# Hops are up. What now?



## nathan_madness (8/6/13)

Living in Brisbane and I have decided to give growing hops a go for the first time.

I purchased an assortment of rhizomes from here and ebay (Saaz, Tettnang, Golding, Hersbrucker, Cluster and Cascade). I put them all in the ground about 3 weeks ago and they all have their little hoppy heads poking through the mulch/cow poo especially the Golding which has about 4 shoots all about 3" tall.

After loads of reading and searching for the best way to grow hops I am stuck. What should I do? Should I cut them back so that they shoot later after any frosts or should I use a grow bag and protect the little beauties?


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## Yob (8/6/13)

They have probably started growing ON an American Timescape....

Sorry...

Cover them up mate, mulch


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## hoppy2B (8/6/13)

If they're green they'll be photosynthesizing a little.


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## Yob (8/6/13)

And? So that's a good thing at this time?

Fairly obvious statement with little to say about what to do about it... Par for the effing course for you though.. Feck sake


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## nathan_madness (8/6/13)

Yeah the Goldings from you (hoppy2b) are green all the rest are whitish still. Should I just cover them all up or snip off the green ones or let them go for it?


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## hoppy2B (8/6/13)

Yeah that sounds like Golding. I have rhizomes in buckets with damp cloth over them to keep them moist and the Golding grows the most of all the varieties. The roots grow also.

I wouldn't cut the shoots off. If they're photosynthesizing they will be making food to put into the rhizome for root growth.

Didn't wish to make a suggestion contradicting Yob as he tends to go off over anything. h34r:


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## Yob (8/6/13)

I love you
:wub: <_<  :wacko:


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## nathan_madness (8/6/13)

Yeah, with all the reading of that I have done on here I have noticed that you two have had run ins in the past. Thanks for the info guys I will mulch the whitish ones and nurture the green ones.


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## Yob (8/6/13)

naa mate, no run ins at all.. I just call it for what it's worth.. dunno what fertiliser he's smoking this week.. it's not the season to let them grow.. it's not gunna help them

B)


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## tazman1967 (8/6/13)

Leave them alone... I dont think you will get severe frosts in Brisbane :blink:
Good luck to keeping them watered in Summer, its a bitch.


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## nathan_madness (8/6/13)

Ha ha ha that is the easy bit I have a dam, 2x 30,000l and 4x 5,000l rain water tanks. Our whole property is watered by computer so all i have done is set the drip feed hose along the bed and then programmed 45l per day to water that line (9 hops x 5L) easy as that. I also found two old steel painting trellises that I have put at either end with a guide wire between both and then attached a 6m length or deformed bar to each hop so that they can grow 6 meters tall and they have sun 8 hours a day in winter.

Sorry guys we use to own the biggest landscaping supplies in Brisbane and now I'm bored as shit. So anything to pass the time :beerbang:


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## tazman1967 (8/6/13)

Well, then the only thing that is going to put a spanner in your works is ..daylight hours.
In Vic/Tas , they get more daylight hours than Brisvegas.
Not a biggie, just means you wont get the crop yields that they get.
Hey, any crop is a good crop :blink:


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## nathan_madness (8/6/13)

Hell yeah, that is my theory as long as I get 90g of flowers so that I can stuff it in my hop rocket i'll be a happy chappy!!!


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## hoppy2B (8/6/13)

When temps reach 40 degrees you might want to consider multiplying the amount of water you mentioned above by 10. :blink:


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## punkin (10/6/13)

nathan_madness said:


> Ha ha ha that is the easy bit I have a dam, 2x 30,000l and 4x 5,000l rain water tanks. Our whole property is watered by computer so all i have done is set the drip feed hose along the bed and then programmed 45l per day to water that line (9 hops x 5L) easy as that. I also found two old steel painting trellises that I have put at either end with a guide wire between both and then attached a 6m length or deformed bar to each hop so that they can grow 6 meters tall and they have sun 8 hours a day in winter.
> 
> Sorry guys we use to own the biggest landscaping supplies in Brisbane and now I'm bored as shit. So anything to pass the time :beerbang:



Some pictures please?


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## Malted (10/6/13)

In the past I have often had some bines poke their heads up early but then they sit there and don't do anything. Early emergence may not mean anything significant; leave them be. 

Your Goldings are likely to be a dwarf variety. h34r:


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## pk.sax (10/6/13)

It's qld ffs, the winter is like a milder summer. I bet the hops would be alright. Come down here and freeze ur nuts off. Swap you in a heartbeat.


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## brewologist (11/6/13)

I just got around to cutting last seasons (dead) growth off my bines. When I was digging around in my hop patch I noticed fresh buds starting to form on the root system.

I'm in central victoria so I'm gonna chuck some mulch on them. Don't want them getting frost bite


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## Yob (11/6/13)

have you seen newguys bines from the last few years before his move and the dog incidents? The dude lives in Canadia... inches/feet of snow over the winter period..

they can handle it.. but yeah, mulch em


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## Florian (11/6/13)

hoppy2B said:


> If they're green they'll be photosynthesizing a little.


I found this to be a pretty clear statement.

It obviously means they're 'producing' energy, with part of that most likely to be invested into their root system. Of course that's a good thing, even if the shoots are dying off later during winter.

I've got a few varieties as well that are sending shoots out at this time of the year. I always let them as it will only mean a stronger plant next season.




POR




Saaz


EDIT: Also, fairly unrelated: I never clicked this topic until today because every time I saw the title I thought to myself: "WTF, just buy some new ones, then."


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## Bribie G (11/6/13)

Florian's the man here. Another good source of hop info is NickB who grew heaps of them out at Nanango.

Theoretically you shouldn't be able to grow hops North of Port Macquarie due to the day lengths in the summer, but many seem to get fair results.

Wind is the killer, I didn't do any good on Bribie Island. That's why most hops are grown in sheltered flat bottomed valleys with windbreak rows of trees. Note that just about every hop growing area like Willamette, Yakima, Ovens etc is followed by the word "valley"


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## QldKev (11/6/13)

I grew them for a few years up here. Remember our winter is as warm as summer in Tassy. As Florian has show they love to take of early, and I found I often got 2 sets of harvest from them in a season. Good point by Bribie, as I've also found they hate wind.


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## nathan_madness (12/6/13)

Thanks for all the help guys. I will tray and get some pics of the garden and my little babies up as soon as this wet weather is gone. Having 2 harvests evens sounds better .

They are about 4" tall now and there are more poping up every day. I have been keeping it to the strongest 3 looking bines is this the best way to grow them?


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## timmyf (12/6/13)

Cut them off and send 'em to this dude.


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## nathan_madness (14/6/13)

Now I know I still have a bit of work to do on the garden, but here are some pics.






Hop Garden 12m long and 6m tall





Goldings





Cascade





Cluster





Goldings No.2





Saaz





Tettnang

Still do do:
Measure and space out all of the vertical rods
Install steel barriers between each rhizome to stop the root spreading into each other
Pick hops and drink beer! :icon_cheers:


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## hoppy2B (14/6/13)

Wow I'm impressed, looks like the hops are doing alright for this time of year too. :blink:


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## nathan_madness (14/6/13)

Yeah, well loads of manure and some root enzyme seems to work wonders!


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## markjd (14/6/13)

nathan_madness said:


> Now I know I still have a bit of work to do on the garden, but here are some pics.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


You call that a garden? That looks more like a national park to an apartment dweller like me LOL


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## nathan_madness (14/6/13)

markjd said:


> You call that a garden? That looks more like a national park to an apartment dweller like me LOL


Yeah, and the worst thing it that is less than an 1/8 of the property and I have to mow it all!!! 6 hours on a mower doing 30kph arrrh at least the beer tastes better at the end of that day.


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## flano (24/6/13)

That is awesome.


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## philmud (8/9/13)

OT slightly, but not worth a new thread. I had surplus chinook rhizomes and planted them somewhere they won't be able to stay (nothing for them to grow on. As luck has it, they have shot beautifully and I'd hate to waste them. If I dig them up and move them, how much of the rhizome do they need to take with them? Eg: if I cut a few inches either side of a shoot will I be ok, or do I need more ideally?


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## nathan_madness (2/2/14)

Ok, so growing hops in Brisbane works. The only thing is that it takes about 1 1/2 - 2 hours to pick all the hops off the bines. So my 2014 harvest in wet weight is:

Goldings = 664g harvested from two rhizomes
Cascade = 409g
Cluster =630g
Saaz = 760g harvested from three rhizomes
Hersbrucker = 512g
Tettnang = 135g 

http://aussiehomebrewer.com/gallery/album/1138-2014-hop-harvest/


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## hoppy2B (3/2/14)

Its interesting that you managed to get something off the Tett there Nathan. The most I have taken from that variety is about 20 cones from a second year plant.


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