# Hydroponic hops



## hidara (20/9/16)

Hey there,
After weeks of research I decided to grow my hops hydroponically. Found good technical info hard to find as commercial growers are understandability tight lipped and most home growers didn't go into much detail other than supplying photos of the hops and their setups. Has anyone here had any luck with a hydroponics system? Id love some tips.

I finally settled on a hybrid top drip DWC system using crates from Bunnings with the plants supported by expanded clay balls.

It waters every hr for 15 minutes during the day and every 1.5hrs at night (just enough to keep the roots from drying out). 
The nutrient is nitrogen rich with about 1050ppm and a PH of 6.2

As this is the first time I've played with hydroponics I'm pretty green and would appreciate any advice.


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## hidara (20/9/16)

Photos

Week 1
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/gxia0ps4sdf73cd/AADrJBWFEjRIt3kqJ1BLKgRVa?dl=0
Week 2
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/3uwuiv6ga9oahke/AADigza1TXioGAxKA0je9Ia9a?dl=0

Feeding details
https://www.dropbox.com/s/gyqo48eayo5p1jw/Hydro%20Hops.xlsx?dl=0


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## owenn (22/9/16)

Very Interesting, i hear yields can be very good even in the first year. I'll be following this post and maybe have a crack next year. Thanks for sharing!


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## DJR (22/9/16)

Sounds pretty good to me, i just let mine grow like a weed in the backyard where it gets just enough daylight hours to work. Are you planning to illuminate as well with LED or similar?


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## Danscraftbeer (22/9/16)

I planted a cutting in my Aquaponics system and its a freak. Aquaponics is Hydropnics as a constant circulating Organic eco system.

I could go on for hours but It does work incredible for anything and hops take on a lot of lateral spread growth not like when they're grown in the ground for some reason. I don't use the clay balls I find them too light and far far too expensive for what I've done.

Simple river gravel sized at 20-25mm (3/4 inch) is a more solid foundation but when hops grab on to climbing structure it shouldn't be a problem. Plant with stems can fall over in clay balls because its so light.



A couple of pics. I have seen other brewers here who dabble in the Aquaponics as well. Hope they post some pics some time.



Its oxygenated water that's the accelerator. Organics does magic as well.

This tiny cutting planted late season for an experiment.




Anything propagates in days




after 4 months




This is its cut down. Taken a week ago.




and this is what drives the nutrients B) 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gA2GQWB7ldw


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## hidara (22/9/16)

DJR said:


> Sounds pretty good to me, i just let mine grow like a weed in the backyard where it gets just enough daylight hours to work. Are you planning to illuminate as well with LED or similar?


No lights. These are sitting outside on a north facing balcony with a gap on the west for the setting sun. The electrics are undercover and in ip65ish "  " boxes. I'm hoping the sunlight will be fine but a wee bit worried about height  If I get a couple of brews worth I'll be happy.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/4k5p56qjnbzzl75/IMG_20160919_143150.jpg?dl=0


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## hidara (22/9/16)

Danscraftbeer said:


> I planted a cutting in my Aquaponics system and its a freak. Aquaponics is Hydropnics as a constant circulating Organic eco system.
> 
> I could go on for hours but It does work incredible for anything and hops take on a lot of lateral spread growth not like when they're grown in the ground for some reason. I don't use the clay balls I find them too light and far far too expensive for what I've done.
> 
> ...


WOW!!!! that's incredible. Funny, I just spoke to my wife about aquaponics last night. It's something I'm going to setup when we finally get our own place. It just makes so much sense. I might pick your brains at a later stage if thats ok? If you get a chance and if its ok I'd love to see a wide angle shot of the whole system!
I do have an aeration stone and a cheap air pump. I might fire that into the system at the weekend, going by your advice re: oxygenation


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## Danscraftbeer (22/9/16)

No worries. That set up should do well too I'll be keen to see how it goes. It will go berserk haha.


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## wide eyed and legless (22/9/16)

I tried it once with a couple of plants the idea was for them to grow out of the greenhouse and up a large conifer, I was sure they would reach the top of the tree as I had a Passion Fruit reach the top.
Trouble was as it went out the greenhouse the Possums knocked them off, and the bines that stayed inside the greenhouse made it to dark for the other plants, your pH is right but drop the N and lift the K when they start to bud.


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## Stu Brew (23/9/16)

Shoot Colin an email mate. We're going to be breeding with hydroponics due to the fact we can do 3-5 lifecycles a year not only 1. Theyre good guys. He is actualy buying root stock from the legal cannabis growers in his state and grafting hops onto them too. Very on the ball with this and obviously they are world leaders in Hydro Hops! 

http://www.hydrohopfarms.com/


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## Stu Brew (23/9/16)

hidara said:


> Hey there,
> After weeks of research I decided to grow my hops hydroponically. Found good technical info hard to find as commercial growers are understandability tight lipped and most home growers didn't go into much detail other than supplying photos of the hops and their setups. Has anyone here had any luck with a hydroponics system? Id love some tips.
> 
> I finally settled on a hybrid top drip DWC system using crates from Bunnings with the plants supported by expanded clay balls.
> ...


I would up your water flow, probably to half half in an hour. I have a root in NFT atm just keeping an eye on what its going to do. that runs 24/7.

What is the start off PPM of your water too? Id be aiming more at 1200-1800 for hops maybe even more....they will keep growing with as much as you can give them and im kind of interested to find out what level they will get nutrient burn at. Seems pretty uncommon in hops grown in the ground! 

Great idea anyways, I use an aeroponic cloner to clone early season shoots too, I'll keep an eye on this PM me if you want any more info. Im really busy for the next few days!! 

Good luck!


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## hidara (6/10/16)

I'm struggling to upload images to the post so below is a link to the gallery. each image has the date it was taken in the name
http://aussiehomebrewer.com/gallery/album/1420-hydroponic-hops/


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## hidara (6/10/16)

Stu Brew said:


> I would up your water flow, probably to half half in an hour. I have a root in NFT atm just keeping an eye on what its going to do. that runs 24/7.
> 
> What is the start off PPM of your water too? Id be aiming more at 1200-1800 for hops maybe even more....they will keep growing with as much as you can give them and im kind of interested to find out what level they will get nutrient burn at. Seems pretty uncommon in hops grown in the ground!
> 
> ...


Cheers for the advice partial man. I'll up the ppm over the next few days. My ph meter fell into wort a few days ago I have to wait until it's replacement arrives.
ppm of the water is 57. I'm using the same .5micron filtered water that I use for brewing. for some reason my ph had risen to over 8 over the last three weeks. I'll have to be more diligent and check the water every few days from now on


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## hidara (6/10/16)

I also waited too long to start training my bines around the twine. It snapped and died but after trimming it back to the node a new shoot is starting to grow.


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## wynnum1 (6/10/16)

You could try Mittleider gardening method where grown in raised beds of sand and sawdust and water each day and fertilized each week and build T frames and use bailing twine to train the plants on seems to work well for tomatoes and eggplants but hops would need higher frames.


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## hidara (6/10/16)

hidara said:


> I'm struggling to upload images to the post so below is a link to the gallery. each image has the date it was taken in the name
> http://aussiehomebrewer.com/gallery/album/1420-hydroponic-hops/


now after approx 4 weeks. I snuck a tomato plant in there last week as an experiment.


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## hidara (6/10/16)

wynnum1 said:


> You could try Mittleider gardening method where grown in raised beds of sand and sawdust and water each day and fertilized each week and build T frames and use bailing twine to train the plants on seems to work well for tomatoes and eggplants but hops would need higher frames.


Just watched a few youtube videos. It's a very interesting system!! will research more


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## hidara (7/10/16)

For those who are interested the system is made up of the following

3 tubs from Bunnings

Expanded clay rocks (hydroton)

3 hydroponic pots 5", I think

Two 25mm hoses joining the buckets at the bottom

1 outdoor water feature pump from Bunnings

19mm hose and joiners coming up from the pump and feeding each pot through 6mm feeders

I filled the tubs up to within 15-20mm of the bottom of the pots approx 80-85 litres. The idea of the system is that as the pump waters the plants the large hose at the bottom allows circulation of the nutrients at the bottom. The pump is on a timer so that the rhizome is not always wet with the watering more frequent between 11am and 3pm and only on once every 2hrs at night. Im still playing with this schedule. 
If the plants need more water or of there is a power outage I'm hoping that the little roots that have formed, and are now poking through the pots will be able to draw from the reservoir below. The circulating nutrient should oxygenate enough as it drops through the hydroton back to the reservoir.

I had called into a few hydroponic stores around Melbourne looking for advice and ended up using http://www.justhydroponics.com.au in Hoppers, as the guy there was the most knowledgeable and helpful.


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## RelaxedBrewer (8/10/16)

After your inspiration, I got mine up and running. Took me some of last night and most of the day to build it.

After a fair bit of research I decided to go with a recirculating dutch/bato bucket setup that I built my self. This seems to be similar to what the commercial growers are using (I was super impressed with how much of a yield some of the commercial hydro setups were able to get in their first year). Good thing about this setup is it is easy to expand if it works well and is pretty cheap.

I still need to figure out the watering schedule and best nutrient regulation. 

What nutrient and EC level are you currently using?

On another note: Hydro nutrients seem to be pretty damn expensive. I think pot heads are getting ripped off. I think I am going to have to work out how to make my own (can't be harder than working out brewing water can it?).


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## hidara (12/10/16)

RelaxedBrewer said:


> After your inspiration, I got mine up and running. Took me some of last night and most of the day to build it.
> 
> After a fair bit of research I decided to go with a recirculating dutch/bato bucket setup that I built my self. This seems to be similar to what the commercial growers are using (I was super impressed with how much of a yield some of the commercial hydro setups were able to get in their first year). Good thing about this setup is it is easy to expand if it works well and is pretty cheap.
> 
> ...


Haha you beaut!!! well done and it looks great! Below is what I'm doing with regards feeding. I will update it this weekend with the latest info.
https://www.dropbox.... Hops.xlsx?dl=0


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## Stu Brew (21/10/16)

So I got a bit keen and threw a crown into my NFT system....Just threw it into the ressy.....so its basically growing in a waterfall now....I cannot believe the nodes its thrown out. I can potentially create about 50 rhizomes from 1 crown if this actually follows through the way its going atm! Cool. 

Im using very low EC on that system too. Below 1....mainly just calcium and magnesium coming up in our spring water seems to be ok with a little added nitrogen  

Certainly makes me think Hydroponic breeding will be the way to go. I dont have 12 years to bang out 1 generation....3-5 a year suits me just fine!


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## sp0rk (21/10/16)

Stu Brew said:


> So I got a bit keen and threw a crown into my NFT system....Just threw it into the ressy.....so its basically growing in a waterfall now....I cannot believe the nodes its thrown out. I can potentially create about 50 rhizomes from 1 crown if this actually follows through the way its going atm! Cool.
> 
> Im using very low EC on that system too. Below 1....mainly just calcium and magnesium coming up in our spring water seems to be ok with a little added nitrogen
> 
> Certainly makes me think Hydroponic breeding will be the way to go. I dont have 12 years to bang out 1 generation....3-5 a year suits me just fine!


You'll have enough to supply the whole forums in a year or 3


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## Stu Brew (21/10/16)

sp0rk said:


> You'll have enough to supply the whole forums in a year or 3


With actual DNA write up, Alpha and Beta content too...at $20 a rhizome....as long as your forearm! Probably wont have DNA done for another season yet. Certainly going for alphas and beta testing this year minimum. We will be drying and supplying Beer Belly with a bit of fresh flowers this season! 

I have so much now Im not sure I have room for it  but its a bit late in the season not sure people are to keen. Wouldnt make sense unless you're down low like we are here. Still experiments to do on planting up crowns this late....lots going on I dont really share too! 

Cheers


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## wynnum1 (22/10/16)

Have a look at mutagenic breeding.


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## RelaxedBrewer (22/10/16)

I know this is a fair way off, but does anyone know what are the options on winterising the hydro hops?


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## Stu Brew (29/10/16)

Well it seems to be liking this......about 10 shoots up now....at least I dont have to walk far for propagation material this year


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## hidara (9/12/16)

Just a quick update. Had some issues with leaf burn but solved that by reducing the overall PPM but still keeping nitrogen high. The tomato plant has turned into something out of the little shop of horrors. Hops are flying not with about 20-30mm per day depending on sunlight. Happy Christmas


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## hidara (16/2/17)

Latest updates. Had some issues with leaf burn and a disconnected pump but at least my babies are producing fruit.


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## Danscraftbeer (25/2/17)

Aquaponic Cascade. 2nd year. Well technically its only 16 months in the gravel bed from a skinny little cutting not even worthy but hey, Aquaponics has magic in the water that you cant measure. I got 300g hops (wet) off it late season from the cutting last year at only 4 months old.
Night photo's of it now. I was bored. The way its going I should clear a kilo wet this year.
Note that same 50 cent coin at the base of the ,trunk...
I'm now worrying about my choice of string. I hope it holds out.


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## hidara (25/2/17)

That looks amazing. If love to try Aquaponics but all I have is a balcony. What's your fish setup and what do you feed?


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## Danscraftbeer (25/2/17)

Good fish food from the Hatchery of the fish. Glenwaters.
Silver Perch. With some Tandanus Catfish in the mix. 
I sometimes tweak it with tiny doses of iron of chelate, Calcium minerals with Lime or Dolamite that also help keep the pH up and that don't naturally occur. Or a nutrient that needs a pep up like soluble Sulphate of Potash for heavy fruiting plants like tomatoes, Cucumbers, Zucchini, Eggplants, Flowering! etc. but its a tiny amount like 1 tablespoon to a 1800 litre system no more than once a fortnight if I recall...
Any additions are well diluted with rain water then trickle syphoned into the system through a 4mm hose so its real slow release with top up water so not to stress the fishies etc.

My thinking is that with hydroponics etc it is the oxygen aeration and the regular free running of the water that's the steroids.

If any plant in my system needs some Sulphate of Potash then its just the tiny amount that you add for just that plant/plants needs.
Its just final polish really. Read your plants.


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## wide eyed and legless (26/2/17)

I have read quite a lot about aquaponics but the closest I have got to using fish waste is to going fishing determined to kill the carp I catch and spread the carcasses around the vegetable beds,trouble is I can never bring myself to kill them.
With the auto pot system the nutrient is delivered by the Venturi effect, but even using the nutrient solution the pH has to be raised (if using rainwater) to around 7 for the plants to take up the nutrient.
It will be interesting to see what effect of a rhizome in a pot has after a few years, are they removed from the pot and cut up and replant a small section?


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## Danscraftbeer (27/2/17)

wide eyed and legless said:


> It will be interesting to see what effect of a rhizome in a pot has after a few years, are they removed from the pot and cut up and replant a small section?


I think that will be the case for me after this season. Otherwise the root system/or crown just gets bigger every year taking up more and more subterranean area. With aquaponics, same with hydroponics one small cutting can probably put out as much as a big crown anyway I think. That stem base got to that size in 4 months from a cutting. Its the same size now but lots of side shoots that spread out around it this seasons growth. I cut off heaps of shoots that were popping up a foot away from that main stem. It gets a bit out of control. Same with the wicking beds too. I guess I'll be another one in the position to off loading rhizomes this year.


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## wide eyed and legless (27/2/17)

Thats what happened when I grew mine hydroponically I had the root system climbing out all over the place, they are certainly 'searchers', as for the wicker beds I wonder if the rhizome could be controlled to go through a length of downpipe with holes drilled along the length for the roots to come out?


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