question above,
I cut my bines back after harvest in March leaving a few feet of foliage above ground _(as recommended by some sources)_ which is still a healthy looking afro of leaves. I also have 2 first year bines about 3M tall which I just left as they were not worth harvesting, these plants are also looking relatively healthy. 
My question is, do I cut them all off at ground level now to prompt their winter dormancy or do I leave them alone to die back naturally?
I have plans to bring in fresh soil,compost & mulch and dress the numerous hop beds, I will also need to relocate a couple of plants before next season.
Without detriment to the plants, I'd like to get on with this as I also have support structures to build.
Cheers,


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## Belgrave Brewer

Benn said:


> As a follow on from Kaiserben's question above,
> I cut my bines back after harvest in March leaving a few feet of foliage above ground _(as recommended by some sources)_ which is still a healthy looking afro of leaves. I also have 2 first year bines about 3M tall which I just left as they were not worth harvesting, these plants are also looking relatively healthy.
> My question is, do I cut them all off at ground level now to prompt their winter dormancy or do I leave them alone to die back naturally?
> I have plans to bring in fresh soil,compost & mulch and dress the numerous hop beds, I will also need to relocate a couple of plants before next season.
> Without detriment to the plants, I'd like to get on with this as I also have support structures to build.
> Cheers,


Let them die back naturally. They are still stocking up nutrients for their dormant period.

Once they brown off completely, you can cut them off at ground level. Relocate plants in July when they are dormant.


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## Benn

Thanks very much BB, for all the content out there on the internet/YouTube etc, it's hard to find reliable information that is relative to a backyard in the Southern Hemisphere. Maybe I'm just looking in the wrong places


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## Rocker1986

At the rate my Cascade plant is "browning off" it won't get chopped off at all... :lol:


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## good4whatAlesU

Jeepers these EKGs are tough. I've had one in a cool room at 2 celcius for two weeks trying to make it go dormant and it's like "yeah, whatever.." Still green and powering.


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## Rocker1986

:lol: That's gotta be annoying. My Cascade has finally begun dying back, I expect I'll be able to cut the bines down in the next 2-4 weeks, and finally start prepping the beds for next season.


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## stuartf

About to have a crack at growing hops but wanted to check do people have issues with possums eating their hops? Little buggers around my place ate half my habaneros last year!


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## Belgrave Brewer

stuartf said:


> About to have a crack at growing hops but wanted to check do people have issues with possums eating their hops? Little buggers around my place ate half my habaneros last year!


Some people do have issues with possums.


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## Mardoo

stuartf said:


> About to have a crack at growing hops but wanted to check do people have issues with possums eating their hops? Little buggers around my place ate half my habaneros last year!


Yes. Possums can develop a taste for hop foliage. They don't like the hops themselves, but will eat all of the leaves, especially the new shoots, and some bine. Good luck Chuck.


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## Benn

Haha Danscraftbeer loves Possums.


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## Mardoo

There's a good Tassie website with possum recipes. Just sayin'…


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## stuartf

Mardoo said:


> There's a good Tassie website with possum recipes. Just sayin'…



My kiwi mates have plenty of possum recipes. The ones that ate my chillies come pre spiced.


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## Danscraftbeer

Possums!?
Friggen cute but sometimes rechard little buggers. They are stupid too you can get away with lots of growth they don't find but they totally destroyed my Tettnang in repetitious attacks and ate a lot of my Aquaponic cascade too. Think of solid structures is there paths so try keep growth away from solid structures like fences and trees and roofs etc. They wont climb out on flimsy strings but in some cases they did take leaps of faith off the roof of my house onto my stringed growth only to fall through it and leave big holes through the canopy of growth and evidence of the fact like bent stretched bines were they fell through etc.
Get a dog if you don't have one, keeps them off the ground to get up your grow structures but then the dog can be a pain at night when they abuse the Possums.
Re- Good luck with the battles. Its all worth it in my opinion. 

Oh, The possums did eat the cones as well were they could get to them. I thought the cones were safe but they first ate all tips and foliage were they could then they ate the cones too!
Frigg'n tree rodents!


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## clickeral

Hey Guys I have 2 Rhizomes on the way from Drsumurto (Chinook and Victoria) planning on putting them into pots at this stage. Have been advised that large half wine barrel is a good size however as its only temp potting not sure if I want to pay $125 per half 300ml barrel 

Does anyone know where to get large plastic pots for a reasonable cost that would be suitable?

Plan is to run some twine up my fence with the pots at the bottom

Cheers


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## Benn

The biggest pots I could find were at Bunnings, I'd probably buy plastic rubbish bins (bigger) and drill holes in the bottom if I had to grow in pots again. 
The big black Bunnings pots I mentioned are pretty heavy when full, anything bigger and your looking at a trolley if they needed to be moved.


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## Mardoo

Buy something like these, cut them in half. Ugly as sin but they work and they're cheap. 

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/282544751178


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## fungrel

clickeral said:


> Hey Guys I have 2 Rhizomes on the way from Drsumurto (Chinook and Victoria) planning on putting them into pots at this stage. Have been advised that large half wine barrel is a good size however as its only temp potting not sure if I want to pay $125 per half 300ml barrel
> 
> Does anyone know where to get large plastic pots for a reasonable cost that would be suitable?
> 
> Plan is to run some twine up my fence with the pots at the bottom
> 
> Cheers



I found that 400mm+ pots work for first year rhizomes. Got a good amount from a 1st year with a 400mm. Wouldn't leave them in any longer than 12 months though.


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## captain crumpet

Zomes going for 3rd year now. Want to select 3 bines and trim the rest. Currently triming out fresh bines every 3 days, shit is going crazy. When is right time to let them grow out. I think i remember reading november some time?


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